Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Mini crash coming?-
Larry Edelson on August 16, 2010
Larry Edelson
My apologies for being so bold in the subject line. But this is one of the most important columns I’ve ever written. Why? Because today I am going to give you a major heads up on the trends I see unfolding over the next few months.
More importantly, I am also going to show you how those short-term trends are going to set the stage for the longer-term trends that you’re going to see unfold over the next few years.
First, a warning: The forecasts you’re about to read are controversial, and many will say I have lost my mind. No problem. Many have said the same about me numerous times in the past.
But the forecasts I speak of today are based entirely upon my proprietary trading models that are unlike any other in the world.
And today is not the first time my trading models have made spectacular calls. Since I developed them in 1982, they have successfully guided me and the investors that have followed me through every twist and turn in the economy and markets:
Through the 1987 stock market collapse, the ensuing bull market, the first Gulf War, the peak in the broad markets in 1999, the crash of 2000—2003, the 2007 peak in stocks, the bull market in gold right from day one, the bear market in the dollar, and more.
My systems flagged every one of those events and major trends well in advance.
I point this out not to brag, but merely to emphasize how important it is that you read on to learn what my models are saying now, and how seriously their messages should be taken.
They are not common forecasts. They are not based on linear logic, but rather, on more dynamic processes, which is what the markets themselves are. Dynamic.
So here are the forecasts and what you should be watching …
FIRST, the broad stock markets will attempt one or two more rallies over the next three weeks. The Dow may even get back to 10,700, or even nudge out a new high near 11,000.
But don’t you dare be fooled. The broad stock markets in the U.S. are now rolling over.
At a minimum, by November, we will see the Dow plunge to at least 9,000, with a high probability of falling to the 8,700 level.
But once you see the Dow Industrials below 9,000 — start preparing for another big rally in the markets, one that could last for years and eventually see the Dow Industrials more than triple by 2015, and soar to anywhere between 27,000 and 44,000.
How could that ever happen, you ask? Call me crazy. Call me nuts. But I’ve written about it before, and that kind of stock market inflation has happened in nearly every third-world and emerging economy on the planet.
The only difference is that this time, it will happen in the FIRST world, and chiefly in the U.S. No matter what the economy does.
Because very simply …
Look for the Dow to plunge this fall ... then stage a long, sustainable rally.
Look for the Dow to plunge this fall … then stage a long, sustainable rally.
SECOND, as the Dow plunges going into November, the U.S. Federal Reserve will start printing more money to inflate away the problems. No matter how much it takes. Whether it’s another one trillion, five trillion, twenty trillion, or even thirty trillion dollars.
The Fed will do whatever it believes necessary to try and turn things around.
It will stop at nothing. The Fed, in the next round of this crisis, will even resort to more extreme measures, such as supporting the U.S. bond markets — and keeping interest rates at near zero — by forcing banks to buy U.S. bonds (like the Fed did during WWII).
By reversing the existing policy of paying banks interest on reserves parked at the Fed, and penalizing the banks instead for not lending out to the economy …
By slashing reserve requirements, by restricting foreign capital outflows, and more.
All of this will be ultimately designed with one end goal in mind: To massively DEBASE the U.S. dollar.
You see, the Fed thinks — rightly or wrongly, only time will tell — that by devaluing the dollar and eventually inflating financial assets higher, that trillions of dollars of wealth will be recreated.
Hence, from that will flow new businesses, a wave of new innovation, millions of jobs being brought back, millions more new jobs being created, real estate prices appreciating once again, and more. In short, everything will be hunky-dory once again.
As I said before, whether or not the strategy works remains to be seen. I doubt it will. But that’s not my main point.
My main point is that if you fight the Fed on this, you’re going to lose your shirt.
So once you see the Dow below 9,000, start getting ready to go LONG the market, because the Fed is determined — and does have the ability — to inflate the financial markets higher, much higher.
No matter what philosophical or political bend you come from, if you want to protect your wealth and grow it, don’t fight the Fed on the next plunge in the economy and the stock markets.
THIRD, gold will soon be giving you the ultimate opportunity to buy — before it heads to way north of $2,000 an ounce. The short-term cycles in gold point down into late August, when I expect gold to fall below $1,100 an ounce. It should, however, hold the $1,000 mark.
But no matter what, thereafter, gold should explode to new record highs, most likely by the end of the year — and then, through 2011 and 2012, march to at least $2,300 an ounce.
By 2015, I expect to see gold at near $5,000 an ounce.
The driving force will NOT be inflation. That will come later, and will show up in the CPI, but not for at least another couple of years.
The driving force instead, will be the final recognition that the U.S. is broke beyond repair … that the Fed will print however many trillions of dollars it wants to paper over the mess and retain control for as long as possible …
Don't be surprised to see gold prices at near $5,000 an ounce by 2015.
Don’t be surprised to see gold prices at near $5,000 an ounce by 2015.
And that the U.S. dollar is doomed as a reserve currency.
So start preparing for all of this NOW, with the following steps. I cannot overemphasize them …
Step 1: Minimize your exposure to the stock market, right now. Get out of all stocks with the exception of core gold shares and other select natural resource, tangible asset stocks.
Later, in a few months, when the Dow falls below 9,000 — I will tell my Real Wealth Report members exactly how and what to get positioned in to capitalize on the Fed’s next aggressive moves, and the financial and tangible asset inflation we’re going to see.
Step 2: For any liquid cash you have, not earmarked for gold, keep it in safe, liquid, short-term investments such as money markets.
Or, use the strategy I’ve outlined in some of my special reports, which involves buying the iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund ETF (TIPS), but hedged by investing a third of what you place in that fund into the inverse bond fund, the Direxion Daily 10-Year Treasury Bear 3X Shares (TYO).
Step 3: If you don’t use the upcoming weakness in the gold market to buy or add to positions, I think you could be making a huge mistake.
The best way to buy gold, in my opinion, is the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD). Each share represents 1/10 of an ounce of gold. When you buy this fund, it’s like buying a mutual fund, but one that holds only physical gold. Plus, you eliminate storage and shipping worries because the gold is held in trust for you.
Or, if you’d rather buy a gold stock mutual fund, consider the Tocqueville Gold Fund (TGLDX). As an alternative, look at the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (AMEX: GDX). This single investment holds 10 of the largest gold miners in the world.
No matter what you do, I urge you to stay open minded and think dynamically going forward. That means not accepting the status quo, not accepting mass hysteria, not following old models and old economic rules, and using “uncommon wisdom”. Period.
That will be the only true way to both psychologically and financially survive not just the next few months, but also the next few years.
All the best,
Larry
seeing a lot of action for a late Friday. Both at the bid and ask. Don't know what it means.
........al
Perhaps the paid for by 3rd party is dumping large quantities now that the pump and dump didn't work out. Bid is holding strong for now.
.........al
Someone just dumped 2 1/2 million at the bid. eom
closed HOD, good sign, eom.
Anyone now worried or care about their Kinderview shares? LOL.
........al
A little humor is fine once in a while but it's time to kill the thread. Thank you for the cooperation.
.......al
I hear you. Just north of me in NY the environmentalists seem to be in control. I am surprised that the gas companies just don't pack up and leave NY state. I'm pro environment but not a radical. I read about anti gas rallies all the time in NY. I wonder how many in attendance did not use a hydrocarbon to get there. That would be my first and only question to them. From what Ive seen it is large land owners who stand to reap large leases and royalties against the city dwellers that will get nothing from this.
.......al
The recent budget battles in NY state have almost been laughable. I'm a little south of the border in PA but almost everything we do is in NY. Anyone in NY that votes for an incumbent deserves what they are getting IMHO. Speaking of budget battles in Albany, how come nobody ever brought this to light?
New York's $16 Billion Gift to Wall Street Banksters
The Speculator's Rebate
Weekend Edition
August 6 - 8, 2010
By RALPH NADER
You can’t make up the following realities in New York State! Note the following series of events driven by the preposterous plutocrats and see if you get steamed.
Greed, power, reckless speculation and theft of other peoples’ money by Wall Streeters collapsed the U.S. economy into a deep recession that started in 2007-08.
These super-rich Wall Street banksters looted and drained trillions of worker pensions and mutual fund savings while nationwide eight million jobs were lost.
Panicked that their overweening avarice was pushing their companies over the cliff, the banksters rushed to Washington, terrified members of Congress with the help of ex-Goldman Sachs CEO turned Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and propelled the Bush White House into a series of massive taxpayer bailouts and guarantees amounting to trillions of dollars during the last quarter of 2006.
By the end of 2009, the Wall Street welfarists were recording once again record profits and sky-high bonuses. Month after month it became clear that the banks were not lending to small and larger businesses to get the economy moving again—a major reason give for the bailouts.
A good slice of the money went to bonuses, mergers and other empire building by the remaining five giant conglomerate banks. Today these banks are sitting on mountains of cash and many credit-worthy businesses and startups still cannot get loans.
As the Fiscal Policy Institute wrote in April:
“Essential services like fire departments and schools, recession-buffering social safety net programs like homeless prevention and senior services, and critical infrastructure systems like hospitals, roads and mass transit all face severe cutbacks.
“But Wall Street is not suffering from the budget catastrophe or from the crash. …The financial industry rang up $61.4 billion in profits for 2009 alone—that is nearly triple Wall Street’s previous record. These are truly windfall profits—they are courtesy of the taxpayer-funded bailout [and federal policies uniquely privileging the big banks with virtually free money] and not because the big banks made money from financing the recovery of American businesses. Never before has Wall Street made so much money from doing so little for economic and job growth.”
Making money from speculation instead of from investment is exactly what the legendary British economist, John Maynard Keynes, warned about almost eighty years ago in arguing for a securities transaction tax.
The conditions where many regular New Yorkers live are grim. Poverty, unemployment, home foreclosures, and small business bankruptcies keep growing.
On the other side of the tracks, the top twenty-five hedge fund managers recorded an average of $1 billion each, or over $80 million each a month in 2009. Quite a quick rebound on the backs of American taxpayers and privileged tax policies.
Low-moderate and middle-income New Yorkers already pay a higher percentage of family income in state and local taxes than do the richest one percent of New Yorkers!
Surprisingly, there is a simple way to eliminate the state deficit and prevent tens of thousands of layoffs and large service cutbacks.
What most New Yorkers do not know is that for about a century there has been a state stock transfer tax on purchases of securities. This year, this tax, similar to ones imposed in 30 other countries, will amount to about $16 billion. Amazingly, since 1979, this tax has been instantly rebated by New York State back to the brokers or clearinghouses who paid it. A 100% rebate every year for the bailed out industry that caused the recession and its immense human damage.
Obviously the stock exchanges and their brokers wield big political power. Flush with arrogance, bailouts and profits, they have no shame. So after blocking a tax on those unconscionable bonuses that outraged so many Americans, the securities industry has made sure that neither the Democratic nor Republican candidates for Governor utter a peep about retaining this $16 billion in tax revenues to get the state out of its dire straits.
One man, Howie Hawkins from Syracuse, NY, is challenging both the big boys on Wall Street and the duopolists’ candidates. He is the Green Party candidate for Governor, nicknamed the Green Hornet. Pollinating truth and justice across the State, this ex-Marine, author, long-time citizen advocate, working blue collar teamster and public interest thinker, challenged Mr. Cuomo’s self-imposed taboo:
“Why is Mr. Cuomo, the anointed front runner, hiding the Stock Transfer Tax from the public when it is an obvious way to bridge the state budget deficit? Why does he rule out higher taxes on the rich when they have more money than ever, why won’t he make them pay their fair share, when they’ll still be rich after paying their fair share?”
All the politicians in Albany act like we’re out of money and debate over what services to cut, all the while refusing to tell New Yorkers about the $16 billion they hand back to Wall Street speculators,” he added.
Mr. Cuomo is a recipient of campaign contributions from hedge fund managers.
Take any poll. Betcha New Yorkers overwhelmingly support Mr. Hawkins’ position (see: www.howiehawkins.com). Unfortunately, the two major parties predictably exclude him from any debates this fall.
If you are a New Yorker, and after reading this you are less indignant than you would be were you overcharged by a cab driver or were hurled a racist or ethnic slur from some passerby, it is unlikely you’ll hustle up a neighborhood or workplace petition to demand that your lawmakers in Albany legislate keeping that $16 billion and all the jobs that can be saved with that revenue.
My guess is that if a million New Yorkers sign such petitions in the next three weeks and talk it up where they live in city, town and countryside, they’ll win. You’ll also signal that you’re ready to jettison your political servitude and assert the sovereignty of the people as expressed in our Constitution’s preamble—“we the people.”
If you can’t wait, call your Albany legislators at 518-455-2800 (State Senate) or 518-455-4100 (State Assembly) to see when they will be near your town during this summer. Go and give them two earfuls and demand that they commit.
Ralph Nader is the author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, a novel.
http://www.counterpunch.org/nader08062010.html
Hi Ace- natural gas like any other commodity flucuates. Yes price is down now as supply outstrips demand. The questions arise, what will the future hold for gas as energy policy promotes use? Or if Isreal attacks Iran disrupting the oil supply? Or if - fill in the blank. I don't believe this mini boom here is going to dry up anytime soon. The gas companies can't get rigs in here fast enough. $Billions have already been spent. What do they know that we don't? No one knows the future.
.......al
I saw the same thing happenning to the dollar stores near here starting last summer. The best one closed recently due to higher costs. It was literally a supermarket with nothing priced higher than a buck. You could even get fresh cut lunch meats. This area has been economically depressed for many years and dollar stores thrive. Unlike most of the rest of the country I do see light at the end of the tunnel. I'm sitting right on top of the Marcellus Shale natural gas field. This area is booming right now with drilling companies going like wildfire putting in wells. A lot of people have been put back to work. Too bad it's only a regional thing.
.............al
For the record, my search engine has been working overtime the past 2 days. I've got ETNL hits all over the place. Far too many to cut and post. With this old computer of mine it would take a week to post them all. Maybe someday I'll come into the 21st century. Just want to advise that at least a dozen microcap touters have been on the company for the past 2 days. Perhaps that 3rd party that paid for the pump has far reaching tentacles. Personally I don't care for it. But I can't complain if more people become aware of the stock and the company. I hope everyone has enjoyed the ride. Things are looking better IMHO.
..........al
Tons of gold imports turn to dust on arrival
http://www.emirates247.com/markets/gold/tons-of-gold-imports-turn-to-dust-on-arrival-2010-08-15-1.279082
Gold imported into the UAE by traders and investors turned out to be fake on closer inspection
By
* VM Sathish
Published Sunday, August 15, 2010
Gold imported into the UAE by traders and investors turned out to be fake on closer inspection. (FILE)
Several tons of gold imported into the UAE by traders and investors turned out to be fake on closer inspection, resulting in millions of dirhams in losses and high levels of stress to the victims.
Speaking to Emirates 24|7, Mohamad Shakarchi,, Managing Director of Emirates Gold, said: "A lot of people in the UAE who tried to import gold at lower prices or through dubious overseas companies have been cheated.
We have inspected many consignments from African countries, especially Ghana, and found that there is not an ounce of gold in them.
For importing pure dust or other metals with yellow colour, these traders have paid several million dirhams.”
Dubai Customs sources confirmed the incidence of fake gold imports, but did not reply to a questionnaire sent by Emirates 24|7 ten days ago.
“The concerned official is on leave,” said a spokesman.
Emirates Gold has stopped examining gold imported from Africa. "We send specialists to examine a gold consignment only if it is routed through a local company.
We don’t have time to waste because most of these so called gold imports are fake. The traders got greedy. They thought they were getting gold at a discounted rate.”
Mohammed said that at least five tonnes of fake yellow metal is lying with Dubai Customs.
A tonne of gold will cost approximately $40 million. Merchants estimated that the minimum loss of fake gold imported by local traders is nothing less than $200 million.
He said many clients and Dubai Customs have requested the use of company’s expertise to verify the purity of gold. “The fake gold issue has affected many people. Some of the traders got heart attack, after our inspectors said there is no gold in the tonnes of imports brought from Africa,” Mohammed said.
Recent media reports suggested that several million dollars worth of gold with the Ethiopian Central Bank turned out to be fake. These bars of gold turned out to be gold plated steel bars
African gold merchants claim to be in possession of large quantities of gold dust or gold bars, which they offer to sell at below market prices.
The would-be buyer is made to send money for travel of the seller, for insurance, for shipping and for refinery assays before they would receive anything of any value. Investors are shown samples, which may be original gold.
But when the consignment reaches the port, it will be only mud or sand. Once Dubai Customs tightened controls, fake gold imports started reaching the UAE through other ports.
The seller can walk away at any point with virtually no risk of being caught as all contacts are via anonymous free webmail accounts accessed from Internet cafes and via prepaid mobile phones.
After the real estate and stock market investments became dull, many local investors have turned to commodity, especially gold investment, said the Chief
Executive Officer of JRG Commodities, Sajith Kumar PK.
Mexico home of the majority of illegal aliens. Home to American corporations seeking to pay far less than fair wages. Home to environmental nightmares caused by these same corporations that pay off Mexican politicoes to look the other way. Home to vicious drug cartels also paying off the politicians and police. Now for an interesting idea. Have Mexico apply for statehood to become the 51st state. Illegal alien problem almost totally solved. Crooked politicians and police subject to American laws and justice. Not that our own homegrown politicians are squeeky clean but are far more subtle about how they take their bribes. EPA to go after corporate America to clean up the damage they have caused in Mexico. Corporate America required to pay a decent wage. Mexican economy gets a large boost and perhaps not so many workers are willing to come north. And finally the unemployment problem here in the US would be almost negated as corporate America would hire millions to lobby against allowing Mexico to become the 51st state. Too farfetched? Probably.
..........al
Getting an LOC funding in the current economic climate is a real caveat. I don't know how many of us keep up with current economic news but the reality right now is that credit is almost nonexistant. The company must have something going for them long term or this would never have happenned. Looking at the trading in shares the past few days it seems that someone knew something was up. A $5 million LOC nondilutive? A big WOW!! Sometimes it seems like this company's progress moves like a dinosaur. Yet they plod along getting things done. Patience my friends, this has a long way to go. Rewards may seem out of reach now, but I do believe the time will come for them.
.........al
MM ARCA is on the bid with 50K. I've observed ARCA over many years and have found their traders to be the saviest in the pennystock world. Many have lost large $$$ going against them. Glad to see them on the bid.
.........al
In addition, from what I have been told by an independant funeral home owner, there are very few independants left. The 2 majors have bought out most of them and while they still look like local funeral parlors, they are in reality owned and controlled by the majors. I can't actually verify any of this. It's just what I've been told. FWIW.
..........al
Hello midrew- it does sound like a good marketing plan. Now with the Matthews deal and other distributors, who should be doing the marketing? Yes EI should do some to at least raise awareness of the product. Yet I would think the retail end should also be there to help sell the product. Historically this whole industry seems to be very reserved on marketing products. Perhaps the whole burden of market awareness is falling on EI's shoulders. The free press helps, but as any advertising exec will tell you, people need to be constantly reminded of the product's availability so when the need arises it is thought of as a first consideration. Just MHO.
........al
more elaborate article:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_4695fc3b-a35f-5aea-bf8f-54bcfbaaccb6.html
Caskets are final show of baseball loyalty
Share |
By Dave Seminara • Special to the Post-Dispatch | Posted: Friday, August 13, 2010 12:15 am |
Aug. 12, 2010 -- Eternal Image began selling caskets with major league baseball themes in 2008. The casket's price is $3,500.
Chase Shaw was a loyal Cardinals fan. He would often chide his father, Steve, for abandoning their post in front of the television if the Cards fell behind late in a game. "He'd come into my bedroom and say, 'You better turn it back on, they're getting ready to rally,'" Steve Shaw said. "He liked to repeat Mike Shannon's home run call. He'd say, 'Get up baby, get up, get up!'"
Chase Shaw died in a car accident in December, at age 22, near the Saints Avenue Café he managed in Canton, Mo. "As soon as the tragedy happened, there was no doubt in my mind that I'd get him a Cardinals casket because that's what he would've wanted," Steve Shaw said. Chase Shaw was laid to rest in a Cardinals jersey and hat, with a Cardinals bat and ball inside of a Cardinals casket, which was placed inside a burial vault adorned with the Cardinals logo, in a plot near their home in Hannibal, Mo. "If we could've gotten a Cardinals logo on his headstone, I would've done that, too," Shaw said. "We live the Cardinals."
As the Cardinals and Cubs resume their rivalry today at Busch Stadium, fans will reopen their never-ending battle for bragging rights. But while nearly every aspect of the rivalry can be easily quantified, one question eludes easy answers: Which team has the most loyal fans?
Not even Bill James, the godfather of sabermetrics, could invent a statistic to measure fan loyalty; but surely the sales of team logo caskets, urns and burial vaults are as good a measure as any to quantify fan loyalty and passion. In 2008, a Michigan-based company called Eternal Image began selling caskets for $3,500, which come complete with mini bats for handles, and urns bearing Major League Baseball team logos for $799.
According to Nick Popravsky, the company's vice president of sales and marketing, team logo casket sales were up 32 percent in 2009. The company's sales of MLB urns and caskets are nearing 3,000. And while there may be no Cubs-Cardinals pennant race in 2010, the two teams are neck and neck for the lead in National League casket sales.
"We started out with just five teams to see if the market would accept this, and they have. People love it," Popravsky said. The company has expanded its product line to include caskets for all 30 MLB teams and the kind of headstone medallions that weren't available when Chase Shaw died.
But why do fans want to take their team allegiances with them into eternity?
"This is for the die-hard fans — excuse the pun," said Hal Wilkes, director of the Christy Vault Co., which distributes MLB caskets and urns. "People take their sports loyalties with them — even to the grave. This is the ultimate final purchase for a passionate baseball fan."
With 10 titles, 17 pennants and 23 playoff appearances, it's easy to understand how the Cardinals command cradle-to-grave and beyond loyalty from their fans. But why would Cubs fans, tormented by their team's futility in the living realm, want to carry that frustrating allegiance into the hereafter?
"People are more loyal to their sports teams than they are to their spouses," Wilkes said. "It's a second religion — it's sports worship. It's eternal optimism."
Dennis Mancari, a lifelong Cubs fan, is the creator of Beyond the Vines, a final resting place where the ashes of eternally optimistic Cubs fans can be interred inside Cubs urns in a 24-foot-long ivy-covered brick wall. Mancari sought to create the kind of environment people would actually enjoy visiting, a warm antidote to a typical mausoleum.
Herb and Evelyn Lathrope of Arlington Heights, Ill., were the first two die-hards to reserve their places in the wall. Herb died in 2009, but Evelyn, now 85, is still hoping to see the Cubs win the World Series before she takes her place next to her husband at Beyond the Vines.
"We're always hopeful," she said. "Once a Cubs fan, always a Cubs fan. It's not just till death do us part."
Lathrope, who was at Wrigley Field in 1945 to witness the Cubs most recent World Series appearance, sees nothing unusual about seeking Cub fan immortality; maintaining a connection to the team is important because 'sooner or later they will win, and you want to be a part of that."
For Lathrope, there is no debate about which team has the most loyal fans.
"Cubs fans are more loyal — we haven't won in so long, but we keep hanging in there. It's easy to be a Cardinals fan — they win!"
But tell that to Cardinals fan Joan Benson, a teacher at Holy Rosary Middle School in Monroe City, Mo., who already has reserved her Cardinals casket. "I'm in no rush, but when my time comes, absolutely, that's what I want to be buried in," she said.
"The casket has a Cardinals logo in the middle," Benson said. "As a loyal Catholic, the crucifix should really be in the middle, but I'll have to put the crucifix on one side, and the Virgin Mary on the other. Religion is first, then family, then the Cardinals."
While MLB caskets, urns and vaults are proving to be surprisingly popular, the NHL, NBA and NFL have resisted the idea, even as the NCAA has allowed more than 200 colleges and universities to license their logo to casket manufacturers. Critics might accuse MLB of exploiting the most devout fans by offering pricey products, but for those coping with a devastating loss, reaffirming a loved one's allegiance to a cherished team is a way to celebrate their life.
When Larissa Rzemienski's husband, Ben Maldonado, died in his sleep last year of a brain cyst at age 34, she knew right away that she wanted his ashes to be placed in a Cubs urn at Beyond the Vines, inside the Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago.
"He believed in God, but he didn't go to church," she said. "He did watch the Cubs religiously and his mood usually depended on whether the Cubs were winning."
Putting Maldonado to rest in a place he would have loved provided comfort to her at a time when she was wracked with grief. "If we had done a traditional funeral, it would have been more somber, and it wouldn't have had as much meaning. This just seemed right," she said.
Steve Shaw also found comfort in paying tribute to his son's greatest passion during his family's most trying time. "I was thrilled with the dignity of how we buried him, because I know it's what he would've wanted," he said.
No one knows how the Cardinals-Cubs rivalry plays out beyond the grave, but many fans of both teams contend that their team loyalty comes with no expiration date.
Opening Day this year was particularly difficult for Shaw, who also plans to be buried in a Cardinals casket, because it was the first he had experienced in many years without his son at his side. But in death, his son taught him something about being a loyal Cardinals fan. "Now when they're behind, I keep watching, because Chase always used to tell me I gave up too easily. He never gave up."
Post Dispatch article:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/multimedia/birds-nest/article_ae698d7e-a659-11df-99c2-00127992bc8b.html?mode=story
What's the Bird say about Cards-Cubs fans taking rivalry to the grave?
Share |
BY STEVE PARKER > Deputy managing editor/News > sparker@post-dispatch.com | Posted: Thursday, August 12, 2010 4:15 pm | 1 Comment
Poll
What's the Weatherbird say about Cards-Cubs fans taking rivalry to the grave?
A couple years ago a Michigan-based company named Eternal Image began selling caskets, urns and burial vaults with team logos for die-hard baseball fans.
For Cardinals and Cubs fans, it's given them the chance to take their rivalry to the grave, reports a story on the front page of Friday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch and on STLtoday.com.
As the story notes, the Cards and Cubs open a three-game series Friday at Busch Stadium with only one of them in a pennant race. But their fans are No. 1 and No. 2 nationally in buying the team logo burial gear.
As a distributor of the Major League Baseball caskets and urns says:
"This is the ultimate final purchase for a passionate baseball fan."
It's a paid pump. I don't think the company is responsible. Do I hear NIR again?
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/press-release/cdmhy_etnl_hbwo_laxaf_redhotpennystock-com-etnl-hbwo-laxaf-redhotpennystock-com-alert--1106792.html
redhotpennystock.com: ETNL, HBWO, LAXAF "Redhotpennystock.com Alert"
Posted on: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:10:48 EDT
Symbols: ETNL, HBWO, CDMHY, LAXAF
* Email to friend
* Print
* Add This
* RSS Feed
* Font size: A A A
Aug 12, 2010 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) --
Bull in Advantage, LLC a.k.a. Redhotpennystock.com names: Eternal Image, Inc. (the "Company") (OTCBB: ETNL | PowerRating), Harbor Brewing Company, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: HBWO | PowerRating) and Laxai Pharma, Ltd. (the "Company") (OTCBB: LAXAF | PowerRating) its "Redhotpennystock.com Alert"
Visit our site at either http://bullinadvantage.com/ or http://redhotpennystock.com/ to sign up for our free ahead of the curve newsletter!
Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/bullinadvantage ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
August 9th, 2010-- Eternal Image, Inc. (the "Company") (OTCBB:ETNL), a public company engaged in the design, manufacturing and marketing of officially licensed memorial products such as caskets, urns, monuments and vaults, today released the following Letter to Shareholders on its website: Dear Shareholders: Eternal Image is preparing for what will be our busiest fall season to date. In September we will be launching our first cremation urn for Star Trek. The design is brand-new and has never been shown to the public before. Details about this launch will be available shortly, and will instruct people how and when to view the urn on the date of the official launch. We have a very unique rollout planned.
Also in September, some prototypes of Eternal Image's product line for the Vatican Observatory will be on display at the Catholic Cemetery Conference and Expo in Omaha, Nebraska. This show is the premier venue for Catholic cemeterians nationwide, and the perfect opportunity for getting feedback on the product. Following the show, the feedback that we have garnered will be implemented into the final production designs.
The Vatican Observatory line is proving to be our most expansive ever. In addition to caskets, urns, and memorials, Frank Colapinto (President of our New World Gift Company division) is overseeing designs for liturgical candles, retail candles, and candles for the South American market, specifically a line for Brazilian Catholics. We also have a line of memorial prayer cards, thank you cards, and registry books that is nearing completion, and our distributor of those has told us the Vatican Observatory line could very likely dominate the memorial card and registry book market among U.S. Catholics.
Some of you may have seen the announcement that we recently sold our 2,000th baseball urn in July. That number is already approaching 2,200 and we anticipate expanding the line from the 13-teams currently available to all 30-teams later this year. Also, our infant and youth casket sales are exceeding expectations and are moving an average of 5-10 units monthly--respectable numbers for a product with less than a 2% share of the casket market and not quite one year of market exposure.
While too preliminary for this Letter, be assured Eternal Image is also diligently working on two other projects mentioned earlier this year: a non-equity/non-dilutive funding deal; and a new license to add to our portfolio. Details about these projects are forthcoming.
As always, thank you for your continued support.
Eternal Image Management Team About Eternal Image Eternal Image, incorporated in 2006, is headquartered in Farmington Hills, MI. The company is the first and only manufacturer and marketer of licensed brand image memorial products. Currently, the company offers urns and caskets that feature licensed images from Major League Baseball(TM), STAR TREK(R), Precious Moments(TM), the Vatican Observatory Foundation(R), and the Collegiate Licensing Company, as well as pet urns featuring the American Kennel Club(TM), and Cat Fanciers'(TM) Association. In 2010, Eternal Image formed a new division called the New World Gift Company. New World manages the design, manufacturing, and marketing of ancillary products such as liturgical candles, retail memorial candles, registry books, memorial prayer cards, and other gift items. For more information about Eternal Image or New World Gift Company, visit www.eternalimage.net, www.newworldgiftcompany.com, or call 1-888-6-CASKET.
August 12th, 2010-- Harbor Brewing Company, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: HBWO), a holding of Seaway Valley Capital Corporation (PINKSHEETS: SEVA), announced it has begun the process and is taking the necessary steps to apply for listing as an over-the-counter bulletin board ("OTCBB") listing. The company expects to file an S1 Registration Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that will include audited financials for the years 2008, 2009 and the first quarter of 2010 ended March 31st. Harbor Brewing Company is the parent company of Sackets Harbor Brewing Company, Alteri's Bakery, Inc. and Seaway Realty Holdings.
Thomas Scozzafava, Chairman and President of Harbor Brewing Company stated, "We expect the company to become audited and fully reporting in the coming months, and we hope this level of disclosure and transparency improves the efficiency of the market for our publicly traded securities." Mr. Scozzafava added, "Further, we hope that these efficiencies translate into more opportunities to attract growth capital for both our prospective brewery and our bakery expansion." About Harbor Brewing Company, Inc.
Harbor Brewing Company, Inc. develops and acquires craft brewing companies and select craft beer labels.The company acquired Sackets Harbor Brewing Company ("SHBC") (www.1812ale.com) in August 2009.SHBC develops, produces, and markets micro brewed beers such as the award winning "War of 1812 Amber Ale" and "Thousand Island Pale Ale" as well as "Railroad Red Ale," "1812 Amber Ale Light" and "Harbor Wheat" specialty beers.Its "1812 Amber Ale" is the company's flagship brand and was the winner of a Silver Award at the World Beer Championship. The company has also developed complementary products such as Sackets Harbor Coffee and Sackets Harbor Brewing Co. Root Beer.
About Seaway Valley Capital Corporation (www.seawayvalleycapitalcorp.com) makes equity, equity-related, and debt investments in companies that require expansion capital. Seaway also seeks investments in leveraged buyouts and restructurings.Seaway will consider investment opportunities in a number of different industries, including retail, restaurants, consumer products, media, business services, manufacturing, and select technologies.Seaway Valley's current portfolio includes Hackett's Stores, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: HCKI) and Harbor Brewing Company, Inc.
August 12th-- Laxai Pharma, Ltd. (the "Company") (OTCBB:LAXAF), an international pharmaceutical contract research organization ("CRO"), is pleased to announce the addition of previously interim Chief Executive Officer, Naren Mallakunta to the Company's Full time Management Team.
Mr. Naren Mallakunta brings over 23 years of Management experience in virtually all aspects of Marketing, Project Management, Operations, Finance and Business Development to the table. He has created and implemented successful development, managerial, and financial strategies at various key executive positions in numerous leading organizations.
"I am extremely excited about the prospects of Laxai. There are multiple avenues for growth and profitability that we are continuing and planning to pursue going forward. Ram and the rest of the team have a solid platform from which we can not only add organic growth, but fold in both domestic and international acquisitions and joint ventures as well," stated Mr. Mallakunta.
Mr. Mallakunta's resume includes serving as the Global Head of Business Development at GVK Biosciences, Asia's leading Contract Research Organization offering Drug Discovery and Development services, where he played a significant role during its rise from inception to the top in its industry. His experience in the industry includes structuring innovative business deals with Big Pharma and Biotech companies, some of which have been the most significant collaborations in the Contract Research Industry. Further, he has contributed towards setting new standards that drive efficiency and productivity while partnering with the biopharmaceutical industry.
"We are confident that Naren will be a tremendous asset to Laxai. By placing a Chief Executive Officer with his capability and experience at the helm, we expect to be able to substantially accelerate the Company's growth," stated Ram Ajjarapu, Executive Chairman of Laxai.
About Laxai Pharma, Ltd.
Laxai Pharma LTD. is a Contract Research Organization providing integrated services across the drug discovery and development spectrum. The Company has steadily evolved, with global facilities in the United States and India. Laxai provides services in Medicinal Chemistry, Biology, Process R&D and Analytical Services, Clinical Research, Strategic Resourcing and Training to the Biopharmaceutical and Agrochemical Companies. Laxai offers a unique value proposition to clients in their drug discovery and development initiatives through innovative global partnership models.
Visit http://www.redhotpennystock.com to read our full disclaimer and/or sign up for our exceptional newsletter! Bull in Advantage, LLC Legal Disclaimer: Never invest in any stock featured on our site or emails unless you can afford to lose your entire investment. This disclaimer is to be read and fully understood before using our site, or joining our email list.PLEASE NOTE: The employees are NOT Registered as Investment Advisors in any jurisdiction whatsoever. Also note that by submitting a request for a page on our website, or by signing up for our Newsletter you are explicitly consenting to have read, understood, and agreed to all of the terms set forth by this disclaimer.Release of Liability: Through use of this website viewing or using you agree to hold Bull in Advantage, LLC, its operators owners and employees harmless and to completely release them from any and all liability due to any and all loss(monetary or otherwise), damage (monetary or otherwise), or injury (monetary or otherwise) that you may incur. Neither the information presented nor any statement or expression of opinion, or any other matter herein, directly or indirectly constitutes a representation by the publisher nor a solicitation of the purchase or sale of any securities.Owners of BIA received seven thousand five hundred dollars from a third party for a one week awareness campaign for LAXAF. Owners of Bull in Advantage, LLC received ten thousand dollars from a third party of ETNL as consideration for a one week awareness campaign which has since expired. Bull in Advantage, LLC received an additional ten thousand dollars to extend its contract an additional week. To this date BIA has received a total of twenty thousand dollars from a third party of ETNL for two weeks of coverage. Bull in Advantage, LLC does on occasion sell shares in the open market without notice, ; and on occasion is compensated by a Third-Party for its above-referenced services with the companys stock. Bull in Advantage, LLC reserves its right to sell such securities at any time and without notice.The information contained herein is based on sources which we believe to be reliable but is not guaranteed by us as being accurate and does not purport to be a complete statement or summary of the available data. The owner, publisher, editor and their associates are not responsible for errors and omissions. Where such errors/omissions occur, the employees will expediently and without fail, correct said errors/omissions. They may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. Any opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. Bull in Advantage, LLC encourages readers and investors to supplement the information in these reports with independent research and other professional advice.
All information on featured companies is provided, and explicitly consented by the companies profiled, OR is available from public sources and makes no representations, warranties or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of the disclosure by the profiled companies or the information contained herein.However, Bull in Advantage, LCC maintains that it will publish information which is accurate to the best of it's knowlegde. If at any time updated data becomes available, it is the responsibility of the employees to bring you said information in a timely manner. Bull in Advantage, LLC and its affiliates are not registered or liscenced investment advisors, nor broker dealers. Bull in Advantage, LLC advises that the investments in companies profiled are commonly considered to be high risk and use of the information provided is at the investor's sole risk. Bull in Advantage, LLC also advises that the purchase of such high risk securities may result in the loss of some or all of the investment. Investors should never rely solely on the information presented. Rather, investors should use the information provided by the profiled companies as a starting point for doing additional independent research on the profiled companies in order to allow the investor to form his or her own opinion regarding investing in the profiled companies. Factual statements made by the profiled companies are made as of the date stated and are subject to change without notice. Investing in micro-cap securities is highly speculative and carries an extremely high degree of risk. It is possible that an investor's entire investment may be lost or impaired due to the speculative nature of the companies profiled.
Bull in Advantage, LLC makes no recommendation that the securities of the companies profiled should be purchased, sold or held by individuals or entities that learn of the profiled companies through our services.
Employees/Officers may or may not hold positions in the companies that are profiled.
The information contained herein contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1993 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 including statements regarding expected continual growth of the company and the value of its securities.In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 it is hereby noted that statements contained herein that look forward in time which include everything other than historical information, involve risk and uncertainties that may affect the company's actual results of operation. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the size and growth of the market for the company's products, the company's ability to fund its capital requirements in the near term and in the long term, pricing pressures, unforeseen and/or unexpected circumstances in happenings, pricing pressures, etc. Investing in securities is speculative and carries risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results.Third Party Web Sites and Information: The Bull in Advantage website and newsletter may provide hyperlinks to third party websites or access to third party content. Note that Bull in Advantage, LLC does not provide, control, endorse, or guarantee content found in such sites, except where clearly listed as having done so. (As in the case of a widespread Press-Release) You agree that Bull in Advantage, LLC is not responsible for any content, associated links, resources, or services associated with a third party site.
You further agree that Bull in Advantage, LLC shall not be liable for any loss or damage of any sort associated with your use of third party content.
Links and access to these sites are provided for your convenience only.
CONTACT: Redhotpennystock.com e-mail: Redhotpennystock@hotmail.com
((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.
For full details on (ETNL) ETNL. (ETNL) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on (ETNL) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.
For full details on (HBWO) HBWO. (HBWO) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on (HBWO) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.
For full details on (CDMHY) CDMHY. (CDMHY) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on (CDMHY) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.
For full details on (LAXAF) LAXAF. (LAXAF) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on (LAXAF) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.
Altho most posters on this board already know about gold storage options, this could help someone new to the arena.
By Catherine Austin Fitts and Carolyn Betts
August 10, 2010
PREFACE
In this article, we summarize some of the better-known custodial, vaulting, and digital gold arrangements available to individual investors in precious metals and provide a list of considerations for those interested in exploring these and other alternatives available to them.
With prices for gold denominated in U.S. dollars at high levels, increasing discomfort with prolonged global financial market uncertainties and increasing recognition of the risks inherent in investment in precious metals ETFs, the demand for precious metals storage services is growing. Witness a recent Financial Times article reproduced on the Gold Anti-Trust Action site entitled "Banks Set New Store on Building Gold Vaults." At the same time, however, some banks reportedly are shedding their smaller, non-institutional clients in order to concentrate on more lucrative institutional customers. See, e.g., a recent Telegraph article, "HSBC Starts Gold Rush as It Kicks Small Clients Out of its Vaults."
While we believe that the ideal precious metals storage alternative from many perspectives is a secure, at-home cache, in some cases home storage is not practicable—for example, for particularly large holdings. Also, many investors desire to maintain holdings in a variety of places and legal jurisdictions.
The storage option chosen in many cases, providing convenient access during business hours in case of emergency is a safe deposit box in a trusted local bank. For a host of reasons, however, some precious metals investors prefer or want to supplement local holdings with off-shore institutional alternatives, storage facilities that can provide insurance, accounting and transportation services, institutions that provide digital gold or silver payment systems or custodians or other depositories that provide the security of an established name or governmental entity standing behind the authenticity of their metals holdings. In addition, use of third party storage facilities permits investors with multiple residences or transient lifestyles to hold precious metals in one or more jurisdictions of their choosing based upon convenience or tax or national or economic security considerations.
In this article, we summarize some of the better-known custodial, vaulting, and digital gold arrangements available to individual investors in precious metals and provide a list of considerations for those interested in exploring these and other alternatives available to them. This is not a comprehensive list and our summary is no substitute for individual due diligence, but we hope this will help to introduce new investors in precious metals to the important considerations in arranging for third parties to hold their precious metals investments.
A. SOME KEY DEFINITIONS
Allocated Account (versus Unallocated Account): It is important to read the definition of this term as used in a contract with a particular storage company, vault or custodian, because the term as used by different precious metals storage facilities may vary according to the individual arrangements. Generally, an allocated account is a custodial account, with the storage facility holding as a bailee or agent for the title owner who, in the case of a bankruptcy of the storage company, is entitled to the return of the physical metals held in storage. Unless otherwise specified, unallocated holdings are not physically segregated from the accounts of the storage company or other investors and, as in the case of Perth Mint, do not necessarily even exist in manufactured form, but rather appear as entry on the storage company’s balance sheet as an asset to that company and as a liability to the investor. In the case of a bankruptcy of the storage facility, the investor is a creditor and may take a loss. Metal in allocated storage is a tangible asset, but unallocated metal is only, or additionally, a financial asset, i.e., with counterparty risk.
As used by the Perth Mint, the term "allocated" as to a precious metals account refers to a physical holding of coins or bars that is segregated from holdings of other investors, separate and apart from the holdings of the storage company (in this case, Perth Mint).
As used by BMG Management, the term "allocated storage" is synonymous with "custodial storage," which it defines as:
"Supervised, secure storage arrangements for owners who have full legal ownership of specific bullion bars and wish to place them in storage. Unless the bars can be specifically identified by refiner, exact weight, fineness and serial number they cannot be allocated and they do not qualify for custodial storage."
Bailee (quoted from Law.com Dictionary): A person, also called a custodian, with whom some article is left, usually pursuant to a contract (called a "contract of bailment"), who is responsible for the safe return of the article to the owner when the contract is fulfilled. These can include banks holding bonds, storage companies where furniture or files are deposited, a parking garage, or a kennel or horse ranch where an animal is boarded. Leaving goods in a sealed rented box, like a safe deposit box, is not a bailment, and the holder is not a bailee since he cannot handle or control the goods.
Chain of Integrity (quoted from Buillon Management Group, Inc.): A locally recognized chain of custody among trusted trading partners where bullion bars are accepted at face value without an assay test. COMEX rules specify an official "chain of integrity" for COMEX GOLD contracts. The London Bullion Market Association maintains a "Good Delivery List" of member refineries that meet certain membership requirements and have passed assay tests. Bullion products from these refineries will generally be accepted by other members of the LBMA [at] face value without further assay testing. However, the LBMA’s chain of integrity is purely informal. When purchasing bullion products the face value can generally be accepted if the product can be shown to have remained in the custody of a certified bullion repository since its manufacture at an acceptable refinery.
Custodian: See "bailee."
Depository (quoted from Merriam-Webster Dictionary): A place where something is deposited especially for safekeeping. Even though this term is properly used for both bank and non-bank facilities and the entities that own them (also called "depositaries"), due to its derivation from the term "deposit" and the association of "deposit" with financial institutions, we have generally preferred the term "storage facility." Nevertheless, that term, too, is imperfect, given that in some cases of unallocated precious metals holdings (as described below), no tangible metal is held physically on the investor’s behalf.
LBMA (quoted from Buillon Management Group, Inc.): London Bullion Market Association established in 1987 with the brief to represent the interests and well being of all the participants of the bullion market. Within its charter are codes of conduct covering protocol, behavior and ethics. Membership is open to any wholesale organization involved in the storage, refining, assaying or trading of bullion within the UK.
LBMA Good Delivery Status (quoted from London Bullion Market Association): Historically, the members of the London bullion market compiled lists of accredited melters and assayers whose gold and silver bars they would accept without question in settlement against transactions conducted between each other and with other acceptable counterparts. Such bars earned the distinction of London Good Delivery status.
The LBMA Good Delivery List is now widely recognized as representing the de facto standard for the quality of gold and silver bars, in large part thanks to the stringent criteria for assaying standards and bar quality that an applicant must satisfy in order to be listed. The assaying capabilities of refiners on the Good Delivery List are periodically checked under the LBMA’s Proactive Monitoring program.
The main requirements to be considered for listing are normally that a refiner must:
* Have an established track record of at least three years of producing the refined metal for which the listing is being sought;
* Produce a minimum quantity of refined metal per year – 10 tonnes of gold and 30 tonnes of silver;
* Have a tangible net worth of at least £10 million equivalent;
* Furnish evidence of their ownership structure and directors; and
* Provide, if required, a suitable letter of endorsement, e.g., from the central bank or an acceptable commercial bank in their country of operation.
The Good Delivery Rules for Gold and Silver Bars contain a complete description of the rules governing the specifications for good delivery bars and the application procedures for listing.
Safe Deposit Box (quoted from Merriam-Webster Dictionary): A box—usually located inside a bank—which is used to store valuables. A safe deposit box is rented from the institution and can be accessed with keys, pin numbers or some other security pass. Valuables such as documents and jewelry are placed inside and customers rely on the security of the building to protect those valuables. The contents of a safe deposit box are not insured in the same way bank deposits are. [In the case of U.S. banks, t]he Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures cash deposits up to a certain limit, but due to the fact that there is no way to verify the contents of a safe deposit box, banks will not insure their contents. Also, if heirs are not told about the location of the drawer, upon non-payment, the box is considered abandoned, and its contents are turned over to the state's unclaimed-property offices for auction.
Storage Facility: As used in this article, the term "storage facility" or "storage company" refers to any third party that holds precious metals either physically or on its books on behalf of a customer. Thus, as explained in greater detail herein, the term incorporates a host of situations, including:
* both fiduciary and bailee/custodial relationships and situations in which the facility has no access to the client’s assets unless the client provides a key and, thus very limited duties to the client with respect to the held assets
* both tangible holdings in physical form and book-entry financial assets potentially subject to claims of the facility’s creditors
* both undivided interests in commingled coins, bullion or unminted precious metals and individually identified and/or packaged bars or coins
* both situations where the company performs all holding, accounting, insurance, conversion and transportation functions and situations where third parties (who may or may not have any direct contractual relationship with the customer) perform such functions
Trustee: A trustee is similar to a bailee but may have additional duties and has additional responsibilities to the owner of assets (which may be intangible assets) held on behalf of the client. The client is the "beneficiary" of the trust created by the relationship and, at least under U.S. state law, is owed a fiduciary duty by the trustee. As in the case of the custodian/bailee, in the event of a bankruptcy, the client’s assets held by the trustee do not become subject to the claims of the trustee’s creditors. Generally, precious metals held in an account with a bank trust department, as part of a family trust or in an IRA or 401K would be subject to a trust agreement describing the functions performed by the trustee, although trust arrangements may exist in the absence of a written agreement (in which case proof may be an issue in the event of challenge to the ownership of the assets).
Vault: A secure structure made of steel and often embedded in reinforced concrete for the safekeeping of valuables. A vault may be:
* located at the residence of or other real estate owned or controlled by the owner of the stored assets;
* within a bank or other financial institution rented on a monthly, annual or other basis to which the renter has exclusive access with a key;
* within a financial institution to which only bank personnel and its agents, and not clients, have access;
* an armored facility (with or without guard services) within a larger non-financial storage operation providing services to the public or invited clients.
B. QUESTIONS TO ASK
Are your precious metals held in allocated or unallocated, segregated or unsegregated, form? If both options are available, what are the price differentials for individual metals?
If in allocated form, how are they segregated:
• only on the records of the storage company
• by individual bar number
• according to the institution through which the metals are held
• physically according to the individual investor’s name
If held in unallocated form, what is the credit of the entity in whose name the metals are stored? What is the name of the entity that has a direct "fee" title to the metals and how do the precious metals holdings appear on the company’s balance sheet? Can the investor take delivery of his or her metals and what are the conditions and expenses of doing so? Does the investor hold an undivided interest in metals with other investors? Can the storage facility or any third party borrow, lease or otherwise use the investor’s metal for other purposes? If so, does the investor receive any benefit? Does the storage company publish a list of its holdings on a website or otherwise?
Can the storage facility use sub-custodians for storage and, if so, what is the liability of the subcustodian(s) to the investor?
What relationship does the storage facility have to the investor, i.e., is it a bailee/custodian, agent or trustee or does it provide limited services at the investor’s risk?
What are the arrangements for physical access and delivery, if any?
What arrangements are available for assigning an interest in the precious metals holdings to third parties (e.g., as security for a debt)?
Is there insurance against theft? Fraud? Does the insurance run to the investor individually, or to the storage facility or to some other intermediary? What are the procedures and requirements for an insurance claim? What risks are covered? Are there any limits on the insurance? Is the investor’s precious metal insured at all stages of its holding, e.g., when converted into currency form, when in transit, when held by third parties or in digital form? Who is the insurance carrier and what is its credit? Is proof of insurance available to the investor?
What auditing arrangements are provided? What is the reputation of the auditor? What exactly is audited – the databases and other records of the storage facility, the physical holdings by weight, the physical holdings by bar number, a sample of holdings or every holding? May the investor or his or her representative audit personally and on what basis? What references and security clearances are required for such a visit?
What are the standards for purity and chain of title? Are London Good Delivery Standards (LBMA) satisfied? Does the storage facility have arrangements to take delivery of exchange purchases?
In what country are the metals stored and what provisions and charges are there for transportation, liquidation, conversion into other metals or currencies and transfer to another vault?
Which country’s laws apply to the investor’s contract with the storage facility? Is the storage facility a regulated entity? If so, by what regulatory authority? Does the storage facility report the investor’s holdings under money-laundering or other reporting provisions? For U.S. investors, is the storage facility a foreign financial institution for purposes of IRS and FINCen "FBAR" reporting requirements.
If an online purchase or liquidation facility is involved, what security measures prevent identity theft? Who is responsible for breaches of the system? What is the credit of any responsible party?
If the facility also handles purchase and sale of the investor’s holdings, what is the source refinery, exchange member, LBMA member or otherwise for the metals and what charges are involved for purchase and liquidation? What is the relationship between the dealership entity and the custodial entity?
If the precious metals are purchased and/or held in a foreign country or state, what tax, customs, privacy and other laws apply? For example, for those considering depositing their precious metals in Switzerland or within the European Union, it is important to note that gold, but not silver, is exempt, from the value added tax. This means that silver coins or bullion can be subject to a non-recoverable VAT of significant amounts.
If the storage facility or an affiliate also operates investment funds, how does that relationship affect holdings of precious metals by individual investors? Are individual holdings segregated from those of the fund?
C. SOME EXAMPLES OF PRECIOUS METALS STORAGE FACILITIES1
* GoldMoney
* VIA MAT International
* Bullion Management Group
* Perth Mint
* Delaware Depository Service Company
* GoldSilverVault.com
* Security Center
(1) Gold Money
GoldMoney is a method of purchasing and storing gold, silver and platinum offshore in third-party vaults owned and operated by VIA MAT International [see separate listing below for more on individual VIA MAT storage facilities], an established independent vault company, in London, Zurich and Hong Kong. Storage facilities are shared with other GoldMoney precious metals investors. Investors hold either undivided interests in the entire holdings in allocated storage held for GoldMoney customers or own specific bars identified by bar number. GoldMoney has a claim on the metal only for unpaid fees. "GoldMoney" is the business name of Net Transactions Limited, a limited liability company incorporated in accordance with the laws of Jersey, British Channel Islands. GoldMoney is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission, which is the regulatory body responsible for regulation of financial services businesses in the Channel Islands. GoldMoney takes the position that since it is not a bank, customers do not have "accounts" with GoldMoney, but rather "Holdings," which are records of the physical metal they own.
When logged in to their Holdings, GoldMoney customers with full holdings may elect options to:
* convert gold, silver and platinum they own into various currencies
* reallocate Holdings among the three precious metals
* make internal payments, such as those for goods and services, to any other cap-verified full GoldMoney holdings owned by a third party with gold, silver or platinum as a form of digital precious metals currency (an option not available to residents of Germany)
* link to up to five of their bank accounts held in the holders name in any of 85 countries, including the U.S.
* in the case of gold, take delivery of bullion in the form of London Good Delivery bars of approximately 400oz each or exchange their goldgrams for kilobars (approximately 31.1oz and 3.2oz/100-gram bars)
* in the case of silver, (i) take delivery of London Good Delivery bars in amounts of thirty (30) 1,000oz bars or more, (ii) for smaller amounts of silver, (a) pick up 1 or more 1,000oz bars in London or (b) GoldMoney will transfer silver to the customers account at Kitco in Canada. Kitco will arrange delivery in smaller bars and coins. To ensure the specifics of Kitco's policies, confirm with Kitco at the time a delivery is in planning, as to what they may deliver depending on inventory at a given time and what their fees are for this service.
* add funds or liquidate precious metals holdings and return sales proceeds to their bank account by wire transfer
* individually register 400oz London Good Delivery gold bars
GoldMoney vaults are audited every six months by a "big four" accounting firm, which produces a SAS 70 Type II audit report. This audit includes scrutiny of all activity involving addition to and removal of metals and of the metals database based upon vault reports and database logs and review of governance practices, order processing and IT security. The audit report is available to customers upon logging in to their Holdings.
VIA MAT provides quarterly bar list reports posted on the GoldMoney website that include bar number, weight, refinery, and fineness.
Andium Trust Company, the metal administrator, prepares a quarterly reconciliation of VIA MAT bar lists and GoldMoney’s database. Andium also manages the addition and removal of bars from the vaults. Andium is located in Jersey, the British Channel Islands and is regulated under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 by the Jersey Financial Services Commission to conduct trust company business in Jersey.
Inspectorate International Ltd. serves as the GoldMoney vault auditor. It performs quarterly physical inspections, on a random sample basis (except that registered bars are inspected on a 100% basis), to assure that the bar weight lists correspond to bars in the vaults.
The GoldMoney website indicates that VIA MAT holds insurance, including for theft, in the amount of the aggregate value of all customer metals. The insurance certificate indicates that the maximum claim amount is $500MM USD for property held in any single vault location, but according to the company the limit is periodically raised whenever the limit is approached to ensure metal is insured at all times. This insurance does not run directly to investors and does not cover losses for assets held other than at VIA MAT. Customers are responsible for any misuse of the customer’s pass phrase and Holding number. GoldMoney is, however, responsible for any breaches of the GoldMoney system itself and, under the user agreement, agrees to restore any goldgrams paid out fraudulently as the result of any such a breach, provided it is notified as provided in the agreement.
All precious metals purchased from and held by GoldMoney are required to meet London Good Delivery standards established by the London Bullion Market Association ("LBMA")for gold and silver and the London Platinum and Palladium Market for platinum bars. GoldMoney acquires metals from various refineries, including Rand Refinery Limited in South Africa, the world’s largest gold refinery, Metalor Technologies SA and Argor-Heraeus SA in Switzerland and Johnson Matthey Limited in the United Kingdom.
GoldMoney’s precious metals holdings on behalf of investors surpassed $1billion in June, 2010. The company is regulated as a money services business and investors are subject to identity verification and other anti-money-laundering requirements. Customer funds are held in bank accounts of customer-segregated funds managed by GoldMoney’s associated company, Net-Gold Services Limited, a limited liability company incorporated in Jersey, British Channel Islands, pending investment in precious metals and following liquidation of precious metals holdings.
In U.S. dollars, the fees ("buy rates") charged for purchase of precious metals, depending upon the amount purchased, range from .98% - 2.49% for gold, 1.99 – 3.99% for silver and 2.19 – 4.39% for platinum. Purchases may also be made in British pounds, Japanese yen, Canadian dollars, Euros and Swiss francs. No fees are charged for selling precious metals to convert into currency—holders receive the full spot price. GoldMoney guarantees that it will buy back at the current spot price irregardless of the size of the holding.
Fees for conversion from one metal to another, or between vaults, paid in "goldgrams," platinum grams and silver ounces, range from a high of 3.51% for less than $1,000 of platinum to a low of 0.78% for more than $1 million of gold. Annual storage fees range from 0.15 - 0.18% for gold, 0.39 - 0.99% for silver and 0.39 - 0.59% for platinum, depending upon the amount of holdings and the location of the vaults selected. A 1% transaction fee (subject to a minimum and maximum stated in goldgrams, silver ounces or platinum grams, but generally from about 20¢ to a maximum of approximately $5) is payable for transactions in digital currency. The currency-to-currency exchange fee is a flat .49%, which is in addition to any fees charged by the investor’s bank. Other fees are charged for bank wires, bar registration, shipping/insurance, special requests and redemption of goldgrams for kilo or 100 gram bars.
GoldMoney was co-founded and is operated by James Turk, who is its chairman and Geoff Turk, its CEO. James Turk is a former banker and author of The Coming Collapse of the Dollar (Doubleday 2004) [available at Amazon or at DollarCollapse.com].
(2) VIA MAT International AG
VIA MAT is a Swiss company that operates transportation and storage facilities in or near Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Frankfurt am Main, London, Neuchatel (Switzerland) and Zurich. VIA MAT has been in business for approximately 60 years and is well known internationally.
VIA MAT offers individual customers long term, short term and in-transit storage for precious metals and other valuables as well as open customs warehousing for goods that are to be re-sold or successively imported internationally. No storage quotes are available on the VIA MAT website, but according to a 2009 report by Casey Research, "The Gold Storage Solution: Switzerland," the following storage fees were then in effect for Swiss holdings:
(3) Bullion Management Group, Inc.
BMG is a Canadian precious metals purchase and storage facility founded in 1998 and located in Markham, Ontario. BMG consists of:
* Bullion Management Group, Inc., the parent company
* Bullion Management Services, Inc., the Trustee and manager of BMG Bullion Fund (formerly Millenium Bullion Fund), which is a $250MM open-end mutual fund trust established in 2002 that purchases equal dollar amounts of allocated, unencumbered gold, silver and platinum bullion
* Bullion Custodial Services, Inc., manager of BMG BullionBars, which provides bullion purchase and sale (using real-time ScotiaMocatta pricing execution) and allocated custodial vaulting services through Bank of Nova Scotia in Toronto, Canada
* Bullion Marketing Services, Inc., which provides marketing services to BMG Bullion Fund
BMG deals exclusively with ScotiaMocatta, a division of The Bank of Nova Scotia, for all of its bullion purchases. ScotiaMocatta, before its purchase by Bank of Nova Scotia, was a founding member of the LBMA. Bank of Nova Scotia as custodian provides BMG on a regular basis a list of all gold, silver and platinum bars held for BMG customers, which is posted on the BMG website. As of June 1, ScotiaMocatta confirmed physical holdings for BMG Custodial Services of 360 bars (360,827.796 fine ounces) of silver, 216 bars (14,235.875 fine ounces) of gold and three bars (149.875 fine ounces) of platinum.
BMG represents that Bank of Nova Scotia stores customers’ precious metals on an allocated, audited and insured basis, but no further information is provided as to the allocation, auditing and insurance arrangements other than the statements that "[t]he physical inventory is verified annually by KPMG as part of their audit for both BMG Funds and BMG" and "[s]hould it be discovered that a bar did not meet Good Delivery Standards or was not of the stated purity or weight, The Bank of Nova Scotia and the LBMA would intervene to correct the situation in order to meet the representations in their sales documentation." According to the BMG website:
"To ensure confidentiality, all BMG BullionBars order details, statements, and account transaction information are processed on BMG’s proprietary system by account number only. The system is encrypted and all data is stored offline. Multiple remote backup files are maintained for even greater security…. [W]ith each bullion bar purchased and stored, a physical BullionDeed is issued that shows the owner’s name, bar weight, assayer, purity, fineness and the bar serial number."
The website further explains what is involved in introducing bars into the LBMA system:
"Introducing bars into the LBMA system requires the sale or deposit of the bullion with an LBMA member. Documentation may be required in order to comply with Anti-Terrorism and Money Laundering legislation such as FinCen in the USA, NCIS in the UK, JFIV in China and Hong Kong and FINTRAC in Canada. The identity of the bar owner needs to be established and confirmed, as well as the source of the bars.
"If the documentation and the background checks passed scrutiny, then all bars coming from outside the Chain of Integrity are re-assayed and re-cast to Good Delivery standards at the cost of the owner. For bars coming directly from an acceptable refiner, or from another LBMA member, spot checks are made to confirm weight and purity."
Nick Barisheff is the President and CEO of BMG. David Chapman, a securities professional associated with MGI Securities who publishes "The Technical Scoop" and has a regular column in Investor’s Digest of Canada, serves as a director. The other director of BMG is Larry Gamble, founder of Gamcor Real Estate Securities, Ltd., a licensed securities dealer and real estate syndication firm.
(4) Perth Mint Depository
Perth Mint is a manufacturer and distributor of gold, silver and platinum coins and coin blanks for other mints located in Perth, Australia. It offers precious metal depository services to its customers as well as retail sales through its shop and a certificate program. Perth Mint was founded in 1899 as a branch of Britain’s Royal Mint to turn gold mined in Western Australia into British sovereigns. Control of the company passed to the Western Australian government in 1970. Then Gold Corporation was created under an Act of the Australian Parliament (Gold Corporation Act of 1987) to operate Perth Mint. Today, Perth Mint produces various Australian legal tender coins as well as commemorative coins. It is accredited by the LBMA, COMEX and Tokyo Commodities Exchange.
Perth Mint is subject to annual audit by the Auditor General of Western Australia and its internal auditor, Pricewaterhousecoopers. The government of Western Australia is the AAA-rated guarantor of Perth Mint’s liabilities. Perth Mint Group holds insurance with "reputable international insurers" for all precious metals owned or controlled by it. According to a letter to clients dated June 20, 2008, "metal held on behalf of depositors is used within the businesses of Perth Mint and its 40% owned refining facility, AGR Matthey" but "[d]epositors’ metal is not leased to commercial counterparties" and "Perth Mint does not use futures or derivatives transactions to hedge or offset its metals liabilities to depositors."2 Further, Perth Mint does not sell metal to create short positions and does not provide metal to any other organization for the purpose of short selling. The website warns that "[c]lients should be aware that Gold Corporation may be required to provide certain transaction details under regulatory requirements to AUSTRAC," Australia’s anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism financing regulator and specialist financial intelligence unit.
The Perth Mint Certificate Program allows investors to purchase and store precious metals on an allocated (segregated) or unallocated (unsegregated) basis and receive a certificate of ownership guaranteed by the Western Australian government. The minimum purchase to open a certificate account is $USD 10,000 ($5,000 AUD for Australian and New Zealand residents) and minimum additional purchase amounts are $5,000 in either U.S. or Australian dollars. There is no storage fee for unallocated accounts. A fabrication fee is payable only for allocated accounts or when investors take delivery of physical metals. Since conversion of unallocated holdings to physical form involves fabrication of coins or bars, there may be a delay for the time it takes to locate or fabricate the metals. Certificates, which are numbered, transferable and non-negotiable,3 may be purchased through an approved dealer network or, for New Zealand and Australian investors, directly from Perth Mint. Approved dealers are:
* Asset Strategies International, Inc., (Rockville, MD USA)
* BFI Wealth Management AG (Zurich, Switzerland)
* Euro Pacific Capital, Inc. (Newport Beach, CA USA)
* GoldCore Limited (Dublin and London)
* Jaggards Pty Ltd. (Royal Exchange, NSW Australia)
* Kitco Precious Metals (Montreal, Canada)
* PMCG Pty Ltd. (Double Bay, NSW Australia)
* Security of Assets, S.A. (Panama City, Panama)
* Thornton Group (Australia)
* Perth Mint Shop (Australia)
The Perth Mint depository program for purchase and storage of gold, silver and platinum bullion and gold and silver bars and coins has a minimum purchase amount of $250,000 USD for foreigners and $50,000 for Australians and New Zealanders, although foreigners may hold lesser amounts if they pay a 2% entrance fee and a 1% exit fee (in line with the certificate program fees). Storage fees are based upon the purchase price of metals, so do not increase if precious metals market prices increase. Fees are payable by electronic funds six months in advance. To open an account, clients must fill out and mail or fax an account form for Australian and New Zealand residents and this form for international clients and notarized copies of identification documents sufficient to satisfy AUSTAC requirements (a driver’s license, birth certificate or utility bill may be used). An account number and password is used to identify the client.
Prices for purchase of metals may be based upon international spot prices or the London AM or PM fix. Fabrication and storage fees are payable for allocated purchases. A 2% fee is levied upon purchase and a 1% fee is levied upon sale for accounts with balances less than $250,000 for international accounts ($50,000 for Australian and New Zealand residents). The allocated storage and insurance cost for gold is 1.5% per year and for silver is 2.5% based upon the cost at the time of allocation. Fabrication fees vary widely by product (see account schedules for prices prior to recent increases).
Perth Mint’s website notes that there is no Australian sales tax or transfer restrictions on precious metals in Australia.
? (5) Delaware Depository Service Company, LLC
Located in Wilmington, Delaware, Delaware Depository Services Co., LLC is a precious metals custody and distribution center for institutional investors and industrial companies that deal in precious metals. It also provides accounting and shipping services. DDSC is licensed by the COMEX and Chicago Board of Trade to store silver bullion for exchange members and by the New York Mercantile Exchange to store platinum and palladium for its members. DDSC offers allocated and physically segregated custody accounts. Commercial inventories are physically segregated by corporate account.
All precious metals assets held by DDSC, which may be held in the form of bullion bars, bullion coins or certified coins, are held in allocated form, on either a segregated or non-segregated basis. Precious metals held in non-segregated accounts may be commingled with those of other customers, whereas segregated storage involves physical separation of the customer’s metals. According to the non-commercial account agreement, DDSC or any custodian that holds the customer’s metals on its behalf is required to maintain "all risk" insurance covering the customer’s metals. All risk insurance is subject to standard exclusions (like losses due to terrorism and war), but covers physical loss and/or physical damage, including mysterious disappearance and/or unexplained loss and shortage, employee dishonesty and theft. Loss or damage from fire, flood or other natural disaster is also covered. DDSC makes no warranties as to the fineness, content, identification or value of the precious metals it stores. DDSC disclaims liability for losses due to failures by shippers or other third parties and losses due to various named acts beyond its control, including floods, fire, acts of terrorism, technical failures, storms, unusual market conditions, acts of war and sabotage. DDSC takes a security interest (i.e., lien) on the assets it stores to secure all amounts owed by the customer.
Find a copy of the company’s Non-commercial Depository Account Opening Form & Agreement here. Note that all joint accounts are held by joint tenancy with rights of survivorship and not tenancy in common. This means that upon the death of one joint owner, the other owner(s) automatically take(s) title to the entire account and the assets do not pass through the estate according to the will of or applicable laws of descent and distribution applicable to the deceased co-owner. Such an arrangement may not be appropriate for unmarried co-owners.
The annual rate for non-commercial segregated storage is 1.5% of the dollar value of the precious metals in storage. The rate for non-segregated storage is .75%. Certified coins may be held only in segregated storage, and the fee is calculated based upon values obtained from a generally accepted certified coin pricing system. The value of bullion bars is determined based upon spot prices on the last day of the billing period. Storage fees are billed on a semi-annual basis in arrears, with a minimum charge of $25 per billing. Generally, personal pick-up fees are $.10 an ounce or $10 per item, depending upon what the item is. Special handling charges may apply. There is a $25 minimum fee per out shipment for deliveries within the U.S. and postage, registration and insurance charges are billed C.O.D.
DDSC will store U.S. 90% or 40% silver coinage in bags containing only $100, $250, $500, $750 or $1,000 face value. The customer may elect to have the count of the coins contained in any bag verified ("count-verified") by DDSC for a fee of $25.00 per bag. DDSC requires count-verification for all bags held in non-segregated storage accounts and will assess the appropriate fees. Count-verification is not required for segregated storage accounts.
Delaware Depository is typically used as the storage company for custodians that facilitate investment in precious metals through self directed IRAs in the United States.
(6) Gold Silver Vault
Gold Silver Vault LLC is a recently-formed private armored vaulting facility located in Nampa, Idaho for storage and transportation of gold, silver, gems and other tangible valuables that has arrangements with other subcustodians throughout the United States and North America. It offers individual safekeeping accounts on a segregated basis whereby investors’ holdings are held physically apart from those of other customers in sealed containers, either at the company’s sub-custodial facilities in Idaho or at the facilities of a sub-custodian closer to the customer. Gold Silver Vault disclaims responsibility for the authenticity, content, weight, fineness, markings or other characteristics of the precious metals coins or bars delivered to it for storage. The sub-custodian is obligated to maintain all-risks insurance (with certain standard exclusions) with an unspecified insurance company and will provide copies of insurance certificates upon request.
See Gold Silver Vault’s standard custody agreement here. As is the case for DDSC (see explanation above) all joint accounts are held by joint tenancy with rights of survivorship and not tenancy in common. Gold Silver Vault takes a security interest in the customer’s metals to secure its fees.
Annual gold and silver storage fees (which are billed quarterly) for vaults in Idaho range from a low of 0.5% of the spot price for $10MM market value of gold and 0.52 of the spot price for $10MM market value of silver to a maximum of 0.78% or 0.80% for $50,000 - $100,000 market value of gold or silver, respectively. The fee rate is multiplied by the number of ounces held and there is a minimum $75 quarterly fee. Fees for storage in other locations vary according to location. Gold Silver Vault charges a $30 fee for release of valuables and arranges for shipping at the customer’s expense via U.S. Postal Service, FedEx or other commercial carrier or private armored carrier as directed by the customer.
Gold Silver Vault was founded by Bob Coleman. He is associated with Profits Plus Capital Management, LLC, an Idaho-registered investment adviser that appears to sponsor the Dollars and Cents Growth Fund, LP, which the website claims is "the only private fund in the country that buys and stores gold and silver bullion outside the U.S. financial system."
(7) Security Center
Security Center is a private safe deposit box facility located in New Orleans, LA that has been in business for over 30 years. It offers 24-hour vault access (with a $100 access fee for after-hours admission), a double-key locking system (with Security Center’s key held in a separate safe deposit box) and private numbered accounts. Annual box fees are as follows:
Since Security Center has no access to the boxes without the customer’s key, no auditing is offered. No customer identification is required to open an account and Security Center is not subject to bank or other reporting regulations with respect to its boxes. Security Center routinely receives shipments of gold and silver coins by registered mail through the U.S. Postal Service. As valuables arrive a package is logged by the registered mail number, the customer’s name or number, date received and box number. Valuables are placed in the customer’s box along with a copy of the log receipt (assuming the customer’s key is held in safekeeping by Security Center or has not yet been sent to the customer following after initial assignment of storage). Valuables are stored at the renter’s risk of damage or loss due to acts of God and other events typically excluded under hazard insurance policies. Liability for theft is limited to the lower of actual value or 200 times the base storage rate. Although the account form seems to indicate that Security Center will insure the excess value, no such option is currently available. Click here for a copy of the standard storage agreement.
Security Center is located in a six-story building that was formerly the New Orleans Federal Reserve Bank building, so its safe deposit boxes are comparable to those typically located in a bank. It has approximately 450 safe deposit boxes and 300 lockers. The General Manager reports that the facility has a substantial customer base abroad and around the country. Most out-of-town customers leave their keys with Security Center and have identified themselves to the company by name, so that if they arrive at the facility in person, they are in a position to provide identification and obtain the key, which is stored in a separate safe deposit box. Alternatively, all arrangements may take place by mail. Anonymous customers are advised that they should provide some information as to a designee in case of death. In the event no storage charges are paid for a period of two years, the storage contents may be turned over to the Treasurer of the State of Louisiana according to Louisiana state law.
D. THE SWISS OPTION
Traditionally, many precious metals investors wishing to hold their metals offshore have elected to use safe deposit boxes in banks in Switzerland, where bank secrecy statutes protected their privacy. Recent moves by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to obtain information on undeclared profits of U.S. taxpayers from Swiss banks have resulted in compromises to such privacy, however. Further, U.S. investors now are required to report holdings in excess of $10,000 in foreign financial institutions to the U.S. Treasury on a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (Form TD F 90-22. Since Swiss banks are financial institutions, the contents of their safe deposit boxes are reportable by U.S. customers. As a result of pressures to disclose foreign customer information, particularly from the U.S. government, many Swiss banks are making it more difficult for U.S. residents to open Swiss bank accounts (generally, a prerequisite to opening a safe deposit box), both by having hefty minimum balances (which may be as high as six figures) and by requiring relatively cumbersome identification documentation. For U.S. investors wishing to diversify their substantial precious metals holdings, however, this may still be a viable alternative at some banks.
Another option in Switzerland is storage in non-bank vaults or warehouses or "specialist depositories." VIA MAT (described above) is one such facility.
According to a 2009 report by Casey Research, "The Gold Storage Solution: Switzerland":
"In general, goods entering Switzerland can be stored two ways: bonded or inland. Delivering merchandise to a bonded warehouse attracts no duties or other taxes. Such bonded storage is used when [the] merchandise will be re-exported or to postpone its importation. Inland storage means the merchandise has been formally imported and all duties and taxes have been assessed and paid. Bonded storage is more expensive than inland storage. Gold bullion is free from Swiss import duty and other taxes."
The Swiss value added tax (VAT), which is levied upon physically delivered precious metals other than gold, is 7.5% (8% from 2011 to 2017) according to Wikipedia.
E. IN CONCLUSION
As investment in precious metals grows, storage options also proliferate. While we have reviewed some of the options available to both individuals and institutions, there are numerous other publicly available choices, as well as private vaults available by invitation only. Our failure to mention any particular storage facility should not be interpreted as a criticism.
Information has been derived from public sources or through emails or telephone conversations with representatives of these companies, without any further verification. Neither Solari nor the authors have done a complete due diligence on the options described in this article. Investors are advised to conduct their own due diligence before entering into arrangements for the storage of their precious metals by third parties.
Each owner of precious metals has unique goals and needs. We hope this review of selected options will help you understand the core considerations important to your defining and achieving your objectives in identifying and evaluating storage providers.
Biographies
Catherine Austin Fitts is the founder of Solari Inc. and Solari Investment Advisory Services, LLC. Solari, Inc. publishes the Solari Report and operates Solari Silver & Gold.
Carolyn Betts is an attorney practicing in Cincinnati, Ohio. She serves as counsel to Solari, Inc and Solari Investment Advisory Services, LLC.
Footnotes
1 Investors are advised to conduct their own due diligence before entering into arrangements for the storage of their precious metals by third parties.
2 Presumably, Perth Mint’s use of depositors’ metals as described in the letter is limited to unallocated accounts.
3 Generally, "non-negotiable" means that any transfer must be registered by the issuer.
Nothing in this Solari Report should be taken as individual investment advice. Anyone seeking investment advice for his or her personal financial situation is advised to seek out a qualified advisor or advisors and provide as much information as possible to the advisor in order that such advisor can take into account all relevant circumstances, objectives, and risks before rendering an opinion as to the appropriate investment strategy.
Hello all- just got in from some mowing. Just saw a lot of heavy action in the past 5 minutes. Someone seems to be buying big chunks. From the latest releases it seems like our little company is going in the right direction. We need to see some improving numbers on the Qs and Ks. Looking forward.
...........al
I hear you. I have this in my trading account and also put some in my daughter's IRA. Bigger things are coming. Established and expanding business in this economy ain't a bad thing. More and more people are looking to return to country life. Small machinery is a necessity on the small farm.
...........al
full order filled. eom
totally in agreement. eom
Not enuff RAM to open a pdf right now. Thanks anyway. I would like to see the specs on that new frontloading tractor. At that price it sounds like a real bargain. I'm on a minifarm in norhtern PA and a loader like that is at least $15,000 around here. I like what is going on here. First buy this am was mine. Only a 10k fill but the order is still open for 70k if anyone wants to give some up.
.........al
Tytan Holdings, Inc. Announces Tytan 284 Tractor & Quarterly Report
Tytan Hldgs (OTC) (USOTC:TYTN)
Intraday Stock Chart
Today : Wednesday 11 August 2010
Tytan Holdings, Inc. (Pink Sheets: TYTN): is proud to announce the release of the Tytan 284 the Tractor and Front Loader is planned to sell at below $9995 (on promotion). Mark Leonard, CEO is quoted as saying "It is a small but powerful Mini 4WD Tractor that is aimed at a very affordable price point for the small acreage user." This tractor features all of the modern accessories, along with very smooth Power Steering that anyone can maneuver.
Furthermore, Tytan Holdings, announces the release of their second quarter financial statements and disclosure information in order to continue successfully maintaining its Pink OTC Markets, Inc. Alternative Reporting Standard "Current Information" tier. According to Pink OTC Markets, securities of Pink Sheet companies that provided current disclosure to the public markets, either through a regulator or directly to Pink OTC Markets, represented 80.2% of all the dollar volume traded in 2009.
About Tytan International, Inc.
Tytan International, Inc. is a well-established, 25-year old company that has Exclusive Distribution and Manufacturing Contracts for Tytan Brand tractors and other products that meet niche needs for small farmers. Because of the recent explosion of the Chinese Automobile Industry, there has been a huge boom in quality. Tytan continues innovation in their product line while producing what is considered top industry customer service.
Tytan International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tytan Holdings, Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may," "future," "plan" or "planned," "will" or "should," "expected," "anticipates," "draft," "eventually" or "projected." You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report.
Investor Relations:
Telephone 860.484.3721
Website www.TytanHoldings.com
Email Investors@TytanHoldings.com
A major stock market top is approaching...
Crux: Hi David. Could you tell us a little bit about your background and what you do at Charles Nenner Research?
David Gurwitz: Well, I'm the Managing Director of Charles Nenner Research.
I've been working with Charles for over a decade. I'm a JD, MBA, and CPA... But don't hold it against me, because I'm also a composer, a concert pianist, and an ex-baseball and basketball player. I played basketball in Spain for a while in 1976 before working in merchant banking for many years. I actually taught English in Spain as well, so there are about 30 Spaniards who speak English with a Bronx accent!
I was trained by Red Auerbach of Boston Celtics fame, which is another long story, and he taught me to recognize talent. He was one of the best at that.
When I met Charles about 10 years ago, I instantly realized this was one of the most talented, brilliant, funny men I'd ever met in my life. He was consulting for Goldman Sachs at the time, and when I began to understand what he was doing, I said to him, "Why doesn't the world know about you?"
And his response was classic Charles: "I am famous, it's just that nobody knows it yet."
So that's how we started. I suggested we start a business together, and my job became trying to get more people to learn about the work he was doing. I was able to get some hedge funds to subscribe, and eventually I got The Wall Street Journal to do a piece on him. He made three perfect calls – you can verify all this on our site, by the way – and then CNBC picked him up. The rest is history. So that's the quick background on me.
Charles' story is rather interesting. He was at the University of Amsterdam Medical School, and one of his professors mentioned that lots of people get admitted to insane asylums all around the world at the same time, and they couldn't figure out why. Charles couldn't believe it, and wanted to learn more... so that's originally what caught his interest about patterns, and how he got into the business.
He came to New York about 25 years ago, and watched the financial news. They were saying the market went up and down because of this and that, and he didn't buy it.
To him, the so-called "cause and effects" just didn't add up. So, he started studying old papers like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal... and he began to uncover cycles in various asset classes. He saw various short-term and long-term cycles based on tops and bottoms in historical prices. He did this all by hand back then, but later hired a computer programmer to do that work, based on what Charles saw, with all sorts of pretty intense analysis, such as Fourier.
Those cycles form the base of the analysis he does. Cycles provide direction, not levels. He also developed a price target algorithm that he uses, along with Elliott wave analysis and his own combination of many other technical indicators. In effect, he tries to provide the big three of direction, level, and price.
Charles is trained as a medical doctor, so I like to use this analogy: If you go to a doctor and say to him, "Something is wrong with my ankle," the doctor will do an exam, take some x-rays or other tests, and make a diagnosis.
What Charles and the staff at Charles Nenner Research do is similar to looking at a lot of x-rays and tests for every particular asset class... stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, and their particular ETFs, as well as economic indicators like unemployment and interest rates.
He's just amazing at pattern recognition. He's got that natural ability... he's a trained violinist, he's a wonderful singer of many styles, and he speaks seven languages. He's a black belt. He played chess competitively. He even plays ping-pong very well. You know, he's one of those types of people. He picks up patterns very quickly.
With our work you get a completely different worldview that you don't get from anybody else, because Charles doesn't believe the world is random.
Crux: Can you briefly explain the theory behind cycle analysis, as opposed to traditional fundamental, or technical analysis?
Gurwitz: Absolutely. Well, when most people refer to fundamental analysis, they're talking about valuations, P/E ratios, and that kind of thing. Charles believes cycle work is fundamental.
Charles believes that cycles apply in everything, not just the stock market, if you can get enough data points to create the cycles. They're just as fundamental as anything we consider fundamental, but it's our language limitation that keeps us from talking about it properly.
What's a cycle? The word cycle comes from the Greek word for "circle," and it's simply a repeating pattern.
The idea is there are cycles happening for nearly everything on many different and competing time levels... and so they aren't always apparent in the behavior of that particular thing.
To use a stock as an example, you won't be able to just look at a price chart and see all the different cycles. Most of the time you may have short-term cycles moving one way while longer-term cycles move another, and so the ultimate effect on price varies.
But when you have multiple cycles topping or bottoming at the same time, the assumption is there's a very high probability that will be reflected in the behavior of the stock. We might find there's a top every 20 weeks, and another every 57 weeks. If we find 30 of these, and they all top next week, then, most likely, it's a significant top. Or, if they are coinciding at a bottom, it is a significant bottom.
But it doesn't matter whether it's stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, deficits, unemployment, or other economic indicators that he calls also correctly... they all move in cycles.
When you chart cycles, they look like overlapping waves, or a bunch of EKGs on top of each other, each with different amplitudes and distances between peaks. This is all explained on our site - www.charlesnenner.com - in a Bloomberg presentation Charles and I gave a few years ago. You can see charts showing these cycles, which are combined.
I was a baseball player in my younger days, so one of the examples I often use is to imagine someone hits a ground ball to Alex Rodriguez at third base that bounces every two feet. At the same time, someone hits another one that bounces every five feet, also up the third base line. Another one bounces every 10 feet, and another every 20 feet.
If you wanted him to catch all four balls in the glove at the same time, the best chance of that would be when all four cycles lined up, and all four balls were rising or falling together. When you're talking about investing, the highest probability for finding a top or bottom is when several cycles line up.
To give you another example, back in June, Charles was calling for a cycle top in Apple. And all of a sudden the news comes out saying their new phone has problems. Most people would assume that the new phone's problems were responsible for the sell-off. But Charles looks at it differently. He says if it wasn't a cycle top, the stock wouldn't have sold off, and they wouldn't have had a problem. The news, or rather the interpretation of the news, follows the cycles, not the other way around.
The cycle to him is the most important thing in any analysis, because it's the underlying indicator of a large set of numbers. People often ask if we can analyze cycles on something that's only traded for a year, and the answer is no. You only have 12 closing monthly data points... You only have 50 closing weekly data points... You only have about 200 closing daily data points. The 200-day moving average is often referenced in technical analysis because it's a whole year's worth of data, but in cycle work it's not enough. The more numbers you have, the more data points you have, the more valid the math is.
But in the simplest terms, cycle analysis is just a study of the world. We know summer-fall-winter-spring is a cycle; we don't question that. But the fact that other things might fall into these patterns, we don't typically consider. Charles sees cycles as controlling everything.
And he looks at almost everything... equities, bonds, bunds, four currencies – euro, yen, Aussie, and Canadian – and in effect, what the dollar does relates to those four, so he covers the dollar as well in terms of those four currencies. He looks at other currency crosses. He also looks at commodities – crude, natural gas, gold, and silver, and the CRB index – and that's the basic update that we put out three times a week – Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
And then on Sunday, Charles spends a lot of the day looking quietly, calmly, with no markets open, at all sorts of things, and combining cycles.
It's not a two-minute process, because you have to find 30 cycles, and then maybe that combined line doesn't look like the actual price line, so he'll eliminate 10 cycles, so that the combined line with the remaining 20 does look like the price line, and he'll say, "Well, I guess these 20 are the ones in control of that particular thing I'm looking at."
That part of it is as much art as science. He's trying to find the important cycles. It's almost like cooking a stew with a whole list of ingredients and no cookbook. You experiment with different combinations until you find the one that tastes best.
Crux: You guys have been in the news recently for making some pretty serious predictions about the stock market. Can you talk about what Charles sees for U.S. stocks now?
Gurwitz: Basically, Charles thinks the stock market should hold up until the third week of August, but as he has said repeatedly, it could turn faster. The important point is that this should be a major top in stocks for years. Charles thinks the Dow could fall to the 5,000 to 6,000 area.
Now, it's probably not going to be straight down. It will be more like the Japan scenario. It's likely the market will grind down, with several 30% or 40% rallies along the way to keep people guessing. But he doesn't see it coming back for at least four years. It may go down and just stay – look at Japan. It went down and stayed for a long time. That's kind of what he sees for stocks.
Crux: How about the other asset classes you mentioned? What does he see for Treasury bonds and interest rates?
Gurwitz: Bonds he sees also going down in value over the next 30 years, based on the 60-year high/low/high Kondratieff cycle for bonds. However, for the next several years, after a sell off, he sees a bullish bond market. You have to remember that he was calling for a top in the 10 Year at 4% many months before it happened.
Regarding the Kondratieff cycle, here is the quick thinking. It's 2010 now and rates are low. In 1980, we all know rates were high. In 1950 they were low. In 1920, they were high. In 1890 they were low, and during the Civil War they were high.
So there's an approximate 30-year half-life in a cycle of interest rates. Based on that, rates should be going up until 2040, and there's almost nothing we can do about it.
I'm not saying rates will start rising next week, but that's the big trend.
Crux: How about gold, silver, and commodities?
Gurwitz: Charles thinks gold is headed much higher over the long-term, but not yet. He thinks we're going to have deflation first, and inflation down the road.
He's been saying for a while to be careful about gold. He recommended calls on gold stocks last October, which was a great call, and got readers out when gold hit $1,225, which was close to the high for the year. He avoided the final up and down moves, but it was pretty close.
He doesn't recommend trading it right now. When it gets to a bigger low he's going to go crazy long gold again, but he's not ready to do that just yet.
It's a similar situation for silver and crude oil.
Interestingly, the cycles for grain commodities are up, and we're seeing strength in them now. He was saying many months ago that grain would begin a huge bull market this summer and fall, and now you see the Russian grain field fires. Again, cycles determine the news. Charles has data going back hundreds of years in the grains, and the cycles suggest they're starting a big up trend that should last for years.
It's going to be interesting times.
Crux: Besides grains, does Charles recommend being long anything right now?
Gurwitz: For U.S. investors, he's recommending certain currencies. He wants to own the Aussie and Canadian dollars, because he thinks they'll be strong against the dollar.
The euro is an interesting story. He actually recommended readers sell the euro at around $1.50, well before the Greece story, and he rode it down to $1.22, and then to $1.18, before calling for the current short-term rally. He believes the euro will weaken more before beginning a year plus rally.
He's waiting to short natural gas and the equity market. Charles is very patient, with very few trades. He prefers fewer winning trades to more trading.
Now, some of our clients are long-only funds, meaning they need to be in stocks, and they can't short them. That's not a strategy we endorse right now, but we're doing our best to accommodate them. So Charles has found some individual equities that should hold up well as the major indices fall, and many of them are surprising.
IBM is one of them. Best Buy is another that looks good, which many people would find surprising I'm sure. ING is another.
Toyota. It's really interesting, the long-term cycles for Toyota look good, and there have been some recent articles that said that the lawsuits, vis-à-vis all the engine problems, were actually driver-based. I'm not saying that will be the ultimate result, but cycles would seem to suggest that may be the case. Again, it seems that cycles, as defined by Charles, determine the news.
Lennar is another one that counter-intuitively looks good longer-term. AGU, Agrium, and all the grain stuff should be up a lot.
Alcoa is long-term positive. ConocoPhillips looks great, but it doesn't bottom until the fall. It's the same thing with the CRB commodities index. This fall could be a good buying opportunity for the commodities stocks.
Crux: Any closing comments?
Gurwitz: Well, like I mentioned before, if anyone is interested in learning more about what Charles does, they can check out the material on the website, www.charlesnenner.com. And if they're interested in taking a look at the research, they can email through the form on the site and we'll put them on a distribution list. They can follow the research for a little while, and get comfortable seeing the style.
Sometimes it takes a little while for readers to fully understand, since this entire set of algorithms and concepts is quite different from what's discussed in the financial news. So we welcome everybody to come and take a look if they're interested.
Crux: OK, sounds good. Thanks for talking with us, David.
Gurwitz: My pleasure. Take care.
http://moneymorning.com/2010/08/03/ecri/
August 3, 2010
Insights on ECRI: Is This Stock-Market Prophet Calling for a Double-Dip Recession?
[Editor's Note:The Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) has correctly called every U.S recession during the last 45 years. Here's what this closely watched market prophet is saying right now.]
By Jack Barnes, Guest Columnist, Money Morning
The Economic Cycle Research Institute - referred to as the "ECRI" by anyone in the know on Wall Street - has correctly called every U.S. recession during the last 45 years.
To work its magic, theECRI charts the weekly changes in an index ofLeading Economic Indicators (WLI). Market professionals like myself very quietly use the same group of indicators to call market tops and bottoms. The indicators are so accurate in terms of what they have to say about the future that I refer to ECRI and the WLI as "The Prophet."
Given the Prophet's 100% hit rate over the last half century, investors should definitely take heed of the warning signals that this economic seer of seers is making right now.
Insight on ECRI
It's pretty likely that most retail-level investors have either never heard of the ECRI, or are aware of the organization but just don't really know what it does. And that's understandable: Up to now there's probably no real reason for ECRI to have been on your radar screen.
But it's time for that to change.
The ECRI was founded bythe late Prof.Geoffrey H. Moore, who in 1950 developed a list of leading indicators for recessions and recoveries. He followed that up with a composite index in 1958 and what we now call the LEI (Leading Economic Indicators) in 1967.
The ECRI is an independent institution dedicated to forecasting the turning points in an economy. It maintains about 100 proprietary economic indices. One of them - the WLI - is extremely good at calling tops and bottoms in the economy. The ECRI has a 100% hit rate and is right now warning anyone who will listen that another downdraft is in store for the U.S. economy.
In short, it's telling us that it's time to start worrying about a "double-dip" recession.
The WLI updates include a rate of change, which is what I want you to focus on going forward. When the real economy is growing, this indicator has a "positive" reading - meaning it provides a reading greater that "0."
When an economy is starting to slow down internally - and starting its slide toward recession - ECRI's WLI index will show a year-over-year negative change in the readings. This rate of change will go "negative" suggesting a slowdown in the economy. When the rate of change reaches a negative 10%, historically, a recession has broken out.
Let's take a closer look.
As we noted, a negative reading in the ECRI is telling. But going all the way back to 1965, every time ECRI reported a rate of change of "negative 10" or more, a recession has started within a couple of months. Each time, without fail, ECRI has been able to warn the investors who were listening that the economy was slowing down - and that a recession was in the offing.
What's 'The Prophet' Saying Now?
ECRI has yet to declare a double-dip recession. However, ECRI's WLI index - which has a 100% record of calling a recession when it hits negative 10% - is currently sitting at negative 10.7%. And the index has been sitting in this traditional, recessionary territory for two weeks.
Believe me when I say this: The institutional players are paying attention. Even if the ECRI has not said it yet.
"I have to pay attention to those people and indicators that have pointed in the right direction - whenthey've gone against the crowd (and my opinion at the time)," said Barron's columnistRandall W. Forsyth. "One such outfit is the Economic Cycle Research Institute, whose various leading indicators actually have done just that - lead where things were headed."
Just below is a chart that compares the weekly closing price of the Standard & Poor's SPDR S&P 500 exchange traded fund (NYSE:SPY) with ECRI's Weekly Leading Indicator (WLI) Index. In red, just below that, is the year-over-year rate of change in the WLI weekly reading.
Economic Profit This rate-of-change statistic is closely followed by Wall Street, since it gives investors the best feel for how the economic outlook has changed over a period of time. Right now, it seems to be telling investors that the economy continues to have internal weakness - enough, in fact, for the statistic to have reached what historically has been recessionary territory.
We intentionally decided to look at the period since July 2006 so investors could get a feel for how these indices related to each other - both before and after financial-crisis-related events of 2008.
For instance, it's especially worth noting that the ECRI index bottomed in December of 2008 - a full three months before the stock markets both here and abroad hit the bottom. Much like the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) thatwe explored in a popular Money Morning essay several weeks ago, the WLI also "called" the economic bottom during the 2008 meltdown.
Even more interesting: The WLI bottomed just as the BDI index also bottomed in December 2008. Combined, they provide investors with a "real" insight into what's happening in the markets.
This time around, the ECRI WLI update has dropped every week since April 30. The index peaked at a positive "24" back in September 2009, in part reflecting the historic rebound that U.S. stocks had posted in their run-up from the March 2009 market lows.
ECRI's strategy - in which its analysts document the regular up-and-down cycles of an economy, while also tracking the forward-looking indicators - has given this organization an unparalleled edge over its potential peers.
The "tops" and "bottoms" of aneconomic cycle are reached time and again, typically in the same manner. While the players change - as one presidential administration leads to another, and the leading investment bank of one era is subsumed by the leader to come - the signs of an economic slowdown really don't shift from one period to the next.
This is why I want you to follow those "signs" - which include ECRI's WLI, and the BDI. These are some of the tools that professional investors - like myself - employ as part of their never-ending quest to remain ahead of the market, and "the crowd."
You can put "The Prophet's" work to good use. And you don't even have to pay for the "service" that institutional players sign up and shell out for. That's because ECRI makes all its information available on site. You can download it for free each Friday: Just savethis link and click on it each Friday at around 11 a.m.
Action to Take: Review your domestic equity positions with an eye toward booking any long-term capital gains "profits" you have. You will want to have cash available to fund your return to market, once the BDI & LEI (WLI) say it's safe to be "long" in the U.S. stock market again. The old market adage that "you never go broke taking profits that already exist" may be truer today than at any time over the last 100 years.
Additionally, I would suggest that you might wish to set up for an account at Google.com (Nasdaq: GOOG), and sign up for free Google news alerts. Plug in "ECRI" as the topic and pick the once-a-day update option. This will get you a daily e-mail containing links to any articles quoting the ECRI or the different index information that this organization provides to professional investors. It is a great way to follow "The Prophet" in real time - and for free. How many other things can you make that kind of claim about these days?
[Editor's Note: Jack Barnes started his career at Franklin Templeton in 1997, working in its fund-information department - just as the Asian contagion infected the Asian tiger countries. He launched his own RIA shop in 2003 just as the second Gulf War was breaking out. In early 2006, after logging a one-year return of nearly 83%, Forbes named Barnes the top stock picker in its "Armchair Investors Who Beat the Pros" competition. His two audited hedge funds generated double-digit returns in 2008. Last summer, Barnes retired to the beach - which is where he writes from now.]
News and Related Story Links:
* ECRI:
Official Website.
* Wikipedia:
Leading Economic Indicators.
* ECRI LEI data updated weekly:
http://www.businesscycle.com/files/ecri_data/uswliw.xls.
* The New York Times:
Obituary of Geoffrey H. Moore.
* Money Morning:
The Baltic Dry Index is Shouting "Danger, Will Robinson!" But Are Investors Listening?
* Library of Economics and Liberty:
Recession.
* Barron's Randall W. Forsyth:
Compendium of Columns.
* InvestorWords:
Economic Cycle.
General message- disagreements are healthy and form part of the learning curve. Civility is the key. I would hope everyone keys on the message and not the poster. We are all entitled to our opinions. Thanks and GL2 all
...........al
TYTN just saw a nice hit go thru. Has great potential. Just needs a little time.
.........al
I know some of the gold bugs that read this board will find this interesting. I've always thought the ETFs were bound to be crooked from just reading the initial prospectus'. Think you own gold or silver in an ETF? Think again.
..........al
Golden Shell Games
http://dailyreckoning.com/golden-shell-games/
By Addison Wiggin
07/22/10 Vancouver, British Columbia – That’s right, gold. You know, the ultimate money. Or Gold: The Once and Future Money, as our friend Nathan Lewis titled his 2007 book, for which we were privileged to write the foreword.
Hey, Wall Street can take a $250 million sewer project in Alabama and turn it into an insurmountable debt 20 times as big. So it can find a way to pervert the Midas metal, too. And the evidence is piling up: You don’t have to be partial to conspiracy theories about the “manipulation” of gold to conclude something just doesn’t look right.
That means you need to be very careful about how you hold any gold outside your physical possession – especially in a retirement account.
Of course, it’s always important to ask oneself, how much is there to these conspiracy theories, really? Well, ever since the publication of his book, Lewis has been scrutinizing them. And this year, they’ve reached a fever pitch.
* Did you hear about the 400-ounce gold bars filled with tungsten? (Tungsten’s weight is nearly identical to gold, so the deception is simple if the bar isn’t properly assayed)
* Or the one about the London metals trader turned whistle-blower who alleged JP Morgan Chase is suppressing the silver price? And how he was injured in a mysterious hit-and-run? (His injuries were minor)
* Or how the head of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee testified about gold manipulation before the Commodity Futures Tradition Commission and the camera conveniently malfunctioned?
You could go very far down the rabbit hole trying to separate fact from fiction with these kind of stories. And you’d be wasting your time.
Marc Faber, editor of The Gloom Boom & Doom Report stated it well in April, so well we quoted it in The 5 Min. Forecast: “If you have manipulation to keep the price down, it eventually goes ballistic. So all the people that are bitching about the manipulation of silver and gold should be happy that it is manipulated, because it still gives them an opportunity to buy it at a depressed price.”
Exactly. Manipulation stories are a source of entertainment, outrage or both. They underscore the perils of the Wall Street Fandango. But their truth or falsehood makes little difference if you hold gold in your physical possession. Or in an allocated account (the gold has your name on it) in an independent, insured depository. Or if you use a reputable electronic gold purveyor. (We like GoldMoney.com and BullionVault.com.)
But it makes a lot of difference if you hold “paper gold” in the form of an exchange-traded fund. Many people buy vehicles like GLD and IAU with the comforting illusion that what they’re buying is “good as gold.” And it’s an incredibly convenient way to get metals exposure in a retirement account.
Which brings us to the revelations of Janet Tavakoli.
Tavakoli is not a gold bug. She’s an expert in structured finance and credit derivatives who runs her own consulting firm in Chicago. Recently, she published a client report that took the format of “advice” she would give to Wall Street sharpies trying to corner the gold market. Not that they’d ever try that, of course.
Pump up the gold story. Get your friends to tell retail investors to buy some gold every month. Get your buddies in the financial business to offer exchange-traded gold funds (ETFs) that claim to buy physical gold. This will sound safe to retail investors, but in fact, the ETFs are very risky. This will serve your purpose when you are ready to start a panic. These particular ETFs will allow the “gold” to be commingled with the custodian’s gold, and the custodian can lease out the gold.
Moreover, the “gold” custodian can give it to a subcustodian that the manager doesn’t know. The subcustodian can give it to yet another subcustodian unknown to the original custodian. The manager will never audit the gold, and the gold is not “allocated” to a particular investor. Since this is an “exchange traded” gold fund, investors will probably assume the gold is regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), but it isn’t. By the time investors wake up to the probability that there is very little actual gold backing their investment, your plan will be ready to execute.
The “plan” involves buying huge futures contracts and expecting physical delivery. If this sounds familiar, it’s pretty much what the Hunt brothers did when they tried to corner the silver market in 1980. Silver shot up to $50, however briefly. It’s never seen that territory again.
But the consequences this time around would be far more serious. It could collapse banks holding huge short positions in the futures market, accustomed to settling contracts cash only. More to our point, it would crater the ETFs: Their complex network of custodians and subcustodians would be laid bare. ETF investors would realize they have a claim on the same chunk of gold as, say, Goldman Sachs. But Goldman would have the actual metal. The ETF investor would have to settle for pennies on the dollar.
Far-fetched? Maybe. Just remember that ETFs are ultimately, like a complicated mortgage derivative, subject to counterparty risk. If the day comes when trust evaporates from the system, value will evaporate from the ETFs. If you want to play gold’s short-term ups and downs, the ETFs are an ideal instrument. Otherwise, stay away.
Addison Wiggin
for The Daily Reckoning
Golden Shell Games
http://dailyreckoning.com/golden-shell-games/
By Addison Wiggin
07/22/10 Vancouver, British Columbia – That’s right, gold. You know, the ultimate money. Or Gold: The Once and Future Money, as our friend Nathan Lewis titled his 2007 book, for which we were privileged to write the foreword.
Hey, Wall Street can take a $250 million sewer project in Alabama and turn it into an insurmountable debt 20 times as big. So it can find a way to pervert the Midas metal, too. And the evidence is piling up: You don’t have to be partial to conspiracy theories about the “manipulation” of gold to conclude something just doesn’t look right.
That means you need to be very careful about how you hold any gold outside your physical possession – especially in a retirement account.
Of course, it’s always important to ask oneself, how much is there to these conspiracy theories, really? Well, ever since the publication of his book, Lewis has been scrutinizing them. And this year, they’ve reached a fever pitch.
* Did you hear about the 400-ounce gold bars filled with tungsten? (Tungsten’s weight is nearly identical to gold, so the deception is simple if the bar isn’t properly assayed)
* Or the one about the London metals trader turned whistle-blower who alleged JP Morgan Chase is suppressing the silver price? And how he was injured in a mysterious hit-and-run? (His injuries were minor)
* Or how the head of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee testified about gold manipulation before the Commodity Futures Tradition Commission and the camera conveniently malfunctioned?
You could go very far down the rabbit hole trying to separate fact from fiction with these kind of stories. And you’d be wasting your time.
Marc Faber, editor of The Gloom Boom & Doom Report stated it well in April, so well we quoted it in The 5 Min. Forecast: “If you have manipulation to keep the price down, it eventually goes ballistic. So all the people that are bitching about the manipulation of silver and gold should be happy that it is manipulated, because it still gives them an opportunity to buy it at a depressed price.”
Exactly. Manipulation stories are a source of entertainment, outrage or both. They underscore the perils of the Wall Street Fandango. But their truth or falsehood makes little difference if you hold gold in your physical possession. Or in an allocated account (the gold has your name on it) in an independent, insured depository. Or if you use a reputable electronic gold purveyor. (We like GoldMoney.com and BullionVault.com.)
But it makes a lot of difference if you hold “paper gold” in the form of an exchange-traded fund. Many people buy vehicles like GLD and IAU with the comforting illusion that what they’re buying is “good as gold.” And it’s an incredibly convenient way to get metals exposure in a retirement account.
Which brings us to the revelations of Janet Tavakoli.
Tavakoli is not a gold bug. She’s an expert in structured finance and credit derivatives who runs her own consulting firm in Chicago. Recently, she published a client report that took the format of “advice” she would give to Wall Street sharpies trying to corner the gold market. Not that they’d ever try that, of course.
Pump up the gold story. Get your friends to tell retail investors to buy some gold every month. Get your buddies in the financial business to offer exchange-traded gold funds (ETFs) that claim to buy physical gold. This will sound safe to retail investors, but in fact, the ETFs are very risky. This will serve your purpose when you are ready to start a panic. These particular ETFs will allow the “gold” to be commingled with the custodian’s gold, and the custodian can lease out the gold.
Moreover, the “gold” custodian can give it to a subcustodian that the manager doesn’t know. The subcustodian can give it to yet another subcustodian unknown to the original custodian. The manager will never audit the gold, and the gold is not “allocated” to a particular investor. Since this is an “exchange traded” gold fund, investors will probably assume the gold is regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), but it isn’t. By the time investors wake up to the probability that there is very little actual gold backing their investment, your plan will be ready to execute.
The “plan” involves buying huge futures contracts and expecting physical delivery. If this sounds familiar, it’s pretty much what the Hunt brothers did when they tried to corner the silver market in 1980. Silver shot up to $50, however briefly. It’s never seen that territory again.
But the consequences this time around would be far more serious. It could collapse banks holding huge short positions in the futures market, accustomed to settling contracts cash only. More to our point, it would crater the ETFs: Their complex network of custodians and subcustodians would be laid bare. ETF investors would realize they have a claim on the same chunk of gold as, say, Goldman Sachs. But Goldman would have the actual metal. The ETF investor would have to settle for pennies on the dollar.
Far-fetched? Maybe. Just remember that ETFs are ultimately, like a complicated mortgage derivative, subject to counterparty risk. If the day comes when trust evaporates from the system, value will evaporate from the ETFs. If you want to play gold’s short-term ups and downs, the ETFs are an ideal instrument. Otherwise, stay away.
Addison Wiggin
for The Daily Reckoning
LOL, good one. Already did the first two. Making jello as we speak.
........al
Out with a small loss. Sorry guys, the dreaded R/S word is a death knell for a pinkie. Best of luck to all.
...........al
In a word- YUP!! eom
Thanks midrew for the info. What a shame. It would have been great publicity to see him go out in a Yankees casket. Lost opportunity there.
..........al
Anyone know if Steinbrenner got a Yankees casket?
In a word- NO. eom