Gold Resource Corp (GORO)

[GORO2020]

Like I SAID............The FED and ""BIG Government"" doesn't have a Chance in HELL of making this PONZI SCAM Work...........This TIME it Really IS Different and the America MIDDLE Class is going to Pay DEARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

America it really is a VERY Simple Math Problem here..........YOU, WE are BROKE and the World is about to make it Abundantly Clear when they STOP Buying our Over Priced Toilet Paper known as US Treasury Bills, Notes and Bonds.............

Nearly $23.7 Trillion

And it gets even better from here..........Current Projections are before the END of 2021 if the AHOLES in DC do a Stimulus Bill to Rebuild America(Fricking JOKE), Total Federal Debt will reach $30 TRILLION Dollars and the Federal Balance Sheet will be North of $10 TRILLION Dollars...........Anyone SEE a Problem HERE?????????

I started Shorting the S&P in October and was about to Close the position at the beginning of December but when GOLD finally Broke out I Held on to the ETF. It appears that April is going to be a VERY Good Month for those who have taken Bets that the ""PIMPS"" of Wall Street were going to have to EAT the Stuff they've been Shoveling since 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bullion Demand Soars To 3-Year Highs

Trump Sparks "Sh*tshow" In Black-Gold As Bullion Demand Soars To 3-Year Highs
by Tyler Durden ZeroHedge

Just shy of 10 million Americans have signed up for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks... quite an outlier historically...

cont................

Notably, gold futures and spot have started to decouple once again (as physical shortages rear their ugly head again)...





cont...................


BUY GOLD Folks because Planet Earth is heading for a Depression and the last time this Happened it ended with..............""GLOBAL WAR""!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hours Before Its Start, The Small Business Bailout Is On Verge Of Collapse

"It's A DISASTER Waiting To Happen": Hours Before Its Start, The Small Business Bailout Is On Verge Of Collapse
by Tyler Durden ZeroHedge

Tonight at midnight, the most critical - if hardly biggest - part of the Fed's $2 trillion fiscal stimulus is expected to begin: that's when small and medium business with 500 employees or less can request a loan of up to 2.5x the average monthly payroll (capped at $10 million), meant to buy cash-strapped companies just under 3 months in liquidity. As we discussed previously, the loans which are packaged under the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program carry a 0.5% interest rate, and would be forgiven if their proceeds are used toward operational uses such as payrolls, utilities, and rent.

Needless to say, getting these loans into the hands of America's 30 million small businesses is absolutely critical: they employ about half of U.S. private sector employees, according to the Small Business Administration website.

There is just one problem: with just hours to go until millions in small businesses across the nation scramble to apply for much needed funding, the program appears to be on the verge of collapse amid what appears to be sheer chaos between the Treasury, the Small Business Administration, and the various commercial banks that will be tasked to loan the action money.

One reason why the program is woefully unprepared for a Friday midnight rollout is that banks that haven't underwritten SBA loans before will need to get onboarded in the system. However, as Politico reports, as of last night, there was no application available for banks to do this, and as CNBC's Kayla Tausche adds, Treasury remains committed to originating these loans beginning tomorrow, despite hiccups.

But wait there's more: as CNBC's Kate Rogers reports, an "official familiar with the Paycheck Protection Program loans rolling out tomorrow says official guidance for banks is not yet finalized" with Kayla Tausche adding that in addition to general guidance, banks are asking Treasury for two specific changes to the small biz program:

Smaller banks want higher interest rate so they don't lose money
Big banks want "know your customer" rules waived so they can lend to co's they haven't worked with

In addition to general guidance, banks are asking Treasury for two specific changes to the small biz program:
- Smaller banks want higher interest rate so they don't lose money
- Big banks want "know your customer" rules waived so they can lend to co's they haven't worked with
— Kayla Tausche (@kaylatausche) April 2, 2020

Meanwhile, with the supply side choked off amid last minute rollout chaos, demand for the bailout cash is exploding with some estimates that as many as $1 trillion in loan requests will be available for the $350BN in "first come, first serve" loans. As Tausche adds, "industry sources say a "feeding frenzy" of small biz demand for limited resources will be problematic for the system, technically" and notes that "executives are preparing for a situation akin to the 2013 roll-out of http://Healthcare.gov";

That, for those who may not recall, was an unmitigated disaster lasting for months.

But while logistical issues will be overcome, a potential dealbreaker of a problem is that the physical source of new loans is getting cold feet. According to Reuters, thousands of U.S. banks, including some of the country’s largest lenders, have said they may not participate in the federal government’s small-business rescue program due to concerns about taking on too much legal and financial risk.

While the Trump administration has said it wants the loans disbursed within days, bank representatives, as well as thousands of community lenders, have expressed serious reservations about participating in the scheme in its current form and called that deadline totally unrealistic.

Their biggest concern is that the Treasury Department said on Tuesday that lenders will be responsible for preventing fraudulent claims by verifying borrower eligibility, which is determined by a few measures including the borrower’s number of employees and its average monthly payroll costs.

That's not all: banks also must take steps to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, a process that would normally take weeks, the sources said. Additionally, banks are concerned they could face regulatory penalties or legal costs down the line if things go awry in the haste to get money out the door. But at the same time they are worried they will be blamed for not moving funds fast enough if they perform due diligence the way they would under normal circumstances, the sources said.

Then there is the mandated interest rate on the loans: community banks said the Treasury’s guideline interest rate of 0.5% will be unprofitable, and that many small banks will not have sufficient liquidity to front up the loans (this, as we said yesterday, may have been a primary consideration for the Fed to release Treasuries and deposits from the Supplementary Leverage Ratio test, effectively opening up over $1 trillion in additional loan capacity across the US banking sector).

"Taking all of the above concerns into consideration, many banks have already indicated that they will not be able to use the Program under the current terms,” the Independent Community Bankers of America wrote to the U.S. Treasury and Small Business Administration, which are jointly administering the loans program, on Wednesday.

“We strongly recommend that you make changes to the guidelines before the Program goes live so that it will work as intended by Congress,” the group, which represents thousands of small banks across the country, wrote.

Alas, that is impossible as going back to the drawing board would mean days if not weeks of additional delays, which for an economy where every hour matters, is simply not feasible.

Still, as Reuters reports, as of late Wednesday night, after hearing the concerns, Treasury officials are considering withdrawing Tuesday’s guidance and are working to fix the issues, although as of this moment the same guidelines for the PP program were still in place as earlier this week.

Banks also want a document customers can sign attesting to their eligibility and other requirements, thereby relieving the industry of responsibility for potential misconduct. One source said banks are also seeking a written assurance from the government regarding their legal liabilities and obligations before they agree to participate in the program.

Reuters could not learn which specific big banks are thinking about shunning the program. The Bank Policy Institute (BPI), a Washington trade group, hosted a call on Wednesday during which executives from its members discussed their concerns, three of the sources said. Members of the group include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Citigroup, Truist Bank and PNC.

“Our banks are committed to ensuring this program works and that all of the operational complexities and process challenges are worked through so we can achieve Congress’s goal of helping America’s small businesses,” Greg Baer, President and CEO of the BPI, said on Thursday.

cont................


CBO Reveals Apocalyptic Forecast

CBO Reveals Apocalyptic Forecast: Expects -28% GDP, 10% Unemployment Rate
by Tyler Durden ZeroHedge

One of the many side effects of the coronavirus pandemic is that it has thrown out all recent economic forecasts right out of the window, certainly those of the perpetually cheerful CBO. In a publication released on Thursday afternoon, the CBO said that it now expects the economy to contract sharply during the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the continued disruption of commerce stemming from the spread of the novel coronavirus. What it expects now is, at least in the short-run, nothing short of a depression, with Q2 GDP expected to plunge to -28% as unemployment soars to 10%

The following are CBO’s latest preliminary estimates, based on information about the economy that was available through this morning and which include the effects of an economic boost from recently enacted legislation.

***Gross domestic product is expected to decline by more than 7 percent during the second quarter. If that happened, the decline in the annualized growth rate reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis would be about four times larger and would exceed 28 percent. Those declines could be much larger, however.

***The unemployment rate is expected to exceed 10 percent during the second quarter, in part reflecting the 3.3 million new unemployment insurance claims reported on March 26 and the 6.6 million new claims reported this morning. (The number of new claims was about 10 times larger this morning than it had been in any single week during the recession from 2007 to 2009.)

***Interest rates on 10-year Treasury notes are expected to be below 1% during the second quarter as a result of the Federal Reserve’s actions and market conditions. This is hardly a surprise, and the real question is when will rates turn negative.

And visually:



That's about as far as the CBO will go. As it admits, its "economic projections, especially for later periods, are highly uncertain at this time."

Below are some details on what specific updates are incorporated in Today’s Cost Estimate:

To estimate the costs of legislation that is especially sensitive to economic conditions, such as provisions affecting unemployment insurance benefits, CBO is taking into account as much economic information as possible. Later today, CBO will publish a preliminary estimate of the costs of H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which was enacted as Public Law 116-127 on March 18. The estimate incorporates an updated projection of the unemployment rate that was based on information that was available about the economy through March 27. It was not based on all information available as of this morning because of the time needed to process new information about economic developments and incorporate it into cost estimates. (Also, following the conventions of cost estimating, the economic projections used for the estimate do not include the effects of the act itself or the larger effects of P.L. 116-136, the subsequently enacted CARES Act.)

The unemployment rate underlying the cost estimate for H.R. 6201 was 12 percent in the second quarter of 2020. The extent of social distancing was a key factor in that projection. The analysis incorporated an expectation that the current extent of social distancing across the country would continue—on average, and with local variation—for the next three months. That expectation was broadly consistent with the projections of the virus’s spread that have been reported by the Administration’s coronavirus task force.

cont....................


Some Americans Might Wait 20 Weeks Or Longer For Stimulus Checks

"This Is Turning Into A Disaster" - Some Americans Might Wait 20 Weeks Or Longer For Stimulus Checks
by Tyler Durden ZeroHedge

Update (1415ET): It looks like the real inside scoop as to what's happening over at Treasury right now is coming courtesy of the CEO of Lendio, a startup focusing on lending to small businesses, who says he was on a recent conference call with the SBA and Treasury.

CEO Brock Blake said that a "power struggle" between the SBA and Treasury is holding up the extremely critical $350 billion loan program that's supposed to save all of America's non-chain restaurants, and other small and family-owned businesses.

1/ Wow. What a mess! Just got off a conf call with the SBA. The @SBAgov & @USTreasury are having a power struggle and this is turning into a disaster. Millions of small businesses will be lining up for loans tomorrow, yet those 2 organizations are fighting about process & forms.
— Brock Blake (@BrockBlake) April 2, 2020

2/ Treasury releases an app for the PPP loans and the ENTIRE country has been filling it out in preparation for tomorrow. Our engineers have been working for 48 hours straight to build an automated experience... and now, the SBA is saying that THAT application is not complete!
— Brock Blake (@BrockBlake) April 2, 2020

3/ It’s 12 hours before America’s small businesses will be applying... and they STILL haven’t released a new app for lenders.

**There’s no way this will be ready by tomorrow.**

No one actually knows what’s needed to actually document the application. There’s been no updated
— Brock Blake (@BrockBlake) April 2, 2020

4/ ... guidance from the few documents they posted on Monday. At this point, there are WAY more questions than answers.

Lenders are begging to get answers like:
-does the bank have to be an SBA-licensed lender to participate? Or just an FDIC bank?
-how does a lender apply to
— Brock Blake (@BrockBlake) April 2, 2020

5/ approved as a PPP lender? On Monday, the guidance said to just send an email to apply, but SBA is saying that’s not correct. The lender needs to complete a new expedited ‘750 application.’

I asked when they would release the application (because many lenders are waiting..
— Brock Blake (@BrockBlake) April 2, 2020

6/ ... response to the email they sent. SBA’s answer: soon! ??

-most lenders are worried they won’t have enough capital to fund the demand, and are asking how quickly they will be ‘reimbursed’ on the loans so they can replenish capital. No answers yet.

-while the low rate is..
— Brock Blake (@BrockBlake) April 2, 2020

7/ ..exactly what the SMBs need, many lenders are opting out of the program because they can’t make enough $ to even service the loans (0.5% per year is VERY skinny).

-30m small businesses will be beating down the doors for capital tomorrow ... its a DISASTER waiting to happen.
— Brock Blake (@BrockBlake) April 2, 2020

8/ BOTTOM LINE: the SBA & the Treasury need to quit the power struggle, get aligned, provide REAL guidance (for ALL lenders, business owners, and agents) so that...

... we can get much need capital into the hands of SMBs that are suffering right now!
— Brock Blake (@BrockBlake) April 2, 2020

Update (1420ET): It looks like news wires like Bloomberg and Reuters have gotten a hold of that memo, or at least the details, judging by these headlines.

IRS COULD TAKE UP TO 20 WEEKS TO ISSUE ALL PAPER CHECKS - HOUSE MEMO
IRS TO BEGIN ISSUING PAPER CHECKS TO INDIVIDUALS DURING WEEK OF MAY 4 - HOUSE MEMO

* * *

Around the country, millions of Americans are anxiously wondering when their stimulus checks will be arriving, as they hope to God that they have a job to come back to, or that - if they've already been laid off - the government stimulus money manages to save their employers and help them get their jobs back.

But as President Trump has said several times during the White House's daily press briefings, nothing like this has ever been done before. And while it sounds simple, as we explained the other day, handing out $2 trillion (or at least the amount that's been earmarked for unemployment expansion and stimulus checks) is harder than it sounds.

cont....................


"Our Catastrophe Insurance Did Absolutely Everything We Expected"

VIX Whale Known As "50 Cent" Speaks: "Our Catastrophe Insurance Did Absolutely Everything We Expected"
by Tyler Durden ZeroHedge

Since 2017, we have been following the bread-crumbs of the mysterious VIX-whale nicknamed "50-Cent" - so-called for his habit of scooping up super-cheap VIX calls at a price around 50c (and with very good timing):

April 2017 - Who Is The Real "50 Cent" - A Mystery Trader Is Systematically Betting Massive On A VIX Spike

Feb 2018 - VIX-Trader '50Cent' "Steamrolls" XIV-Traders To $200 Million Gain

Jul 2019 - Is VIX Whale '50-Cent' Back? Volatility Collapse Sparks Huge Bearish Bets

Dec 2019 - VIX Options-Whale '50 Cent' Re-Emerges As New Short-Vol ETF Appears

He is among several VIX whales discovered in recent years.



And now, according to The FT, the real '50-cent' has stepped forward as Jonathan Ruffer - a London-based fund manager for investment firm Ruffer Capital.

His strategy, which is believed to have spent $200m to protect against a rise in volatility in US stocks, saw its strategy pay off during the recent market turmoil.

“That means they’ve made about $400 million mark-to-market this month,” said Pravit Chintawongvanich, head of derivatives strategy at Macro Risk Advisors.

“We don’t know if “Fiddy” has monetised any of their options?.?.?.?Regardless, this is still an impressive result."

cont..................


Consumer Retail in America has totally broken down as in Collapsed which means CHINA has a Real Problem on their hands because THEY Don't have Buyers for their Imported CRAP. So now the Supply Chain really has a NEW ""DEMAND"" Problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fitch Downgrades 9 Retailers In One Day

Fitch Downgrades 9 Retailers In One Day, Including Macy's, Nordstrom And J.C. Penney
by Ben Unglesbee of RetailDive

Summary:

Ratings agency Fitch has downgraded 11 consumer and retail companies because of the financial disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday alone, Fitch downgraded credit ratings for nine retailers, according to emailed client notes.

Among them were J.C. Penney, Macy's, Nordstrom, Kohl's, Dillard's, Capri, Tapestry, Levi's and Signet.

As COVID-19 rips through the country, retailers have shuttered stores, furloughed employees, dipped into their credit lines and made other painful decisions about what costs to pay.

As though the halt to physical sales wasn't difficult enough, across the economy layoffs have surged into the millions and some economists say that the U.S. has already entered a recession.



cont.................


CBO sees the economy down 7% in second quarter and the jobless rate past 10%

CBO sees the economy down 7% in second quarter and the jobless rate past 10%
By Jeff Cox

Worsening economic data due to the coronavirus shutdown has led the Congressional Budget Office to downgrade its expectations for U.S. economic growth.

In revised figures released Thursday, the CBO said it now sees second-quarter GDP declining 7% and the unemployment rate topping 10% during the period, representing a severe upswing from its current 3.5% rate.

“CBO expects that the economy will contract sharply during the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the continued disruption of commerce stemming from the spread of the novel coronavirus,” CBO Director Phil Swagel said in a post on the agency’s site.

The downgrade to the employment outlook comes on the heels of two consecutive stunning rises in first-time unemployment insurance claims.

On Thursday, the Labor Department reported more than 6.6 million new claims, coming on top of the previous week’s 3.3 million. Both are easily the highest in U.S. history.

The CBO said future projections “are highly uncertain at this time” amid the evolving conditions related to the coronavirus.

The Labor Department reports March nonfarm payrolls numbers Friday. They are expected to show a loss of 10,000 from February’s gain of 273,000. However, those numbers only take into account payroll activity through March 12, before the period of social distancing resulting from attempts to halt the coronavirus spread.


Worldwide coronavirus cases reach 1 million

Worldwide coronavirus cases reach 1 million, doubling in a week as death toll tops 50,000
By William Feuer

Reported COVID-19 cases around the world surpassed 1 million on Thursday, doubling in a week as the virus spreads across Europe and North America and establishes a toehold in Africa.

Just before global cases reached 1 million, the COVID-19 worldwide death toll passed 50,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

COVID-19 has now infected at least 1,002,159 people around the world and killed at least 51,484 people, according to Hopkins data. Nearly 200,000 people have recovered from the virus so far, according to Hopkins.

The world knew almost nothing about the virus in December, when reports of a new coronavirus started to surface in Wuhan, China. Since then, it has spread to nearly every country in the world, disrupting daily life for millions under lockdown measures meant to curb the virus’ rapid spread.

“Over the past five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new cases, reaching almost every country, territory and area,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news briefing at the organization’s Geneva headquarters Wednesday.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 500,000 a week ago, according to Hopkins.

Since then, the U.S. surpassed China as the country with the most reported cases of COVID-19 in the world. However, economists and U.S. officials have said Chinese officials are likely underreporting the number of infections.

Infections in the U.S. now account for more than 20% of infections globally. The virus has infected more than 92,000 people in New York state alone, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday. White House officials estimate that between 100,000 to 240,000 people in the U.S. will die from COVID-19 with the peak in fatalities over the next two or so weeks.


*****GOOD NEWS.........Thanks to CHINA, Chinese Wuhan CoronaVirus is now the Third Leading Cause of DEATH in America!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey America don't forget to Send XI a Thank You CARD and maybe add him to Your Christmas Card List...............

1,002,159 Infected 51,485 Dead