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In the ibox 31.5 OS. I don't know the AS. eom
Real company, real products being sold, revenues growing, no dilution. hope that helps
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The upcoming expansion of US bank credit
Since the FOMC meeting, there has been a noticeable silence over the
Fed’s monetary policy following QE2. But there is some evidence that the
funding of government debt at low interest rates will shift to the repo
market, rather than a new round of quantitative easing.
The silence on this subject may be partly explained by the monetary
focus shifting to Europe. However, it is likely that the Fed has no
intention of introducing QE3, given that the expansion of narrow money
so far has led only to a degree of price inflation, without much benefit
to asset prices. And with the ECB still reluctant to print euros, QE3
would probably collapse the dollar/euro rate and propel gold
considerably higher, putting unwelcome strains on the financial system.
The Fed also finds itself having dramatically expanded the monetary base
for little economic benefit: against all its expectations, the economy
is sliding into recession again. Perhaps it is a case of all the people
being no longer fooled all of the time with respect to what QE actually
is. No, another approach is called for.
To the Keynesian mind the obvious alternative must be to expand bank
credit, particularly when there is an accumulation of non-borrowed
reserves sitting on the Fed’s balance sheet. The NBRs represent the
excess capital owned by the commercial banks, which have not been drawn
down for use as the capital base for the expansion of bank credit. They
currently stand at about $1.76 trillion while in normal circumstances
NBRs would be no more than a few tens of billions. High levels of NBRs
reflect the reluctance of banks to lend and bankable borrowers to
borrow: they are symptomatic of an economy that refuses to expand.
It is against this background that Ben Bernanke announced at the recent
post-FOMC meeting press conference that interest rates would be held at
current levels (close to zero) for the next two years. This could be the
basis for shifting the funding of government debt from printing raw
money to expanding bank credit. The public do not understand the
inflationary implications of expanding bank credit as easily as they do
that of printing money: switching to bank credit as a funding route for
government debt allows the Fed to fool all of us a while longer.
The logical way to do this is by developing the repo market, where the
buyer of government securities conducts a reverse repurchase agreement,
or a reverse repo. In a reverse repo an investor buys securities with an
agreement to sell them back to the seller at a fixed price at a future
date. For the seller of the securities, the deal is defined as a simple
repurchase agreement and is the mirror-image of the reverse repo. If the
cost of financing a reverse repo is profitable then the transaction can
be highly geared to give a substantial return on the underlying capital.
By encouraging this market for short-term government debt, the Fed can
exercise tight control over short-maturity government bond yields with
benefits extending to medium maturities, irrespective of the quantity
issued. The key to it is to get the banks to lend to the institutions on
the Fed’s Reverse Repo Counterparty List, and the key to that is
reducing the interest rate paid on non-borrowed reserves to slightly
below the targeted government bond yield rate.
The development of the repo market is the way to getting the NBRs put to
constructive government use. Given that short-term US government paper
is seen as the lowest investment risk and the highest quality
collateral, gearing up a reverse repo fifty or even a hundred times is a
no-brainer. Theoretically, that $1.76 trillion of NBRs could fund nine
times that amount of government debt, or more than doubling it to $30
trillion. The point is that the successful development of the repo
market in this way is an obvious and more powerful solution than
extending quantitative easing.
We know from FOMC minutes last year that the Fed have been assessing the
repo market, so it is a definite possibility. All that is required is
interest rate certainty, and that is what the Fed gave the market in its
announcement that it would peg rates at close to zero for the next two
years. The probability that the repo market will be developed in this
way has been increased by the inclusion on the 27th July of both Fanny
Mae and Freddy Mac on the Fed’s Reverse Repo Counterparty List. We
should be interested in this development, because it allows these
government-owned entities to gear up their fast-accumulating cash for
certain returns, and using government entities allows the Fed to
exercise further controls on the development of the repo market.
The apparent disadvantage is that reliance on the repo market will
shorten the overall debt maturity profile. But successful funding at the
short end of the yield curve will have the effect of keeping yields down
for longer maturities, and the Fed can also use derivatives to extend
its control to the longer end. Correctly managed, the Fed will believe
that it can keep the cost of government borrowing low and at the same
time manage the overall debt maturity profile.
We cannot be certain the Fed will use the repo market in this way, but
the problems with a new round of quantitative easing, the studies of the
repo market admitted in FOMC minutes, and the recent entry of Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac to the Reverse Repo Counterparty List are strong
evidence they will. Furthermore, the establishment Keynesians and
monetarists will be unconcerned by inflationary consequences. To them,
the greater danger is still a 1930’s style deflationary depression, the
result of not enough government economic stimuli. Unlocking the NBRs and
gearing them up through the repo market gives them all the room for
manoeuvre they could wish for.
And if the Fed unlocks bank credit in this way, other central banks will
want to follow. This will not be so simple, since most banks in other
jurisdictions operate under Basle rules, which require them to maintain
a minimum level of risk-adjusted capital, instead of keeping reserves at
the central bank. Basle rules are being tightened, forcing most banks to
increase core capital as a percentage of loans, so there is less capital
available to back a dramatic expansion of repo markets for government
debt. Other central banks will have to use more imagination to expand
bank credit to finance government deficits.
In the short run, this may not matter too much. All currencies are on a
de facto dollar standard, so they will benefit from the dollar’s
extended low interest rates. Furthermore the expansion of bank credit as
a means of government funding in the US will reduce demands on the
global savings pool, easing the imbalance between government deficits
and funding availability.
So we have a workable monetary solution for all the world’s ills. There
are market benefits, too. Extended low interest rates should help place
a floor under asset prices, and the resolution of the immediate
uncertainties over US sovereign debt and less pressure for government
spending cuts will be seen as a confidence restorative. But expanding
bank credit to finance increasing government spending merely allows that
spending is no solution to the underlying causes of the real economic
difficulties.
Importantly, it guarantees yet more price inflation down the road: bank
credit expansion always has in the past, and it always will in the
future. Above all, it guarantees the next leg upwards in the precious
metals bull market.
Alasdair Macleod
17 August 2011
http://www.financeandeconomics.org/Articles%20archive/2011.08.17%20Bank%20Credit%20Repo.htm
Conversations with Casey
Aug 17, 2011
Doug Casey: We Are Exiting the Eye of the Storm
L: So, Doug: London has suffered more damage from recent rioting than from anything else since the Blitzkrieg; the stock market had its most volatile week in years; gold shot well north of $1,800; and the U.S. government almost crashed into its debt ceiling. Smells like blood in the streets. What does a street fighting man like you make of all this?
Doug: Well, it was about 40 years ago in 1971 [laughs] when I read Harry Browne's first book, How to Profit from the Coming Devaluation. In that book, Harry said that if gold went as high as $200, it would be a sign runaway inflation was coming, and readers might need their survivalist retreats, etc. He was actually right about everything he said in the book, and for the right reasons, but things didn't get as bad as quickly as Harry thought they would.
That just goes to show that if you predict any particular number or outcome, you should not say when it will happen, or if you predict a time for important events, you should not say specifically what will happen.
Anyway, I'm very uncomfortable predicting serious gloom and doom for two reasons: One, most individuals intuitively look out for themselves by producing more than they consume and saving the difference - so the amount of net wealth in the world grows. Two, technology continues to improve - Moore's Law and all that.
L: I've heard you say that before, but you're the guru, so you don't get off so lightly. What do you feel comfortable telling us?
Doug: My sense is that we are definitely exiting the eye of the storm at this point, and we're heading back into the raging winds of financial, political, and social turmoil. The riots you see now are just an indicator of what's ahead - an appetizer... hardly the main course.
L: That's a pretty bold statement, Doug. We've been talking about the so-called recovery really being nothing more than the eye of the financial storm that hit in 2008. But the U.S. and other governments around the world have been able to animate the corpse of the 20th-century economy and keep an appearance of life in its zombie motions longer than we thought possible. To say we're exiting the eye of the storm implies that zombie is going to stop moving and the smell of decay will soon overpower everything else. Are you ready to make that call?
Doug: You're asking me to do what I just said was unwise: to say both what and when. But yes, it does look grim to me. With the markets fluctuating so wildly, the Dow going up and down hundreds of points per day, that's very likely to spook the government, investors, business managers, and consumers even more than they already are. Normally I don't pay much attention to consumer confidence; it's an emotional state, and emotions can change in a New-York second. But at this point the economy rests on nothing more substantial than confidence. It's a confidence game. And confidence can blow away like a pile of feathers in a hurricane.
L: So what we're looking at is not just a bump in the road. It's going to change priorities and marching orders for market participants - and for those who interfere in the markets in various ways.
Doug: Yes. It's the kind of thing that accelerates a negative spiral, in good part because everybody wants the government to "do something," in the idiotic belief that it can improve things by doing more. Actually it can only help by doing less.
L: So... the economy slows more. Why can't the government reanimate the corpse one more time, turning up the juice on the stimulus heart-shock paddles?
Doug: They've already created trillions more currency units. Most of these are currently sitting in banks rather than circulating. That's partly because people are afraid to borrow and banks are afraid to lend, but also because the Fed is paying banks interest to keep what are considered to be excess reserves locked up. So these trillions of dollars that were created to bail the banks out are sitting there, but they're not going to sit there forever. Once those dollars start circulating in the economy, prices will rise rapidly.
The other way for prices to really explode would be for the foreigners holding some six or seven trillion hot-potato dollars to start dumping them. With the U.S. government clearly unable to deal with its debt and the consequent credit rating downgrade - which was both inadequate and long overdue - those foreigners are getting pretty nervous holding dollars. Almost any sort of financial calamity could spook some central bank into exiting its dollar position wholesale. And once one of them starts, the race will be on, because no one is going to want to be left holding the bag.
These are two time bombs that are ticking away right now - the trillions of dollars outside the U.S. that could come pouring back in, and the trillions of dollars inside the U.S. that were created to paper over the leading edge of the storm. Either of those things could bring on the end of the dollar as we knew it, and both may well happen at once.
L: Okay ... But the state has been very good at convincing people to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. If the markets settle down, why can't people go back to imagining that everything's fine?
Doug: I'm not sure that many people really ever believed there was a recovery under way. Wall Street acted like there was - but only somewhat, since banks never started lending again. But unemployment has remained high; it'd actually be about twice the official 9% level, if it was calculated the same way it was 30 years ago. And outside of the price collapse of certain asset classes - like real estate - the cost of living has increased greatly for most people; the calculation of the government's CPI is as corrupt as its unemployment numbers. I think it's a mistake to talk about a double dip in the economy; we entered the Greater depression in 2007 and are still in it. A "jobless recovery" is not a recovery. The only thing that's recovered is the stock market, to some degree. Aside from government hocus-pocus, the mirage of corporate earnings, and foolish investors wanting to believe it was safe to get back in the water, things have not gotten better. And they are about to get much worse.
L: That may be so, but the government, the press, and corporate America have all been talking about a recovery. With the Fed promising easy money, if the markets calm down, couldn't the illusion of recovery be reestablished?
Doug: I don't think so. The economy isn't going to stay in the eye of the storm for much longer. The stab of panic we saw last week gave lie to the emperor's new recovery clothes. It's not just the losses on the stock market, but gold hitting significant new all-time highs in nominal terms, and Bernanke saying that the Fed would hold interest rates close to zero for another two years. That's huge - and a huge mistake. It tells me that Bernanke has truly panicked. The impact this will have on the dollar cannot be overstated; it's a guaranteed disaster. It assures that people will do all sorts of things they would not do without that artificially easy money.
L: Okay, but if they go into debt to buy houses and cars, they'll create jobs and there will be more appearance of recovery, won't there?
Doug: That'd just be digging the hole deeper at this point. What needs to be done is to let the market raise interest rates, to encourage savings - the accumulation of the capital needed to start moving forward on a solid basis. Instead of encouraging people to work, spend less than they make, and save the difference, these low interest rates encourage profligacy. They encourage people to liquidate savings and live above their means. As usual, the government isn't just doing the wrong thing, it's doing the exact opposite of the right thing.
L: Because...
Doug: Because of the false belief that printing money stimulates the economy. The artificially depressed interest rates of today will result in very high inflation and very high interest rates in the near future. A healthy economy gets naturally low interest rates as a result of a lot of savings, a lot of capital creation. A healthy economy has stable interest rates that relate to the amount of new wealth being created, typically just above the natural rate of inflation that results from real money - gold - being mined out of the ground. Artificially low interest rates stimulate malinvestment.
The Fed is also keeping rates low because of the government's massive debt problem. The U.S. is already running trillion-dollar deficits - if interest rates go up, say, to 12% like back in the '70s, that would add another trillion to the deficit right there. Financing a $16 trillion debt at 12%, rather than 2%, equals another $1.6 trillion of spending - just for interest.
This really means they have no choice. The situation is completely out of control - the U.S. financial house of cards is irredeemable at this point, even with interest rates at close to zero. The whole financial structure is close to collapse, and that's why I think we're exiting the eye of the storm.
L: The Titanic has been struck, but Captain Obama just doesn't yet realize how badly?
Doug: Exactly. And - adding insult to injury - not only are they doing the opposite of the right thing, they are actively punishing people who did the right things, who worked hard and saved. Pensioners living on fixed incomes are being forced to reach for higher and higher yields, which means they are being forced to put their nest eggs into riskier and riskier investments. This guarantees that the pensioners and the savers will be wiped out.
L: Unless they put their savings into gold.
Doug: Sure, but nobody but crazy goldbugs even thinks about that. And it gets worse: The current course guarantees the total destruction of the U.S. dollar. Again, I cannot emphasize enough how serious this is. People all around the world save in dollars. If the dollar is destroyed, it won't just be Americans who're hurt, it will be all the hard-working people around the world who've struggled to scrimp and save and put money away for future needs. All these people who were wise and frugal, they are going to be wiped out. They are going to be left with absolutely nothing. This is criminal - it's the stuff revolutions are made of. And that's exactly what I expect we'll see plenty of, all around the globe.
L: Seems so clear - what could they possibly be thinking?
Doug: Perhaps Bernanke's making the same mistake people with maxed-out credit cards make, when they think hyperinflation will wipe out their debts. They forget how nasty, brutish, and short life can be in a society in a hyperinflationary collapse. And think about it: What happens if you wipe out these debts? Who are the debtors? They are the most profligate people in society. So these artificially low interest rates reward the most irresponsible and punish the most responsible people in society.
L: Absolutely perverse.
Doug: [Chuckles] Took the words right out of my mouth.
L: Easy enough to do in this case.
Doug: Well, there's your answer. What's going on now really is creating the foundation for revolution, and not just in the U.S. The riots in London and Chile, and other outbreaks of chaos around the world aren't anomalies - they're a warmup. An overture before the symphony starts. Things will be especially bad in British and European cities, where there are millions of people who've never worked. Ever. They've just lived off the state.
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L: Maybe we'll hear the music on November fifth.
Doug: "Remember, remember, the fifth of November..." That would be interesting indeed. Readers should rewatch V for Vendetta to put them in a proper frame of mind on how serious things are. I mean... it is going to be a time when Street Fighting Man will be a most appropriate theme song. Turn up your speakers.
L: I agree with you, Doug, but I have to say it makes me a bit nervous to come out and say we're exiting the eye of the storm. The powers that be have proven far more adept at keeping the balls they are juggling in the air than I ever thought they could be. Every time I think it can't get worse without things coming apart, it does get worse, and somehow things don't come apart, they keep going.
Doug: Of course. As I started out saying, Harry Browne's prediction 40 years ago was essentially the same that I'm making today. Harry was a bit early - and I was too, in 1980. But this time really is different, with so many unprecedented actions and reactions between the market and the state. I truly see no way out for the state this time, and it's going to be much, much worse than it would have been had it collapsed back then. I can't say for sure exactly when things will fall apart, but I'm more convinced than ever that they will, and that we are about to plunge deeper into the Greater Depression.
L: What if you're wrong?
Doug: I honestly hope I am, because if I'm right, the global economic devastation is going to have a very real and significant death toll. The price in human suffering these fools in government are setting us up for is truly monstrous. As a human being, of course I'd rather see good times.
L: But as a speculator...
Doug: Yes, as a speculator, I know the crisis will create phenomenal opportunities. If we lived in a stable society, with a stable monetary order and a non-predatory government, it'd be impossible to be a reliably successful speculator, because there'd be few or no politically induced distortions in the economy to take advantage of. So, always looking on the bright side, we can look forward to many new bubbles to result from the state's massive interventions today and in the future.
L: Such as?
Doug: There will be a huge bubble in gold ignited, and maybe soon. That seems pretty much baked in the cake at this point.
L: That's interesting. A lot of people say gold is already in a bubble - that the recent surge up to $1,800 per ounce is a sure sign of that. But you're saying it hasn't even started yet?
Doug: Well, I hate encouraging people to buy gold at $1800 an ounce, because that level is already more than 700% above the bottom in 2001, and I'm a bottom fisher. I like bargains, and I can't call gold a bargain today. But it's plain as day that gold is going to go higher. There's simply no other place for people to try to safeguard their wealth as the dollar, euro, and other currencies plummet toward their intrinsic values. What else could people buy as they get more and more afraid of paper currencies losing acceptance? What are corporations going to do with the billions of dollars in their treasuries when their management gets frightened? Where else can they go when they need to get rid of dollars, euro, yen, and yuan? Central banks, too - what will they do when they need to dump dollars in favor of something that will hold value?
This is why I see a bubble in gold still ahead. It has nothing to do with the supply and demand for gold in the jewelry trade, or whatever - it's going to be a result of there being no viable alternatives when the paper-money con game is over. Gold is the ultimate cash, and that's where people will go when there's a global, total, panic to cash.
L: Agreed. Other investment implications?
Doug: Gold mining stocks. Most good ones aren't bargains, even though they've been lagging gold in recent trading, maybe because of the fear in the marketplace. But they're going higher.
L: Of the two major forces that drive markets, greed and fear, which do you think will predominate going forward? Because there are different buying patterns, depending on whether it's greed or fear in the driver's seat...
Doug: You're quite right. I think it will be a market driven primarily by fear for some time, and that will favor profitable producers, emerging, high-margin production stories, and maybe the best of the best explorers advancing projects with obvious merit towards production. Nobody buys the risky junior exploration plays when fear is driving the market.
L: Except a bottom fisher.
Doug: Except a bottom fisher, yes. There will be some fantastic opportunities in earlier-stage exploration companies that will get smashed because of fear. But speculators looking for those have to be patient. Many junior explorers will dry up and blow away during the fear-induced drought. Eventually, the best will come roaring back when the bubble inflates and the real mania phase of this bull market kicks in. Then, everything with "gold" in its name will trade at ridiculous premiums, even the crappiest juniors whose only gold is in their name.
L: How long before greed kicks back in?
Doug: There you go asking for a time as well as a prediction again. I don't know, but it could be a while: A lot of greed has been washed out of the system with the big panic of 2008, the real estate collapse, and the stock market really going nowhere for the last ten years. Plus, when the bond market collapses, as I think it will, that will be the final blow. That's really The Big One on the horizon these days - the bond market is three times the size of the stock market, so a major reversal there will cause enormous damage.
L: So, stay away from the junior explorers?
Doug: Just the crappy ones - and as you well know, 95% of explorers have nothing and never will have anything. But there are some which actually have gold or silver in the ground - or clear drill indications that they are close to being able to report having such assets - the kind you specialize in finding for the International Speculator. Those stocks are going to benefit from the flood of money hitting the precious metals sector. Remember, the whole gold market is trivial in size. It's only a tiny fraction of the oil patch, and not even a rounding error compared to the global market. When the average investor wakes up to the need to own gold for safety and the potential profit from owning gold stocks for leverage to gold, it's going to be like trying to fit the contents of the Hoover Dam through a garden hose. Prices will go ballistic, and there will be plenty of money hitting even the smaller juniors that have good stories.
L: Good reminder about safety.
Doug: And that's another factor that will be driving the price of gold: It won't just be speculation, it will be prudence - the flip side of fear. Prudence will drive people into buying more physical gold. Greed will drive people into gold stocks. I own a lot of physical gold already, but I'm still buying, even at these levels. And I own a lot of gold stocks, but I'm still accumulating those too, when we dig up good opportunities.
L: Very well. Anything else?
Doug: I should mention for those in our audience who like our video conversations that I recently had a conversation on the Money and Wealth Show when I was in Vancouver, similar to what we've discussed today.
L: Very good. I also want to mention that I've just set up an LJ Facebook page for the entertainment of those who wish to follow my travels and adventures on a sporadic - but hopefully more frequent - basis than in the monthly issues of the International Speculator.
Doug: Great - I look forward to seeing the pictures I know you'll take on your next rock-kicking expedition. 'Til next time.
L: All right then - 'til next time.
Wall Street targeted for Britain-style riots
'Day of rage' aims to 'bring down the stock market'
Posted: August 16, 2011
11:37 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2011 WND
Firefighters douse a building destroyed in the initial rioting in Tottenham, North London
In the wake of Britain's riots, a group of American radicals are planning a "Day of Rage" targeting Wall Street and U.S. capitalism.
The upcoming protests, replete with a planned tent city in downtown Manhattan, is closely tied to the founders of ACORN and leaders of major U.S. unions, including the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU.
There are indications the protesters are training to incite violence, resist arrest and disrupt the legal system.
The protest aims to take root nationwide.
Activists are advertising on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter for a "Day of Rage" on Sept. 17 to begin with the "occupation" of Wall Street and continue with protests across the nation.
Read about the "ballot box stuffers," "urban terrorists," "gangsters" and others who make up "Obama's favorite community organizing group," in "Subversion Inc."
Planners have their own website – USDayofRage.org – which tells protesters to "bring your own tent."
The website is not specific about the purpose of the "Day of Rage" other than calling for "integrity" to be "restored to our elections."
The site accuses corporations of using "money to act as the voices of millions, while individual citizens, the legitimate voters, are silenced and demoralized by the farce."
(Story continues below)
Advertisements claim the protests at Wall Street and nationwide will be "non-violent."
However, the official website provides resources, including videos and detailed written instructions, for protesters to engage in "civil disobedience."
The resources provided include instructions on how to resist police arrest and disrupt court hearings.
Similar instructions are provided on the website of an affiliated organization, which calls itself "Occupy Wall Street" and is also involved in planning the Sept. 17 protests.
The use of the term "Day of Rage" recalls the "Days of Rage" organized in the 1960s by the Weather Underground domestic terrorist organization co-founded by Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, close associates for years of President Obama.
Numerous radicals, many with direct ties to Obama, are linked to planned protests and other activism scheduled for the coming months.
In March, ACORN founder Wade Rathke announced what he called "days of rage in ten cities around JP Morgan Chase." Rathke was president of an SEIU local in New Orleans.
The planned Sept. 17 protest seems to be the culmination of Rathke's efforts.
Those efforts are being organized by Stephen Lerner, an SEIU board member who reportedly visited the Obama White House at least four times.
Lerner is considered one of the most capable organizers of the radical left. He recently organized the SEIU's so-called Justice for Janitors campaign.
As part of his planned protests, Lerner called for "a week of civil disobedience, direct action all over the city."
His stated aim is to "destabilize the folks that are in power and start to rebuild a movement."
In an interview about the planned protests, Lerner outlined his goals: "How do we bring down the stock market? How do we bring down their bonuses? How do we interfere with their ability to, to be rich?"
Forecast for American cities: Confrontation, intimidation?
There are other indications a coalition of radicals and unions are planning chaos using the current economic crisis.
Earlier this month, WND reported that a slew of extremist organizations, some tied to Obama, are preparing protests to coincide with major NATO and G-8 summits in Chicago next May.
Foreshadowing possible violent confrontations, some of the same radical trainers behind the infamous 1999 Seattle riots against the World Trade Organization have been mobilizing new protest efforts geared toward world summits as well as the current economic crisis.
Some of the activists are tied to Obama.
The NATO and G-8 summits are not the only focus of radical groups.
WND reported Heather Booth, director of a Saul Alinsky-style community organizing group, the MidwestAcademy, was among the main speakers at the "2011 State Battles Summit" in June at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Booth's husband, Paul, also was a speaker at the union summit. Paul Booth co-founded Midwest Academy in the 1970s.
The four-day summit was organized by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, with participation from the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest union.
An official schedule for the event, obtained by WND, declared: "Our union is under unprecedented attack in every state. Extremist politicians want to weaken us as we head into 2012. Their tactics include budget cuts, layoffs, privatization and the denial of our very collective bargaining rights."
Continued the flyer: "New challenges require new energy and new thinking. We encourage union activists to attend this conference and bring their creative ideas on how to overcome the challenges ahead."
Heather Booth participated in a panel entitled, "Our Message, Alliances and Best Practices."
Paul Booth delivered the opening remarks for the union conference.
Another speaker at the union event was John Podesta, who co-chaired President Obama's transition team.
Podesta is president of the Center for American Progress, which is heavily influential in advising the White House. The center is funded by philanthropist George Soros.
Mideast revolutions coming to U.S.?
Citizen Action of Wisconsin, an arm of Booth's Midwest Academy, is part of the Moving Wisconsin Forward movement, one of the main organizers of the major Wisconsin protests in February, as WND first reported.
The protests were in opposition to Gov. Scott Walker's proposal for most state workers to pay 12 percent of their health care premiums and 5.8 percent of their salary toward their own pensions.
WND reported at the time speakers at the rallies likened the Wisconsin protests to the ongoing revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa while calling for similar uprisings in the U.S.
'Redistribution of wealth and power'
Obama himself once funded Midwest Academy. He has been closely tied to Heather Booth.
Booth has stated building a ''progressive majority'' would help for ''a fair distribution of wealth and power and opportunity."
Her husband Paul is a founder and the former national secretary of Students for a Democratic Society, the radical 1960s anti-war movement from which Ayers' Weather Underground splintered.
In 1999, the Booths' Midwest Academy received $75,000 from the Woods Fund with Obama on its board alongside Ayers, In 2002, with Obama still serving on the Woods Fund, Midwest received another $23,500 for its Young Organizers Development Program.
Midwest describes itself as "one of the nation's oldest and best-known schools for community organizations, citizen organizations and individuals committed to progressive social change."
It later morphed into a national organizing institute for an emerging network of organizations known as Citizen Action.
Discover the Networks describes Midwest as "teach[ing] tactics of direct action, confrontation and intimidation."
WND first reported the executive director of an activist organization that taught Alinsky's tactics of direct action, confrontation and intimidation was part of the team that developed volunteers for President Obama's 2008 campaign.
Jackie Kendall, executive director of the Midwest Academy, was on the team that developed and delivered the first Camp Obama training for volunteers aiding Obama's campaign through the 2008 Iowa Caucuses.
Camp Obama was a two-to-four day intensive course run in conjunction with Obama's campaign aimed at training volunteers to become activists to help Obama win the presidential election.
Also, in 1998, Obama participated on a panel discussion praising Alinsky alongside Heather Booth, herself a dedicated disciple of Alinsky.
The panel discussion following the opening performance in Chicago of the play "The Love Song of Saul Alinsky," a work described by the Chicago Sun-Times as "bringing to life one of America's greatest community organizers."
Obama participated in the discussion alongside other Alinskyites, including political analyst Aaron Freeman, Don Turner of the Chicago Federation of Labor and Northwestern University history professor Charles Paine.
"Alinsky had so much fire burning within," stated local actor Gary Houston, who portrayed Alinsky in the play. "There was a lot of complexity to him. Yet he was a really cool character."
With research by Brenda J. Elliott
You would think we would see a nice steady rise instead of a spike and retrace. Great numbers YoY. This tiny little company is growing w/o dilution. A remarkable feat in pennystockland.
.......al
uksausage- great post and good questions that need answers. MissionIR where are you with answers? Investors deserve to know what is happenning with company finances.
.........al
News:-
Probe Manufacturing Reports 7 Consecutive Profitable Quarters and Revenue Growth For its Second Quarter 2011 Results
9:45a ET August 17, 2011 (Business Wire) Probe Manufacturing, Inc., (Exchange OTC QB : PMFI), a global electronics design & manufacturing services company, today reported results for its fiscal second quarter of 2011, which ended on June 30, 2011. The company reported 54% revenue growth, totaling $1,164,312 for the three months ended June 30, 2011, compared to $754,170 from the same period in 2010 and an increase in net profit from operations of 147%, or $59,688 for the three months ended June 30, 2011 compared to $24,134 from the same period in 2010.
Summary Financial Information - Unaudited
Three month period ended for the six months ended June 30,
2011 2010 2011 2010
--------- ------------ ----------- --------------------
Sales 1,164,312 754,170 2,070,625 1,241,676
Gross Profit 342,728 186,500 583,542 337,856
Net Profit From Operations 59,688 24,134 100,793 41,032
Condensed consolidated Balance sheet
as of
Un-audited
June 30, December 31,
2011 2010
Working Capital $ 103,515 $ 44,385
Total Assets 1,477,780 994,964
Long term Debt - 5,932
Stockholder Equity $ 305,015 $ 183,175
"We're pleased to report that the 2nd quarter of 2011 was our first quarter of over $1 million in sales since 4th quarter of 2008 and as our second quarter results demonstrate, Probe continues to achieve impressive quarterly growth while maintaining profitability," said Kam Mahdi, Probe's CEO. "Furthermore, our second quarter results reflect improved productivity and higher efficiencies. Our year to date revenue growth was primarily due to higher volume from existing accounts of approximately $500,000 and the addition of 10 new accounts. This result again reinforces the confidence that our customers place in our services and the flexibility of our scalable service platform, which we believe is capable of managing the expected growth for balance of 2011 and 2012," commented Kam Mahdi, Probe's CEO.
As a result, the company is planning to expand its sales force in the second half of 2011 and target larger scale contracts in the aerospace, medical, industrial, instrumentation and automotive industries. The company's management believes that Probe's scalability and global resources can now allow the company to experience rapid growth while sustaining the long-term financial health of the company.
About Probe Manufacturing, Inc.
Probe Manufacturing is a global electronics design & manufacturing services company providing innovators with business services through our factory in California as well as factories worldwide. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Probe has been serving industrial, instrumentation, medical, aerospace, defense, and automotive industries since 1994. Probe's common stock is traded on the OTC QB exchange under the symbol PMFI. Further information is available on Probe's website: www.probeglobal.com.
This release contains certain forward-looking statements (under Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) with respect to whether Probe's business strategy and scalable services platform will result in continued growth of revenue for the company and whether it can maintain its revenue growth experienced in the second quarter of 2011. Because such statements include risks, uncertainties and contingencies, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, but are not limited to, the following: uncertainties relating to changes in general economic and market conditions; uncertainties regarding changes in the EMS industry; the uncertainties relating to the implementation of our global business strategy; and other risk factors as outlined in the company's periodic reports, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements in this document speak only as of the date on which such statements were made, and we undertake no obligation to update any such statements that may become untrue because of subsequent events. We claim the safe harbor protection for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
SOURCE: Probe Manufacturing, Inc.
Probe Manufacturing, Inc.
Kam Mahdi, Chairman and CEO
949-273-4990 X814
kmahdi@probeglobal.com
or
John Bennett, CFO
949-273-4990 X807
jbennett@probeglobal.com
It's not just the feds that are trying to destroy small agriculture. The states are also helping. For example, here in PA they are now requiring an $81 yearly permit to sell eggs at a farmers market. Having chickens myself I can see why many have stopped selling fresh eggs at markets. The cost of feeds and maintenance added to the permit fee just makes it not worthwhile to sell eggs. I have found that eggs make great barter items with friends and neighbors. Who needs the state.
.............al
Thank you Mission IR. It would be nice to know how many if any common stock shares are involved in any of these finance committments. I'm sure you are doing the best you can with the info provided by the company. I think the shareholders have a right to know if and how toxic this financing could be. Anyone with any experience at all here in pinkiestockland knows that non toxic financing in these microcaps are almost unheard of. Can you reassure us? Thank you
.........al
Hello Rainman Oregon-
With respect to your position here, I must humbly disagree. Price and sales are saying some dilution is occuring, tho how much remains to be seen. When the PR came out about the $30 million equipment purchase, I specifically asked Mission IR right here on this board where the money was coming from for the purchase. The answer at the time was inadequate to say the least. The red flag was waving right in front of me. PPS was around $2 at the time. My shares are free riders so it was no big deal to hold them and I did. I have also paid close attention to price and sales. It has given me the answer to my unanswered question as to where the money will come from to pay for that equipment. Hate to say it buy it's speaking very loudly to me. GL2U
...........al
KISS Release Signature Cremation Urns
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/EntertainmentNews.aspx?Section=2&Id=1690233&SM=1
(RTTNews) - KISS have unveiled their very own line of cremation urns.
The urns have been produced for the band by Eternal Image, Inc., a company which designs and sells licensed memorial objects. KISS's model, the Monument Urn, is eight inches tall and the first of four new urn models by KISS, the remaining three of which will be released later this year.
Said Donna Shatter, vice president of operations for Eternal Image: "This urn offers fans a unique expression of their passion for the legendary rock band. It features full-color images of the band members and the KISS flame logo - all displayed against a striking black metallic finish."
The news was released at the same time as KISS's Paul Stanley announced the birth of his baby daughter Emily Grace (with wife Erin).
KISS will be releasing the fourth volume of their Kissology series shortly before Christmas, according to an announcement by drummer Eric Singer.
Official KISS Cremation Urn: Pack Your Grandma In KISS!
http://guitarinternational.com/2011/08/11/official-kiss-cremation-urn-pack-your-grandma-in-kiss/
Gene Simmons and KISS know no bounds with their merchandising machine, branding everything from lunchboxes to official KISS caskets, and now they have announced an official KISS cremation urn, so your ashes can spend the rest of eternity in style. According to Bravewords, the urn was designed and released by Eternal Image, Inc., who make specialty memorial products.
Check out KISS’s plans to team up with Hello Kitty!
This model is only one of four cremation urns that will come out this year; there are three more coming down the pipe at the moment. “We call this particular KISS urn our ‘Monument’ model,” said Eternal Image VP of operations Donna Shatter. “This urn offers fans a unique expression of their passion for the legendary rock band. It features full-color images of the band members and the KISS flame logo – all displayed against a striking black metallic finish.”
The Monument model is 8 inches tall, with the other models reportedly to be different shapes and sizes. This model can be purchased from Eternal Image, who also makes the Kiss Kaskets, for the low, low price of $650. But what is money really, when you’re packing your grandmother’s remains into this classy urn:
KISS Cremation Urn Unveiled
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/News/kiss-cremation-0811-2011/
If an authorized KISS casket isn’t the way they want to leave this world, die-hard KISS fans can now prepare for the great beyond with an official KISS cremation urn. The rock legends’ official urn was unveiled by Eternal Image Inc., a company that specializes in licensed memorial items, according to BraveWords.com.
“We call this particular KISS urn our ‘Monument’ model,” said Donna Shatter, vice president of operations for Eternal Image. “This urn offers fans a unique expression of their passion for the legendary rock band. It features full-color images of the band members and the KISS flame logo – all displayed against a striking black metallic finish.”
The company is preparing to release three other KISS urn models in 2011.
More Morbid Mortuary Merchandise from KISS
http://www.fearnet.com/news/b23468_more_morbid_mortuary_merchandise_from.html
Remember those oh-so-classy KISS Kaskets? For those of you who thought they just weren't skeevy enough (no offense to metal hero Dimebag Darrell, who was buried in one), the folks at Eternal Image, Inc. have rolled out another way to KISS your ass goodbye... or rather your ashes, in the form of a pricey cremation urn that your loved ones can proudly display in your home (you hope) after you've rocked yourself to death. Hit the jump to take a close-up look at this little beauty, and discover how the gods of Rock & Roll can market just about anything.
The first model, shown here, is eight inches tall and sells for a whopping $650. The company will be releasing three additional models later this year.
"We call this particular KISS urn our 'Monument' model," announced Eternal Image VP Donna Shatter (which, by the way, would make an excellent stage name). "This urn offers fans a unique expression of their passion for the legendary rock band. It features full-color images of the band members and the KISS flame logo – all displayed against a striking black metallic finish." This item and the KISS Kaskets can be ordered from the company's website.
If you've already bought your lovely KISS Kasket, the company has also released a KISS Army ceremonial flag to drape over it (or any coffin, for that matter) before they drop you in the hole.
This is getting too damn weird. We're done here.
Burn In Hell With KISS Cremation Urn
Because grandma's ashes would look better on the mantle if she was in a KISS urn, the band has licensed its' name and image for just that. Eternal Image, Inc. announced today that the first of its official KISS cremation urns is now available for purchase.
"We call this particular KISS urn our 'Monument' model," said Donna Shatter, VP of Operations for the Company. "This urn offers fans a unique expression of their passion for the legendary rock band. It features full-color images of the band members and the KISS flame logo—all displayed against a striking black metallic finish."
The company plans to release three additional urn models later this year.
I really don't see this as a question of why, but a question of why has it taken them so long?
http://www.thegauntlet.com/article/233/22326/Burn-In-Hell-With-KISS-Cremation-Urn
KISS Cremation Urn Now Available
If you're not sold on the idea of the KISS coffin, or if you simply don't want to be buried in a cemetery, your friends in Kiss have solved that dilemma for you. The band is expanding its branded merchandise to now include a Kiss cremation urn. Is there nothing Gene Simmons won't think of? The urn, manufactured by Eternal Image, Inc., is now available for purchase. What a fashionable way to store the ashes of the KISS fan in your life!
Eternal Image's Donna Shatter said, "We call this particular KISS urn our 'Monument' model." She continued, "This urn offers fans a unique expression of their passion for the legendary rock band. It features full-color images of the band members and the Kiss flame logo - all displayed against a striking black metallic finish."
Three other models of the KISS cremation urn are planned for later this year. Because you can never have too many choices when it comes to an urn. It'll look striking on your mantelpiece and is much less morbid than, you know, your traditional urn.
http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/08/10/kiss-cremation-urn-now-available/
Hi Basser, yup, they look nice. Would like to see one close up in person.
........al
Rep. Paul introduces bill to cancel $1.6T in debt held by Federal Reserve
By Pete Kasperowicz - 08/02/11 10:13 AM ET
Rep. Ron Paul on Monday introduced legislation that would lower the federal government's debt by canceling the roughly $1.6 trillion in debt held by the Federal Reserve.
Paul has argued for the last few weeks that the idea represents a quick way to make the growing fiscal crisis more manageable. Under his bill, H.R. 2768, the $1.6 trillion that the Treasury owes to the Federal Reserve would disappear.
The Federal Reserve began buying Treasury bonds in earnest late last year as part of its effort to keep long-term interest rates down. But Paul has argued that Fed purchases of Treasury debt represent a debt that the government owes to itself, and one that also leads to an unwanted and inflationary increase in the money supply.
Paul has also said the Fed is allowing the federal government to continue a spending binge it otherwise would not be able to afford, and is forcing the Fed to print money to keep up.
"If the federal government cannot cut spending and bring the budget back into balance, the Fed undoubtedly will be forced to simply monetize trillions of dollars in Treasury debt, which is nothing more than a stealth form of default," Paul said back in May.
Paul is highly critical of the debt-ceiling agreement that the House approved Monday, and said that rather than require real cuts in spending, the bill mostly cuts planned spending levels in the future. According to the legislation, discretionary spending in 2012 would be just $7 billion less than in 2011, and in 2013 it would be just $3 billion less than 2011 before allowing increases above 2011 levels.
"No plan under serious consideration cuts spending in the way you and I think about it," Paul wrote in a piece that appeared on The Hill's Congress Blog. "Instead, the 'cuts' being discussed are illusory, and are not cuts from current amounts being spent, but cuts in projected spending increases."
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/174953-rep-paul-introduces-bill-to-cancel-public-debt-held-by-the-fed?page=2#comments
Bullish on Silver
By Doug Hornig
Are you bullish on silver yet?
Admittedly, it's been a wild ride for the white metal this year, as it rocketed from below $30/oz. in February to $50 in late April, only to be slammed back to $32 two weeks later. As of this writing, it's recovered to just north of $40.
With that kind of volatility, one can be excused for being somewhat skittish about the market. But the fact is, the future looks very bullish for gold's baby brother. We've been covering supply and demand factors on a regular basis in this letter, but today marks the arrival of a singular event that should have a profound effect on prices going forward.
On this day - July 22, 2011 - dollar-denominated Chinese silver futures are scheduled to begin trading on the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (HKME), thus giving Asian (especially Chinese) investors direct access to the metal and offering an alternative to the longtime dominance the U.S. has enjoyed in silver-bullion trading.
This follows the HKME's launch of trading in gold futures on May 18. Both metals will be priced in U.S. dollars, with physical delivery to specified depositories in Hong Kong - a major conduit for the flow of metals into China.
Implications?
For one thing, the new market ends the hammerlock the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has had on silver trading. Because of the competition, the CME will have less leeway to change margin requirements - as it did when it raised them three times in a week - by nearly an aggregate 100% - in late April/early May, sending the silver price into its tailspin.
In addition, investors in China and throughout the far East will find it easier to buy into bullion. This will be the first time that Asia will be able to conveniently purchase silver futures contracts and if they wish, to take delivery. Previously, those investors had to purchase CME-based contracts (if they were allowed to at all) that traded through the Hong Kong Futures Exchange, according to CME rules.
Consider also the price differential between gold and silver. With the former trading at 40X the latter, silver presents less of a barrier to entry to smaller or first-time investors.
The HKME also offers another advantage compared to the CME. Its standard contract is for 1,000 troy ounces vs. the CME's 5,000-ounce minimum. Once again, creating increased liquidity for the customer was the goal.
As Albert Helmig, president of the exchange, puts it, "The new contract will enable buyers and sellers in China to trade effectively with their counterparts across the world, while at the same time allowing investors to gain exposure to silver-price movements and broaden their investment portfolio."
All of this should spark a silver rush that is already running full throttle. As the U.S. dollar has weakened, the Chinese - historically protective of their hard assets - have been running for cover. Demand for the metal soared by 67% in China in the past three years, and the country was responsible for 23% of global consumption in 2010.
That's likely just the beginning. China has a staggering $3.2 trillion in currency reserves, and as the "value" of fiat money deteriorates everywhere, they'll want to move out of it. Imagine the effect on metals prices if just a fraction of one percent of those reserves went into gold and silver.
Institutional investors have taken note. New York-based Newedge USA - which was the biggest futures-commission merchant by measure of customer assets on deposit as of May - cites climbing physical demand in Asia as the catalyst that will drive silver prices, by its estimate, to $70/oz. in the near term.
One final note: Helmig says that the HKME's future plans call for trades priced in yuan as well. That would be in keeping with the exchange's motto - Chinese access, Asian pricing, and global risk management - and it's a move that could really throw the floodgates wide open.
No secret what a flood of new demand will bring: Higher prices.
If you're not yet bullish on silver and the handful of companies that mine it, perhaps you should be.
In a word- AMEN!!!!! eom
Thanks for everyone's input. I for one will be watching closely as like everyone I hate to see the current green go red in my account. The newest PR states the way the costs will be paid but not where the money is coming from. I would hope we get something in the near future to answer that. The concept and business plan looks solid so far. Mexico can use all the help it can get on the environmental front. Hanging on with everyone else-
............al
Hello Mission IR- I just have one quick question on this news release. What kind of financing will be used to pay for all this equipment? From some of the posts here it seems some believe that Scorpex entered this deal to sell this equipment not purchase it. Do they have the cash on hand to pay for this? Has reasonable financing been established to pay for this? Are they going to dilute the stock to pay for this? Looking at the trees instead of the forest I think any reasonable investor should want to know where the money is coming from to complete this deal. I am a shareholder that held on before the R/S and am now fearing share dilutive financing. Please ease my mind.
Thank you
.........al
Just a reminder, civility is the key to keeping disagreements in check. It's always good to look at both sides of the coin. Everyone has a right to their opinion. To follow the simple guideline to just agree to disagree helps keep this board clean and informative as it is meant to be. Thank you all.
............al
Just FYI- NITE wants shares but has none to sell. Always a good sign.
.........al
I don't know if this seems obvious to anyone else, but from the date, time, and sales I have been watching over the past few months it looks like someone is accumulating this but being very sly about doing it. A few 100k here and there adds up quickly.
..........al
COMEX Commercial Traders Positioning for Silver Strength
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
COMEX Commercial Traders Positioning for Silver Strength
HOUSTON – Picking up where we left off on Tuesday, July 12, when we highlighted very tight supply of commercial sized silver bar stocks as one of two key indicators we believe short sellers of silver and silver ETFs ought to strongly consider (and perhaps be concerned about). We noted in that offering that there were two important factors which suggested to us that silver may be merely catching its breath rather than what is usually expected of it following a broken parabolic peak.
These two powerful indicators are suggesting that instead of a parabolic collapse, silver might instead be in the midst of “the mother of all mid-point consolidations.”
The second indicator is just as important as, and we think gives cover, or rather, confirms the first. The second important factor is that the largest of the largest commercial traders of silver futures are near bull market lows in terms of their collective net short positioning following silver’s harsh margin-hike-influenced 30%-plus pullback in May-June.
Consider the graph below as the focus of this second installment of our ‘silver short seller public service announcement for July.’
COMEX large commercial net short positioning (LCNS), nominal, since 2007. Measures the net position of both long and short contracts held by COMEX commercial traders, including bullion banks, producers, users and large dealers. If any of the images are too small click on the top of them for a larger popup version.
Continued…
***Page***
Now please, check one’s bias at the door for a moment and simply allow the above chart to ‘speak’ for itself. The blue line represents the nominal amount of net short positioning in COMEX contracts for traders the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) classes as “Commercial” in its weekly recap of large trader positioning in New York futures. That Commitments of Traders or COT report is useful to determine how the largest futures traders are currently positioned, but more importantly, when closely followed, the report reveals oversized changes in that positioning and other trading anomalies. The pink colored line is the Cash Market price of silver as of the COT reporting cutoff each week.
At Got Gold Report, we follow this government-issue report closely and report on it biweekly to Vultures (Got Gold Report Subscribers) more in depth than we intend to do with this public notice today. The simple issue we wish to call to everyone’s attention is the graph above paints a very strongly bullish picture if we consider the following attributes in isolation.
Lows for the silver LCNS near the lower portion of the graph are nearly always associated with lows for silver. (See if one can find any exception to that notion.)
Silver shows a strong tendency to rally significantly following LCNS extreme lows. • Since at least October of 2010, COMEX commercials have shown a tendency to reduce their net short positioning – they reduced net shorts as silver powered higher, and accelerated that process as it fell precipitously. Commercials want to ‘get smaller’ in the silver net short department.
COMEX commercials position for what they believe the conditions favor, what the price will do three to nine months forward – positioning for silver weakness by adding to net short positions – for silver strength by reducing net short positions.
Every once in a while the COT report is so dramatic or it shows something so unusual that it strikes us as urgent news for our valued readership. That was the case on Friday, July 1, 2011, when we issued an important update on this free web log.
Kindly indulge us for a moment to reprint the closing portion of that comment of nearly two weeks ago.
For whatever reasons, the largest hedgers and short sellers of gold and silver futures have used the recent declines in the price of gold and silver to get a great deal “smaller” in their net short bets – and in a New York hurry as evidenced in the very important graphs shown.
Most anything can happen over the very short term, but historically very large, abrupt changes in commercial net short positioning have been like klaxons sounding for experienced traders to “get to battle stations.” These are indeed just the kind of very large changes of which we speak.
For silver specifically, the very low level of commercial net short positioning suggests that the Big Sellers of silver futures are not at all confident in lower silver prices just ahead. Notice that as the LCNS:TO reached the lowest levels on the graph above it almost always coincided with lows in the price of silver or very near them.
We certainly cannot say that the Big Sellers of silver futures are positioning as though THEY think that silver is set to plunge further - to the contrary. The Big Sellers are net buyers here - at a pretty fast clip, not net sellers.
Be sure to view the excellent commentary on silver by Eric Sprott and Andrew Morris linked in the VultureInReview section immediately to the right of this post on the Home page of the web log. It is indeed worthwhile in our opinion.
As we communicated to Vultures in our last full report, we viewed the COT setup this time as very strongly bullish for both gold and silver – especially so for silver for all the reasons we cited then.
Yesterday, we also noted that September COMEX silver was trading in a tightening wedge. We’d suggest that those who might favor the short side of silver also consider that post too, although it might have been better had they done so then.
How interesting that silver is now threatening to break out of that wedge as we send this off to be posted. Silver is currently thrusting above the $38 battle line as we do, up nearly $2.00 from yesterday’s New York last trade. We’d bet some of that rise today are people who thought they had a pretty good short bet down on silver, having a market-induced change of mind.
The bottom line: Very large, seasoned professional futures traders that should absolutely know if commercial supplies of silver are indeed tight are positioning as though they believe with certainty that is so. Short silver at one’s peril in light of these compelling indicators.
http://www.gotgoldreport.com/2011/07/-comex-commercial-traders-positioning-for-silver-strength.html
The Bankster's Latest Tricks
Published on Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 1:06 PM ago by Ken Koenen
I thought the banks had gone as far as possible to take money from the taxpayers and the government through their TARP funds and the manner in which they paid it back, enabling them to pay bonuses to their executives without government interference. They did not make the money by doing what banks are supposed to do, which is lend money. Instead, they invested it in the stock market, driving it up, and then selling and reaping the profits.
Of course, that results in capital gains that is taxable income with no offsetting deductions other than capital losses. God forbid the banksters should pay tax to the government (and the taxpayers) who bailed them out. They had to come up with a way to create more capital losses.
Of course, for these brilliant people, this was an easy task. Here is what they did, and I have the proof, which I am forwarding to the Internal Revenue Service this week. This was a JP Morgan Chase Bank transaction.
1. When they foreclose on a property, they report the "transfer value" to the county recorder. I am not sure how this affects the property taxes in other states, but in California the property taxes are assessed based upon the transfer value, as are the transfer taxes. The property for which I have the proof was reported to the county as having a transfer value of $143,000.
2. Chase then issued to the previous owner a 1099-A, as required by Federal law, to report the amount of the obligation and the fair market value of the property. In this case the outstanding principle was $283,000.00. In spite of the fact that they had shown a transfer value of $143,000 to the county, Chase reported that the Fair Market Value of the property was $345,000, more than $200,000 higher!
3. Chase then put the property on the market for $147,000, even though they had already turned down a short sale offer of $150,000 cash. They ultimately sold the property for $130,000.
What this means is that they now showed a capital loss of the difference between what they reported as the Fair Market Value ($345,000) and the final selling price ($130,000). Using those numbers, their capital loss was $215,000 which they could now offset against the capital gains from their stock dealings, saving them $32,250 in Federal taxes, and who knows how much in state taxes.
Doesn't seem like all that much for a big corporation such as Chase, but multiply that by 100,000 foreclosures and you come up with something like $3 billion dollars in fraudulent tax evasion.
In the mean time, our government leaders ignore these facts and have allowed the big banks and the rest of the financial markets to run our country because they have all of the wealth. They continue to drive down the prices of homes through the foreclosure process, while the government sits on the side lines making meaningless gestures regarding helping homeowners, while allowing the banksters free reign in destroying the fabric of America.
http://www.brokeragentsocial.com/article/1233/the-bankster-039-s-latest-tricks
bbotcs- I humbly disagree. The seeds of our demise were planted in 1913 with the creation of the federal reserve. We have been going downhill ever since and will continue as the big banks continue pillaging the wealth from our society.
........al
midrew- nice job on the DD. Altho I would think the company already knows of all this, perhaps they should be made aware of the fact that anyone seriously thinking of investing would find what you did and pass. Send a copy of that post to IR and see if you get a response. I would hope it should shake something up anyway. Thanks
..........al
There's no doubt in my mind the potential of this gas field. I am sitting right on top of it. This past year has seen more than a dozen wells being drilled within 5 miles of my home. We have gone from a quiet rural life to heavy industrialization. My land is leased to Talisman Energy. Under PA law you almost have to lease to gain the many protections given to homeowners under the laws. Besides I'm not a NIMBY. I realize the need for domestic energy production and it has to be somewhere. This is probably one of the few areas in the country that is not undergoing economic decline and real estate prices are booming mainly due to the mineral rights of landowners. I have talked to many people in the industry working around here. The gas companies are cautiously expressing the pumping of gas from here for at least the next hundred years. Now if we could only find a way to extract the oil safely from the western states' shale deposits we could conceivable be energy independant in 5 years. That is if big government doesn't get in the way and screw things up like everything else they do.
...........al
Hi Street Trader, bought this a while ago. I had heard a blip but could never confirm what I heard. Looks like the rumor may have more substance.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=56028481
..........al
Probe Manufacturing Secures $225,000 Medical Device Manufacturing Contract and Exceeds $2.6 Million in Open Orders
9:30a ET June 21, 2011 (Business Wire) Probe Manufacturing, Inc., (Pink Sheets:PMFI) http://www.probeglobal.com/, a global electronics design and manufacturing services company is pleased to announce that it has secured a $225,000 blanket purchase order from an existing medical device manufacturing client with 50% of the order due in 3rd and 4th quarters of 2011. Probe is now on target to achieve its 2011 revenue and earnings forecast.
New orders have increased from $1.3 million to $3.0 million, or 130%, year-to-date as compared to the same period last year, bringing our total open orders to $2.6 million. "Probe's ability to drive its growth organically from its existing customer base is clearly demonstrated by this latest order, which also exhibits the overall confidence and satisfaction that Probe's current client base has in our company," stated Kam Mahdi, CEO and Chairman.
About Probe Manufacturing, Inc.
Probe Manufacturing is a global electronics design & manufacturing services company providing innovators with business services through our factory in California as well as factories worldwide. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Probe has been serving industrial, instrumentation, medical, aerospace, defense, and automotive industries since 1994. Probe's common stock is traded on the bulletin board under the symbol PMFI.PK. Further information is available on Probe's website: www.probeglobal.com.
This release contains certain forward-looking statements (under Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) with respect to whether Probe can maintain its revenue growth experienced year-to-date and whether such new business will be profitable for the company. Because such statements include risks, uncertainties and contingencies, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, but are not limited to, the following: uncertainties relating to changes in general economic and market conditions; uncertainties regarding changes in the EMS industry; the uncertainties relating to the implementation of our global business strategy; and other risk factors as outlined in the company's periodic reports, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements in this document speak only as of the date on which such statements were made, and we undertake no obligation to update any such statements that may become untrue because of subsequent events. We claim the safe harbor protection for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
SOURCE: Probe Manufacturing, Inc.
For Probe Manufacturing, Inc.
Investor Relations:
Brian Barnes, 800-953-3350
bbarnes@equititrend.com
Le2- The transfer of old shares to the new after a R/S is solely on the company involved. The brokerage can do nothing until the TA notifies them. The TA can do nothing until instructed by the company. A normal transfer should only take 2-3 business days. Any delays beyond that time period are solely on the head of the company involved. Lately I am seeing a lot more delays in transfers, with companies trying to blame everyone but themselves. It is something to keep in mind if one considers investing.
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otcbargains- take your pick from hundreds, possibly thousands, of bloggers that have been saying similar things for the past few years. If I had to name a public figure recognized by all I would submit Congressman Ron Paul. His very clear and public opinions are a very close parallel. The republican party could do far worse for a candidate in 2012, and probably will.
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Debt: Addressing a Centuries-Old Problem
The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt.
-- Cicero, 55 B.C.
Could we perhaps insert USA for Rome in this quote?
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And don't forget the bankers' shill Geithner.eom
Chroma Z- excellent job on the iBox. I caught the name James Miller involved with this company and that name is in my files from the IVAY days. I like the way you give a balanced view on the history to allow the individual to make his/her own decision on whether to invest here or not. Very refreshing indeed. Is he one of these guys that jump from ship to ship leaving a trail of battered investors holding worthless stock behind? Good question. Nice job and keep up the good work. Very few stock specific boards attempt to give both sides of the coin. A membermark for you.
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New shares on my Ameritrade now. eom