-- Posted Thursday, 21 August 2008 | Digg This Article
| Source: GoldSeek.com
By KING ORRY
www.goldoz.com.au
Yesterday I was talking to a moderately wealthy business acquaintance in Sydney, Australia, he was complaining that the shares in his Super Annuation (pension) account with Insurance and Pension giant AMP had lost $30,000 in value in the last 2 weeks and so he had taken all his funds away from AMP and placed them in cash deposits at the bank.
He complained that everything financially and politically was in a damn mess and he really was not sure what he should do. I suggested that now he had taken control of his funds he should now do his own research on the best things to invest in as certain asset classes were rock solid and had brought in substantial returns over the last few years and were going to do so for the foreseeable future. Such as? He asked, "well I started buying gold at under $400 and silver at under $4 only four years ago and look at the return I have made on those investments". I also offered to introduce him to a friend who started investing in Australian resource stocks and since 2004 had turned $80,000 into $12,000,000. "You should not rely on Fund Managers as they have another agenda than making you rich and that is making money for themselves, plus they have to have an extraordinary mindset to survive in their industry. What do I mean by that he asked?
Some years ago I spoke to a director of one of the large securities houses in London about the issue of independent thinking in the investment world. He said "that does not work, as we have to be careful of several things. (1) We cannot afford to upset the establishment, nor the major players, (2) we cannot go against the major trends, as the traders would be seen as suspect, loose cannons, even if successful. Let me put it this way, the unwritten rule is, it’s better to go to Hell in good company than go to Heaven alone".
So I asked my friend if he was now willing to be independent and take responsibility for his own investments. He said "no way that’s far too risky"... go figure!
As we talked further it was obvious that my friend was confused and concerned over the political mess the world seems to have got itself into and just could not see how "all these smart people running things could have got it wrong" So I explained that many of these situations arise through seriously dumb things being done in the past and we are still paying for those mistakes now.
So I will tell you a story which illustrates this stupidity and what the result has been. Before I do however, consider three things;
(1) Politics is the epitome of unskilled labour.
(2) In politics there is ALWAYS an unspoken agenda, other than the one promoted.
(3) Like Bankers, Politicians tend to be motivated by three things, Fear, Greed and Stupidity, these are constants, only the order changes.
My story starts in 1943; the United States has entered the war and along with Britain is going to invade Sicily prior to attacking the Italian mainland. Roosevelt had agreed to give priority to the war in Europe and was pressing for a quick victory after a late start into WW2.
So some genius in the State Department had a bright idea, with the best of intentions you understand. It probably went like this "Hey! Isn't Sicily where all those Mafia guys come from? Why don’t we get them to help us conquer the Island, we will get a quick victory and as a bonus we can show the Brits what’s what".
Well Mussolini was a real bum and did not achieve much during his reign apart from getting the trains to run on time, but he had achieved one thing of note, he had pretty much destroyed the Mafia and brought law and order to Italy.
Lucky Luciano, head of Murder Inc., and Capo di Tutti Capi arranged Mafia support for the invasion; he did this from his prison cell in New York State, for a few business and personal concessions of course. So Lucky was released and flown back to his homeland to "facilitate the invasion" and on the side, to re-set the Mafia's power structure and establish its new narcotics empire. Vito Genovese, well known New York hoodlum wanted for murder and numerous other crimes turned up in uniform in Sicily as a liaison officer attached to the U.S. army. The U.S. also resuscitated another convicted Mafiosi, Don Cali Vizzini and placed him in control of the islands Civil Administration with complete authority, military vehicles and supplies at his disposal. Through threats, bribes and skill these grafters soon out maneuvered the do-gooding military government of occupied territory to the degree that it was estimated that of all military supplies landed at Naples for the Allied armies at least a third was stolen from the Port.
So for the last sixty odd years America has suffered from this act of stupidity and Italy far worse. For what Italian Prime Minister has been able to govern without Mafia connections and support? Let’s have a single example of that effect. The 113 mile Palermo to Messina autostrada was started in 1969 but was finally inaugurated by Silvio Berlusconi in December 2004 after 35 years of construction. Following regular siphoning-off of materials and funds by the Mafia, the road construction had proceeded at the rate of 3 miles per year at a cost of almost $9,000,000 per mile and get this, paid for by the European Investment Bank and the other members of the EU.
So why is it so many people including my well educated business acquaintance are confused about what is happening today, why are we bogged down in a forever war in the Middle East which looks like escalating out of control, how did the Sub Prime mess happen and which looks like developing into a major disaster. etc., etc., etc.
It’s because people do not take responsibility for themselves, they leave others to think and act for them, and then they can bitch and moan and blame others when things go wrong. We need to stop acting like sheep, do our own research, our own due diligence, act to protect yourself, stop believing politicians and bankers have our best interests at heart and Declare our Personal Independence.
Currency is a credit instrument, a promise to pay you nothing note, when things go wrong as they are doing. A house is a depreciating asset if you don’t have a mortgage, if you have a mortgage; it is nothing more than a collateralized debt, shared between you and the bank. The bank owns the collateral, you get to own the debt.
Only Gold and Silver are Money, get some.
KING ORRY
On behalf of
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King Orry is not a registered investment advisor. The opinions and statements made in the above publication are the result of extensive research and are believed to be accurate and from reliable sources. The contents are his current opinion only, further more conditions may cause these opinions to change without notice. The insights herein published are made solely for international and educational purposes. The contents in this publication are not to be construed as solicitation or recommendation to be used for formulation of investment decisions in any type of market whatsoever. WARNING share market investment or speculation is a high risk activity. Investors enter such activity at their own risk and must conduct their own due diligence to research and verify all aspects of any investment decision, if necessary seeking competent professional assistance.
-- Posted Thursday, 21 August 2008 | Digg This Article | Source: GoldSeek.com
