-- Published: Thursday, 26 June 2014 | Print | Disqus
July 2014 Update
Week Ending 06/27/2014
Profit, Protection, Despite Cartel Interventions – July, 2014 Update
“Bankers’ parasitic behavior, the result of a cultural phase transition, is entirely characteristic of a society nearing collapse. Wealth is no longer created; it is taken from others. Parasitic behavior is not confined to bankers; it also infects high government officials, corporate executives and the elite societal stratum….”
Jim Rickards, The Death of Money, June 2014
A Major Goal of the intensifying Mega-Bank Markets Interventions is arguably continued Mega-Bank Profits from (aka Parasitism on) the Economies which Support them. A Factual Overview is essential to understand this phenomenon and to Profit and Protect.
“Seriously-Flawed Headline Jobs Growth and Unemployment Reporting Miss Underlying Reality by a Wide Margin. May 2014 headline jobs growth of 217,000 and headline unemployment at 6.3% both were close to market expectations, but they were far removed from common experience and underlying reality….
“With broad unemployment topping 23% and with monthly payroll-employment reporting currently overstating jobs growth by a couple of hundred thousand jobs, the economy never recovered from its plunge into 2009. It also is not about to recover, but instead it is turning down anew, as other discussed in 2014 Hyperinflation Report-Great Economic Tumble – Second Installment….
“…Headline employment reporting currently overstates monthly jobs growth by at least 200,000…”
“Monthly Payroll Gains Overstated by 200,000-Plus Jobs,” Commentary Number 633, John Williams, Shadowstats.com, 06/06/2014
In order to Profit and Protect despite Cartel (Note 1) Interventions, it is first important to understand that Official Statistics and News Reports in Major Countries are often Bogus.
Considering the U.S., for example, Real Unemployment (June, 2014) is 23.2% and Real Inflation is 9.86% per Shadowstats.com which calculates the statistics the way they were calculated decades ago before the numbers became so politicized. (See the section “Indirect Manipulation” below)
And the Economy is not recovering.
Just as many official Statistics are Not Accurate, Inaccurate often also are Mainstream Media (MSM) Reporting of Major Financial and Economic Events.
For example, as former OMB Director David Stockman points out, The Fed’s 2008 Bailout Actions via TARP et al were basically a multi-hundred Billion Wealth Transfer from Savers and Taxpayers to the Mega Banks and other Financial Institutions. But the Mainstream Media certainly did not present it that way. Instead, they propagated the fiction that the Bailouts were necessary to “save the Financial System.”
“Then, when the Fed’s fire hoses started spraying an elephant soup of liquidity injections in every direction and its balance sheet grew by $1.3 trillion in just thirteen weeks compared to $850 billion during its first ninety-four years, I became convinced that the Fed was flying by the seat of its pants, making it up as it went along. It was evident that its aim was to stop the hissy fit on Wall Street and that the threat of a Great Depression 2.0 was just a cover story for a panicked spree of money printing that exceeded any other episode in recorded human history….
“Because they stopped it in its tracks after the AIG bailout and then all the alphabet soup of different lines that the Fed threw out, and then the enactment of TARP, the last two investment banks standing were rescued, Goldman and Morgan [Stanley], and they should not have been. As a result of being rescued and having the cleansing liquidation of rotten balance sheets stopped, within a few weeks and certainly months they were back to the same old games, such that Goldman Sachs got $10 billion dollars (from The Fed – ed.) for the fiscal year that started three months later after that check went out, which was October 2008. For the fiscal 2009 year, Goldman Sachs generated what I call a $29 billion surplus – $13 billion of net income after tax, and on top of that $16 billion of salaries and bonuses, 95% of it which was bonuses.
“Therefore, the idea that they were on death’s door does not stack up. Even if they had been, it would not make any difference to the health of the financial system. …
“The banks quickly worked out their solvency issues because the Fed basically took it out of the hides of Main Street savers and depositors throughout America….
“Well, once you basically unplug the pricing mechanism of a capital market and make it entirely an administered rate by the Fed, you are going to cause all kinds of deformations as I call them, or mal-investments as some of the Austrians used to call them, that basically pollutes and corrupts the system. Look at the deposit rate right now, it is 50 basis points, maybe 40, for six months. As a result of that, probably $400-500 billion a year is being transferred as a fiscal maneuver by the Fed from savers to the banks. They are collecting the spread, they’ve then booked the profits, they’ve rebuilt their book net worth, and they paid back the TARP basically out of what was thieved from the savers of America.”
David Stockman, Frmr Head, OMB & Member, House of Representatives, (1977-81) The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America, 2013
The private-for-profit Fed’s Ongoing Intervention in the Markets on behalf of their owners/shareholders, the Mega-Banks, is an old and ongoing story. Unfortunately, it is having several ongoing and worsening Negative Consequences (including those Stockman points out) on Investors, Retirees and Main Street in general.
Not so well publicized is The Fed/Mega Banks’ ongoing interventions to Suppress the Prices of Gold and Silver (and boost the $US) because Gold and Silver are the Legitimate Competitor to the Fed’s (and other Central Banks) Fiat Currency(ies) and Treasury Securities.
And recently, former Asst. Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Paul Craig Roberts, has exposed another Federal Reserve activity to disguise their continuing manipulation. Indeed, pointing out, many Central Banks actions are Covert. For example, The Fed is not really Tapering in 2013-2014:
“Is the Fed ‘tapering’? Did the Fed really cut its bond purchases during the three month period November 2013 through January 2014? Apparently not if foreign holders of Treasuries are unloading them.
“From November 2013 through January 2014 Belgium with a GDP of $480 billion purchased $141.2 billion of US Treasury bonds. Somehow Belgium came up with enough money to allocate during a 3-month period 29 percent of its annual GDP to the purchase of US Treasury bonds.
“Certainly Belgium did not have a budget surplus of $141.2 billion. Was Belgium running a trade surplus during a 3-month period equal to 29 percent of Belgium GDP?
“No, Belgium’s trade and current accounts are in deficit.
“Did Belgium’s central bank print $141.2 billion worth of euros in order to make the purchase?
“No, Belgium is a member of the euro system, and its central bank cannot increase the money supply.
“So where did the $141.2 billion come from?
“There is only one source. The money came from the US Federal Reserve, and the purchase was laundered through Belgium in order to hide the fact that actual Federal Reserve bond purchases during November 2013 through January 2014 were $112 billion per month….
“Why did the Federal Reserve have to purchase so many bonds above the announced amounts and why did the Fed have to launder and hide the purchase?
“Some country or countries, unknown at this time, for reasons we do not know dumped $104 billion in Treasuries in one week….
“The Fed realized that its policy of Quantitative Easing initiated in order to support the balance sheets of ‘banks too big to fail’ and to lower the Treasury’s borrowing cost was putting pressure on the US dollar’s value. Tapering was a way of reassuring holders of dollars and dollar-denominated financial instruments that the Fed was going to reduce and eventually end the printing of new dollars with which to support financial markets. The image of foreign governments bailing out of Treasuries could unsettle the markets that the Fed was attempting to sooth by tapering….
“Washington’s power ultimately rests on the dollar as world reserve currency. …
“If the world loses confidence in the dollar, the cost of living in the US would rise sharply as the dollar drops in value. Economic hardship and poverty would worsen. Political instability would rise.
“If the dollar lost substantial value, the dollar would lose its reserve currency status. Washington would not be able to issue new debt or new dollars in order to pay its bills….”
“Fed Disguising QE by laundering it through Belgium,” Paul Craig Roberts, paulcraigroberts.org, 05/12/2014
Mega-Bank Market Manipulation extends to Boosting Prices (e.g., recently in Equities Markets) and Price Suppression (as for years in Gold and Silver Markets).
Even the August Financial Times of London has recently run a set of Articles revealing the Central Banks’ “Burgeoning Market Manipulation Support” which the website, Naked Capitalism, accurately summarizes as “Mission Leap” at The Fed. The Central Bank is moving unabashedly into price-setting, and stealth, or formally backstopping, of more and more Markets. — Do we have a move toward Marxist Central Planning here?
These Interventions provide a Challenge to Investors, and a Threat to their Wealth, but also Great Opportunities to Profit and Protect Wealth provided one understands and tracks them, as we explain here.
The Gold Antitrust Action Committee has done a remarkable job in Exposing this price suppression in Gold and Silver Markets.
“Western central banks conceal their gold loans and swaps because information about them is ‘highly market-sensitive and accountability about them would hinder secret currency market interventions by central banks, according to a confidential report by the International Monetary Fund obtained this week by GATA. …
“This is, the explicit but secret policy of Western central banking toward gold is to deceive and manipulate markets, as GATA long has complained. …
“Secret IMF report: Hide gold loans and swaps for market manipulation,”
The GATA Dispatch, Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, 12/11/2012
Gold and Silver are the Metallic Canaries which, absent Price Suppression, would signal many Economic Negatives, including the inflationary effect of The Fed’s and other Central Banks QE. The Fed et al have become increasingly desperate to conceal these Hidden Realities as the Cartel’s (Note 1) dramatic April, 2013 Takedown shows.
“[O]n Friday, April 12, the Fed’s agents hit the market with 500 tons of naked shorts. Normally, a short is when an investor thinks the price of a stock or commodity is going to fall. He wants to sell the item in advance of the fall, pocket the money, and then buy the item back after it falls in price, thus making money on the short sale. …
“…with naked shorts, no physical metal is actually sold…
“Consider the 500 tons of paper gold sold on Friday. Begin with the question, how many ounces is 500 tons? There are 2,000 pounds to one ton. 500 tons equal 1,000,000 pounds. There are 16 ounces to one pound, which comes to 16 million ounces of short sales on Friday.
“Who has 16 million ounces of gold? At the beginning gold price that day of about $1,550, that comes to $24,800,000,000. Who has that kind of money?
“What happens when 500 tons of gold sales are dumped on the market at one time or on one day? Correct, it drives the price down. Investors who want to get out of large positions would spread sales out over time so as not to lower their sales proceeds. The sale took gold down by about $73 per ounce. That means the seller or sellers lost up to $73 dollars 16 million times, or $1,168,000,000.
“Who can afford to lose that kind of money? Only a central bank that can print it.”
“Assault on Gold Update,” Paul Craig Roberts, Frmr Asst Treasury Sec’y Reagan Administration, PaulCraigRoberts.org
Roberts also explains one Major Reason The Fed is short selling bullion.
“The fact that the Federal Reserve is short selling bullion means that there is something desperate going on. I assume it is related to the USDollar. If the dollar drops sharply in exchange value, the Fed cannot control the interest rate and the bond price, and so all of the bubbles would blow up. All of the recent reports of countries moving away from the dollar to settle their international payments have most likely caused a great many countries to look at getting out of dollars. We not only have the BRICs moving away from the use of the dollar, but also China, Japan, and all of the East Asians. Recently we have even seen reports out of Australia that they are going to deal directly with China in their own currency. So this drop in demand for dollars when the Fed is creating one trillion new dollars every year means the exchange value of the US dollar is untenable.” (Emphasis added –ed.)
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, quoted in “Global Money War Report,”
via Jim Willie, goldenjackass.com, 04/21/2013
This Ongoing Suppression of Gold and Silver Prices tends to legitimize and bolster the Ostensible Value of Major Nations’ Treasury Securities and Fiat Currencies as stores and measure of value vis-à-vis Gold and Silver.
Remarkably, The BIS, The Central Bankers’ Bank, advertised in June, 2008 that one of its “Products” was “Interventions” in the Gold Market, as well as Currencies.
The Price Suppression Scheme is International, involving many Banks as Mr. Rigaudy’s characterization implies.
“Our Products – Forex and Gold Services > Interventions”
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS): An Introduction
Jean-François Rigaudy, Head of BIS Treasury, June, 2008
Indeed, the aforementioned recent example of the Cartels Precious Metals Price Takedown shows The Cartel’s (Note 1) increasing desperation and determination to hide the Negative Effects of QE from the Public. But increasing purchases of Gold and Silver by, and Delivery to, China and India make it increasingly hard for The Cartel to maintain its Price Suppression Scheme. Indeed, Deepcaster expects to be able soon to forecast the timing of a Great Launch up of Gold and Silver Prices. Indeed, the recent Launch Up of Gold from the mid-1200s to $1320ish as we write show the Great Launch Up is Impending.
Further, it is essential to review several facets of, and Key Points in the History of and current record of Manipulation which are crucial to understand the variety of Effects, and how to Profit and Protect from them (and see e.g., Notes below). Consider…
Indeed, there are several Negative consequences of this Mega-Bank Cartel Market Manipulation for Investor Citizens around the World.
“We have had a Fed engineered serial bubble, that has created the appearance of wealth, that has caused people to consume beyond their means through borrowing, and that has flushed the income and wealth of our society up to the top, as a result of the Fed turning the financial markets into a casino. These are pure casinos, they are not capital markets, they are not adding to the productive capacity of our economy, they simply are a bunch of robots trading with each other by the millisecond as a result of the Fed giving them zero cost overnight money, and giving them all kinds of hand signals on what to front-run.
“The Fed is destroying prosperity by funding demand that we can't support with earnings and production, causing massive current accounts deficits and the flow of funds overseas and the build up in China, OPEC and Korea of massive dollar reserves which is a totally unsustainable, unsupportable system, and we are coming near the edge of where that can continue to remain stable.”
Stockman, December, 2010
Among the Mega-Banks holding huge Precious Metals and other Derivatives Positions are familiar names (JPM Chase held a Derivative Portfolio of some $70 Trillion Notional value in 2010, for example).
“This report (Q1 2010 Bank Derivatives report – ed.) contains more evidence that a flood of paper gold and silver instruments are being used to divert investor capital away from the purchase of the actual physical metals in order to suppress prices…
“Two bullion banks, JPM and HSBC, continue to dominate the precious metals derivatives market with positions that are outrageously oversized compared to the underlying metals markets…”
“Manipulative Gold & Silver Derivative Positions Continue to Grow!”
Adrian Douglas, Marketforceanalysis.com, 6/26/10
Other Negative Consequences of Massive Fed and other Mega-Bank QE (Money “Printing” and Credit Facilitation) were presciently identified by Bob Chapman (R.I.P.) and Warren Buffet.
“Banana Ben, like his equally pernicious predecessor, Easy Al, is trying to paper over declining US living standards by orchestrating asset bubbles. Ironically, …
“Soon Ben will be at his Rubicon. He must then either monetize everything or allow short rates to explode higher. This of course would precipitate the dreaded debt deflation that solons have tried to avert.”
Bob Chapman, International Forecaster, 12/18/10
“Charlie and I are of one mind in how we feel about derivatives and the trading activities that go with them: we view them as time bombs, both for the parties that deal in them and the economic system.”
Warren Buffet, February 21, 2003
The Fact that The Fed has not been tapering but rather is increasingly monetizing could reasonably be considered one of The Time Bombs to which Buffet refers. And The Fed and other central Bankers are Massively Monetizing (i.e. printing/digitizing Money and Buying) Sovereign and other Debt, and thus creating Massive Asset Bubbles in the Treasury Bond and Equities Markets as well.
For example, in the December, 2011 to February, 2012 period The ECB injected One trillion Euros’ into the International Economy on top of all the Fed QE and other injections.
And it is this Immense and Ongoing QE which provides Great Profit Opportunities (see Notes 2, 3 and 4) as well as Great Systemic Threats, as we explain.
Thus it is important to understand that it is not just the Precious Metals Markets that are manipulated but Equities, Bond, and other Markets as well. The following is just one example of this phenomenon which has been occurring for years:
“…All told, the Fed has bought $20 billion worth of Treasuries in this fashion, $11.15 of which it purchased last week alone. With this kind of weekly money pumping in place, Bernanke and pals don’t need to continue their “behind the scenes” games (like the options expiration week money pumps).
“Or do they?
“Unbeknownst to most investors, last week Ben Bernanke pumped an additional $11.05 BILLION into the system ON TOP of the $11.15 pumped via the POMOs. In plain terms, the Fed juiced the system by $20+ billion in a single week, bringing its liquidity pumps RIGHT BACK to QE 1 LEVELS.
“If you want to know why stocks have rallied in the last month (September, 2010; Ed.) this is THE reason. The economy isn’t improving and the European Crisis isn’t over. Nothing has improved. All that has happened is the Fed funneled money into the Primary Dealers who ramped the market….
“In plain terms, the market is being juiced higher, plain and simple. There is no fundamental reason for stocks to be rallying.”
“The Only Reason Stocks Have Rallied This Month”
Graham Summers, Seeking Alpha, 9/28/10
Indeed, the recent Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) (a Central Bank Advisory group) Report revealed that Central Banks and other public entities owned a Staggering $29 Trillion of Equities. These are held by 400 public sector institutions – including central banks – in 162 countries. (cf. Financial Times, June 2014)
See also “There are no Free Markets anymore,” CPowell, gata.org
See also “Markets Are So Rigged By Policy Makers That I Have No Meaningful Insights To Offer” 2/20/2012, Bob Janjuah, Nomura International Strategist.
Indeed, near the end of the Fall, 2008 Equities Market Crash (i.e. as of December 2008) there were about U.S. $548 Trillion in Notional OTC (i.e. Dark, Not Exchange Traded; thus traded mainly by Mega-Banks) Derivatives still outstanding worldwide.
Yet nearly six years later (as of December 2013 – the latest BIS Report date) that total was at about $710 Trillion, which exceeds the all-time pre-Crash (June, 2008) High of $684 Trillion, according to the Central Banker’s Bank, the Bank for International Settlements (www.bis.org, path: Statistics>Derivatives>Statistical Tables, Table 19). Consider that the entire world GDP is only about $70 Trillion.
Warren Buffet is surely correct to label Derivatives as “Time Bombs” because the leverage inherent in them is both a threat to Investors and to the financial system.
Clearly, a Conclusion that Systemic Risk (generated by Derivatives Exposure which existed, e.g., at AIG prior to the Crash) has somehow been substantially lessened by the actions of the private for-profit Fed, the European Central Bank, the U.S. Government, or any other source, is wrongheaded.
Given the Massive Size and Impact of the over $700 Trillion in Dark OTC Derivatives, Investing or Trading without addressing the issue of ongoing and prospective Cartel* Market Interventions is a recipe for disaster.
Thus, we offer the following Overview and Update regarding The Interventional Universe to provide a Springboard for the Profits and Protection Strategy which we outline below. And in our Letters and Alerts, we offer Buy Recommendations designed to profit from Forecast Mega-Moves. See Notes 2, 3 and 4 below, for example, re Buy Recommendations and Performances.
[This July, 2014 Article is the Fifteenth in a series of Deepcaster's work originally entitled "Juiced Numbers". It provides an Updated Overview and Summary of Market Intervention and Data Manipulation. It reflects Analysis of key recent Releases from (and actions of) the BIS (Bank for International Settlements – The Central Banker’s Bank), BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) and The U.S. Federal Reserve, as well as Highlights of recent Interventions, and updates regarding The Cartel* “End Game.” For the sake of Brevity, we refer to our earlier articles in this series.]
Bailouts and Stimuli have afforded The Cartel a whole panoply of additional tools for Market Intervention which they did not possess even ten years ago. These tools make tracking “The Interventionals” ever more challenging. In sum, this report provides even more evidence of increased Risk of Hyperstagflation and/or Systemic Collapse, and of the beginning of the attempted implementation of The Cartel’s Nefarious “End Game” (see “Saving Investments, Sovereignty, & Freedom from the Cartel ‘End Game’ (1/13/11) in the ‘Articles by Deepcaster’ cache at deepcaster.com).
Moreover, it provides evidence that the private for-profit Fed’s and its allied Mega-Banks’ Policies and Actions are the Primary Cause of the Economic and Financial Crises from which we suffer today.
Therefore, Deepcaster suggests below a Systemic Solution and a Strategy for profiting and protecting from the Interventional Regime’s actions and policies, and coping with its ‘End Game’ Strategy.
The Covert Interventional Context – Overview
Deepcaster is periodically asked to explain, and provide evidence for, our view that a U.S. Federal Reserve-led Cartel* (apparently composed of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Major Central Bankers and key Primary Dealers manipulates a wide variety of markets. [Apparently one “Operational Vehicle” through which The Cartel works is called “The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets” established by Congress after the 1987 crash, and which is often informally and widely referred to as “The Plunge Protection Team” or PPT.]
Essential to maximizing profits and to avoiding losses is to recognize that the Fed-led Cartel (Note 1) manages two complementary Interventional Regimes – one quite public, and the other dark one, at least as powerful, covert. (A glimpse into this Covert Regime was afforded via the Partial Audit mandated by the Dodd-Frank Bill.) Thus, a critical key to profit and loss is tracking the “Dark Interventionals” (which often leave “Tracks” so to speak) as best one can, as well as the public ones.
Moreover, whether an Intervention is Overt or Covert is often a matter of degree. Overt Intervention often has a Covert aspect (e.g. how was that TARP Bailout Money used and who received it?), and Covert ones are often difficult to detect, but nonetheless can often be tracked using publicly available information. Consider for example, the Graham Summers’ and Paul Craig Roberts’ Exposés of Covert Interventions above.
It is important to note also that by “Cartel Intervention” we do not (usually) mean that the Cartel totally controls prices in any particular market, at all times. Various markets are affected in varying degrees, at varying times, by Cartel manipulation attempts.
In markets such as the (relatively) Small Cap markets for Gold and Silver Bullion and especially Mining Stocks, Cartel manipulation attempts can have much more impact and are, at times, and for certain time periods, tantamount to control.
COVERT DIRECT INTERVENTION
Covert Direct Intervention to manipulate a variety of markets appears to be accomplished primarily via four categories of vehicles:
1) “Repo” Injections from The Fed (TOMO’s & POMO’s though POMO injections have become more widely reported recently)
2) Over The Counter (OTC) Derivatives (reported at www.bis.org, see above)
3) “Bailout” monies and Authorizations which Congress unwisely gave the Fed without requiring full disclosure or Oversight and, in particular, the TARP and TSLF (Term Securities Lending Facility) injections by The Fed, QE1, QE2, QE3 and the ongoing QE4, and other Vehicles such as the Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF)
4) Debt Monetization and Credit Facilitation by The Fed and other Banks such as the ECB and its $1 Trillion Dec. 2011, February 2012 LTRO Operation, or The Fed’s covertly Purchasing U.S. Treasuries through Belgium in 2013-2014 (see above).
[For fuller Explanation, see Deepcaster’s Article “PROFIT & PROTECTION FROM CARTEL INTERVENTION -- Including New Interventional Tools Description “ (12/23/09) in the ‘Articles by Deepcaster’ Cache at www.deepcaster.com and for details regarding Cartel use of Repos, Derivatives, Bailout Monies and other Vehicles see the July, 2009 Letter.]
The Challenge: Determining the Impact of The Interventionals
The challenge for Investors and Forecasters is to determine where (i.e. in what Sector/s) and how (immediately, in increments, etc.) the Repo-backed funds and/or TARP/TSLF/Bailout/QE/LTRO Funds and/or OTC Derivatives (“Interventional Funds”) etc. will be employed. Deepcaster and those very few others, who monitor the Interventional Funding (and related Cartel and Allies’ actions) to the extent that is feasible, make educated Forecasts of where and how such funds are likely to be used based on patterns, tendencies, and judgments virtually all of which can be gleaned or inferred from publically reported information. But no outsider can know for sure.
Those who doubt whether the Cartel has the capacity to manipulate the markets (and especially the larger markets like the multi-trillion dollar currency and bond markets) are invited to inform themselves about the U.S. Trillions plus of OTC Derivatives (see www.bis.org Path: Statistics>Derivatives) at Fed Primary Dealer J.P. Morgan Chase, or those at Fed Primary Dealer Goldman Sachs and Fed Primary Dealer Citibank.
Indeed both Opportunities for and Threats to Investors are generated by Cartel Policies and the Massive OTC Derivatives positions. Consider:
“With Key Mega-Financial Institutions around the World claiming in 2008 that they risked collapse if they were not bailed out, one must ask which ones benefited from the $15 Trillion plus Increase in Gross Market Value of their OTC Derivatives in the six months between June, 2008 and December, 2008 when the Equities Markets were crashing and Investors around the world were losing trillions? A logical Conclusion: Key Central Bankers and Favored Financial Institutions of The Fed-led Cartel*, quite possibly including the shareholders of the private for-profit U.S. Federal Reserve” (cf. BIS Table 19 cited above)”
Deepcaster, May 29, 2009
INDIRECT MANIPULATION
Key Statistics continue to be gimmicked by Official Sources in Major Countries including especially the USA and China much to the detriment of American Citizens and Investors Worldwide. One result of this is that the extent to which Mega-Bank Policies result in the Confiscation or Devaluation of Investor Wealth, is hidden.
Investors and citizens-at-large are misled by Official Statistics which have been gimmicked in the USA, as shadowstats.com demonstrates. All of the following Real Numbers for the USA are calculated by shadowstats.com, which calculates them according to traditional methods used in the 1980s, and early 1990s, before The Political Adjustments currently being utilized began in earnest.
As the Real Numbers mentioned below demonstrate, the USA’s ongoing economic and financial crisis is not merely a “normal” business cycle Recession, but an ongoing System-Threatening Crisis. Indeed, we are on the Threshold of a Hyperinflationary Depression. (See below)
Bogus Official Numbers vs. Real Numbers (per Shadowstats.com)
Annual U.S. Consumer Price Inflation reported June 17, 2014
2.13% / 9.86%
U.S. Unemployment reported June 6, 2014
6.3% / 23.2%
U.S. GDP Annual Growth/Decline reported May 29, 2014
2.05% / -1.85% (i.e., Negative 1.85%)
U.S. M3 reported June 16, 2014 (Month of February, Y.O.Y.)
No Official Report / 4.57% (i.e, total M3 Now at $15.870 Trillion!)
Knowing the Real Numbers facilitated Deepcaster’s and others Investment Recommendations and his making five short (and subsequently quite profitable) recommendations to subscribers just before the 2008 Financial Crisis.
To understand the motives and Goals for Fed and Cartel Policies and actions consider:
A Brief Anatomy of the “U.S.” Federal Reserve
Indeed, the Profit Motive lies behind Fed Actions. Even the most causal student of Economic History knows that the United States’ Federal Reserve system, or “The Fed” as it is called, is not a U.S. government owned or controlled entity.
Various international private banks, several of which are headquartered in Europe, own “shares” in the “United States” Fed. Moreover, this “United States” Fed leads a Cartel of Central and Private Banks* who collectively intervene in a wide variety of markets, as Deepcaster demonstrates here. All this is obviously quite financially incestuous, and, to the extent The Fed regulates these Banks, it is a clear Conflict of Interest.
These International Bankers, acting through their “U.S.” Fed, profit both by creating money out of “thin air” and by collecting “interest” from U.S. Taxpayers on the Treasury Securities it has bought with U.S. Dollars (Federal Reserve Notes) it has created out of thin air. The Dean of the Newsletter Writers, Richard Russell, eloquently describes all this:
“I still can’t get over the whole Federal Reserve racket…
“The damnable result is that the Fed effectively controls the U.S. money supply. The Fed is …not even a branch of the U.S. government. The Fed is not mentioned in the Constitution of the United States. No Constitutional amendment was ever created or voted on to accept the Fed. The Constitutionality of the Federal Reserve has never come before the Supreme Court. The Fed is a private bank that keeps the U.S. forever in debt - - or I should say in increasing debt along with ever rising interest payments.”
Richard Russell, “Richards Remarks,” dowtheoryletters.com, 3/27/2007
[Historical note: recall that President John F. Kennedy was unhappy with Fed policy and therefore caused U.S. Notes to be printed by the U.S. Treasury as Constitutionally Authorized and as a substitute for Federal Reserve Notes. The issuance of these U.S. Notes ceased shortly after President Kennedy's Assassination a few months later.]
The one conclusion that one can make from the foregoing is that the failure to take account of the power, force and pervasiveness of Fed-led Cartel Manipulations (i.e. The Interventionals) is an invitation to financial and investment disaster (see 12/23/09 Article, Ibid. See also Note 4 regarding Deepcaster’s attention to Key Timing Signals and Interventionals and accurate statistics which has facilitated Recommendations which have performed well in the last eight months).
The Interventional Regime – Motive, Causes and Consequences
Clearly, The Cartel has created a Financial System subject to ever-greater Systemic Risk. Why?
Harry Schultz, the Eminent Guru of the Financial Newsletter writing fraternity, puts the question in this way when writing about the Financial Crisis –
“what is the reason for this seemingly random monetary mess that multiplies its momentum every day? The answer, in one word, control. The elite/insiders already have control of the financial system, but they wanted more, much more…and it was not random, it was planned.” (emphasis added)
Harry Schultz, HSLetter
Since the cornerstone of The Cartel’s power lies in maintaining the legitimacy of their Fiat Currencies and Treasury Securities, the last thing they want is to have Gold, Silver and Tangible Assets held by investors to increasingly be seen as the Ultimate Stores and Measures of Value rather than their Fiat Currencies and Treasury Securities, in other words, as money. Thus they will continue attempts at Takedowns of Gold and Silver and other Hard Asset prices.
Cautions for Investors and Traders Regarding Interventions
We issue a word of caution to our readers. So long as The Cartel is in a very active interventional mode (e.g. as in taking down the price of Gold and Silver periodically) one should not be lured into thinking that the periodic up spikes in the prices of Gold and Silver necessarily present a "breakout" or a buying opportunity. As a practical matter, technical breakouts are sometimes a lure designed to suck in more "longs" prior to a subsequent deeper Takedown. Consider the parabolic spike up in both Gold and Silver prices in the hours before the December 13, 2012 Takedown began.
However, the Cartel’s ability to sustain Takedowns has been considerably weakened recently largely because of increasing demand for delivery of Physical Metal (as opposed to “paper” e.g. Certain ETF shares) – See Below.
“THE DIVERGENCE BETWEEN THE PAPER GOLD PRICE AND THE METAL GOLD PRICE IS GROWING, CURRENTLY AT ABOUT 40%. It means the Western Gold market is broken. …
“The signal for an ambush came over a week ago, when ABN Amro defaulted on gold delivery in the Netherlands. They and the rest of the Boyz had no gold bars in inventory. They need it desperately, but the price drop will not win them much gold. It will win them a force majeure from which they will attempt to wiggle out legally from a mountain of contracts. The coin demand is rising by 80% to 100% per year, again contradicting the fallen price. Look forward to the day when COMEX shuts down. The day will come. However and urgent warnings. When the COMEX shuts down, the event will occur at the same time as several big financial firms going bust. They will use the occasion to steal private citizen money in private accounts. If observers want the COMEX to be busted, then they must hope for a paper versus metal price divergence even larger, like 100%. Therefore, the Jackass is encouraged by the smashdown, and increasingly annoyed by the childlike whining within the gold community, which really does not comprehend the gold market at all. They fail to comprehend that the COMEX price is not the true valid defensible gold price which is governed by equilibrium between Supply & Demand.”
“Gold and Currency Report”,
Jim Willie, 04/21/2013
Indeed, the London “Silver Fix” is scheduled to terminate in August 2014. Nonetheless, it is essential to study the Fundamentals and Technicals even though the Interventionals can temporarily override the Fundamentals and Technicals. One must study the Fundamentals not only for all the usual reasons but also because Fundamentals somewhat constrain the timing and effectiveness of Interventions by The Cartel.
Similarly, one should study the Technicals for all the usual reasons and, in addition, because it is in The Cartel’s interest to make its actions seem technically plausible in order to continue to “run mainly under the radar.” It is not in The Cartel’s interest to make its Interventions any more visible than they already are. Indeed, there is powerful evidence that The Cartel often uses and/or helps create technical patterns (aka “Painting the Charts”) which lure certain investors (such as hard asset investors) into getting “off sides” before Cartel actions such as taking down the price of Gold or Silver.
Nonetheless, we reiterate that increased purchases of Physical, especially by India and China, make it increasingly difficult for The Cartel to implement or sustain Takedowns.
Interest Rate Manipulation & The Bond Market
Specific Interventions
For a full discussion of the following Interventions and Tools, see Deepcaster’s July, 2008, December, 2008, July, 2009, December, 2009, July, 2010, December, 2011, and 2012 and 2013 Letters & Alerts & Articles posted in the ‘Latest Letters & Archives,’ ‘Alerts Cache’ and ‘Articles by Deepcaster’ Archives at deepcaster.com:
- The Spring 2006 Interventional Takedown
- The August through October, 2006 Interventions
- The August and September, 2007 Market Interventions
· The March 2008 Crisis-Induced Takedown of Gold & Silver
Increased Systemic Risk and “Earned” Liquidity versus “Borrowed” Liquidity
A key point is that the Fed/Treasury Actions of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 are not long-term fixes. One reason they are not long-term fixes is that they “fix” a liquidity problem in a way that allows insolvent or nearly insolvent financial institutions to have liquidity that would allow certain normal but often deleterious operations (i.e. the continuation of even more lending based on borrowed liquidity) to continue temporarily. Deepcaster has previously demonstrated the perils inherent in an economy increasingly relying on “borrowed liquidity” (i.e. debt) as a result of Fed policies rather than the traditional “earned liquidity” (i.e. savings) – see Deepcaster’s January, 2008 Letter and former Deutsche Bank Chief, Kurt Richebacher’s (RIP) writings.
Thus, the “borrowed liquidity cure” is worse than the disease. At about 100% of GDP, the USA’s debt cannot ever reasonably be repaid nor the debt of other countries (e.g., Japan where debt is 220% of GDP, and several Eurozone countries where debt exceeds 100% of GDP). Thus, what The Fed and ECB have given us is a flawed Financial Band-Aid, and only a Taxpayer guaranteed Band-Aid for the Mega-Bankers (and profit for The Fed and its Shareholders which make more money as borrowing increases) at that. The FASB is complicit in this Deception because it continues to allow Mark to Myth rather than requiring Mark to Market accounting for Toxic Assets.
A Systemic Solution
Allowing the International Economy to be based on a Fiat Reserve Currency managed by a Private For-Profit Central Bank, whether it be The Fed or European Central Bank or Bank of Japan, is unsustainable. No Fiat Currency Regime in history has ever survived indefinitely. Many have ended in Disaster. Indeed, N.B., it appears the Chinese are preparing a Gold-backed Yuan to be the World’s next Reserve Currency. The Chinese have entered into Bilateral Currency Swap Deals with Russia, Australia and others, which development increasingly threatens the U.S. Dollar status as World Reserve Currency.
So The Systemic Solution is apparent. We outline it in our December 2012 Update. Suffice it to say that one Element of The Solution involves taking Legendary investor Jim Rogers’ Advice recently neatly expressed as The Solution to the problem of The Fed: “The Fed should be abolished and Chairman Bernanke should resign.” (March, 2008, CNBC)
An excellent idea. Indeed, The Fed is a private for-profit group of International Banks, whose main motivation is in providing profits for, and protecting the interests of, The International Bankers Cartel and favored institutions and parasites, not in serving the needs of U.S. citizens (or most citizens of other countries for that matter). Former Rep. Ron Paul and the nonprofit group Carrying Capacity Network (www.carryingcapacity.org) are among those advocating Auditing and Abolishing The Fed. And the Ongoing Agony of Eurozone Citizens, could, in the long run, be halted by returning to National Currencies backed by Gold and Silver.
The Cartel End Game
Thus assuming The Cartel leaders know what they are doing what is their ‘End Game’? For details regarding The Cartel ‘End Game’ see “Investor Advantage: Revisiting the Cartel's 'End Game'” (3/6/09) and “Gold-Freedom versus The Cartel ‘End-Game’ & A Strategy for Surmounting It (09/23/10)” in the ‘Articles by Deepcaster’ cache at deepcaster.com.
But it must be said that The Mega-Bank Cartel leaders know that Fed policy is destroying the $US as World Reserve Currency. Its collapse will surely bring a Market Collapse and much Social Upheaval. Regarding this Scenario, both Deepcaster and Jim Rickards, writing in his new Book, The Death of Money: The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System, agree.
The question is, what Currency will supplant the $US. Rickards argues (based on a 2011 IMF paper, “Embracing International Monetary Stability – a Role for the SDR”), that IMF SDRs will be the World’s Reserve Currency. Rickards thinks this will happen, but the Evidence indicates it is only one of several possible Scenarios, and not the most likely one.
But we both agree that if IMF SDRs are to be the New Reserve Currency that will allow the current Mega-Banker Power Elites to maintain Control. Rickards describes the Motivation and Consequences of Current Central Banks Policy.
“Bankers’ parasitic behavior, the result of a cultural phase transition, is entirely characteristic of a society nearing collapse. Wealth is no longer created; it is taken from others. Parasitic behavior is not confined to bankers; it also infects high government officials, corporate executives and the elite societal stratum….
“Central banks, especially the U. S. Federal Reserve, are repeating the blunders of Lenin, Stalin and Mao without the violence, although they violence may yet come through income inequality, social unrest and a confrontation with state power….
“The climbers and skiers at risk can never know when an avalanche will start of which snowflake will cause it. But they do know that certain conditions are more dangerous than others and that precautions are possible…One cannot predict avalanches, but one can try to stay safe.”
Jim Rickards, June 2014
A Strategy for Investors & Traders
Fortunately, the following considerations and guidelines help enable Investors to Profit and Protect in spite of Cartel Intervention, and particularly regarding Interventions in the Precious Metals Markets.
- Although The Cartel is still Potent, it is significantly less potent than it was even a few months ago due primarily to:
a) The years-long efforts of the leaders and members of GATA and other organizations and writers in exposing Precious Metals Price Suppression
b) The stunning Allegations that Major Gold Repositories do not have nearly as much Physical Gold (or Silver for that matter) they say they do. See the allegations regarding a major Gold ETF and the London Bullion Market Association in Deepcaster’s April 9, 2010 article (“Climacteric for The Cartel; Opportunity for Investors [04/09/10]” in the ‘Articles by Deepcaster’ Cache at deepcaster.com) and Deepcaster’s April, 2013 Articles and Alerts.
c) Increasing shortages of Physical Gold and especially Silver due mainly to buying by China and India.
These reports are doubtless leading Major Gold and Silver Investors to demand Delivery and possession of Physical Gold – a wise decision. But The Cartel is still the Biggest Player in many markets and, if the timing and market context are propitious, the Biggest Player makes Market Price temporarily (witness the 2/29/12 and 12/13/12 and April, 2013 Takedowns). In addition, The Cartel has the advantage of de facto controlling the structure and regulation of various marketplaces and that is a tremendous advantage; just as the Hunt Brothers years ago discovered much to their dismay and misfortune, when they tried to corner the Silver Market.
Nonetheless, Buying the Dips is an intelligent Strategy at this time.
- Thus we recommend that Investors follow their lead with a significant portion of the funds allocated to Precious Metals purchases committed to purchasing, and taking Personal Delivery of (no Bank Vaults, please), Physical Gold and Silver.
Indeed, because Physical held in one’s personal possession is so precious, some forms of it trade at as much as a 20% premium to the spot price of “paper” Gold.
But not all forms of Physical are Equal, as it were. Some forms are much more liquid than others, and some are much more susceptible to counterfeiting, as e.g. by Tungsten-lacing.
Deepcaster has recommended Purchase of One Form of Physical Gold (and Silver), that is quite liquid, not easily susceptible to counterfeiting, and commands a considerable premium over the spot price of Paper Gold (and Paper Silver). See also Deepcaster’s Alert for the week ending March 9, 2012 and his December, 2010 Letter “Gold with Income; in the ‘Alerts & Letters Cache’ at www.deepcaster.com. (See Note 1)
- Do not give Short Shrift to Gold and Silver Miners and other Tangible Assets in sustained and relatively inelastic demand.
But purchasing shares of these should be done with particular care, because, being “paper” (or, usually, electronic entries on some remote server) Miners shares are especially vulnerable to periodic Cartel attacks and Price Takedowns, and have especially suffered such since Gold’s September 2011 Peak.
Thus, they are most profitably accumulated near Interim Lows resulting primarily from Cartel Interventions.
In order to estimate these Interim Lows one needs not only to consider Fundamentals and Technicals, but also Interventionals.
Note: A major premise of The Strategy is that one can certainly remain a Hard Assets Partisan while at the same time insulating oneself to some degree from future Cartel Takedowns. (For an outline of The Strategy, particularly as applied to the Gold and Silver Markets, see December 13, 2012 Article and Regarding Specific Recommendations for Profit and Protection, see Notes 2, 3 and 4.) Certain Other Tangible Assets (such as certain Commodities – see our Recent Recommendations) – should be acquired before the next Market Crash and $US Takedown.
Note, importantly, that Central Banks themselves are increasingly buying Physical Gold (and Equities) now. In November, 2012 the Bank of Korea bought $780 Million (14 tonnes) worth and China has become the World’s largest Producer and Importer. And Central Banks are repatriating Gold held in New York and London Vaults. Note Well! Indeed the prospects for the $US look increasingly poor.
Perhaps A. Migchels’s Forecast and Warning regarding Gold and the $US is correct:
"The Petrodollar is based on the Black Gold standard and it is dying, as is the US Empire. But central banks all over the world are buying Gold like there is no tomorrow. Gold is assaulted by the Fed to maintain Dollar credibility, while the Money Power's international central banks and other insiders are very grateful for a 500-1000 dollar per ounce discount to prepare for the transition. The New World Order cannot collapse the financial markets until they collapse Gold, get our firearms, and get everyone into paper. They are trying to get everyone into the stock market, which will then flash crash."
Real Currencies, Anthony Migchels, April 2013
In sum, in addition to Physical Gold and Silver, Key Tangible Assets (see Deepcaster’s recent Recommendations) are the Keys to Profit and Wealth Protection.
Deepcaster, like Jim Sinclair, believe it likely that Gold will launch into a New Record-Setting Bull Phase this (Northern Hemisphere) Summer. See “30 Reasons the Bear Phase in Gold Ends This Summer,” Sinclair, jsmineset.com, June 2014.
Deepcaster’s word to the wise: Get Physical.
Best regards,
Deepcaster
June 26, 2014
Note 1: *We encourage those who doubt the scope and power of Overt and Covert Interventions by a Fed-led Cartel of Key Central Bankers and Favored Financial Institutions to read Deepcaster’s December, 2009, Special Alert containing a summary overview of Intervention entitled “Forecasts and December, 2009 Special Alert: Profiting From The Cartel’s Dark Interventions - III” and Deepcaster’s July, 2010 Letter entitled "Profit from a Weakening Cartel; Buy Reco; Forecasts: Gold, Silver, Equities, Crude Oil, U.S. Dollar & U.S. T-Notes & T-Bonds" in the ‘Alerts Cache’ and ‘Latest Letter’ Cache at www.deepcaster.com. Also consider the substantial evidence collected by the Gold AntiTrust Action Committee at www.gata.org, including testimony before the CFTC, for information on precious metals price manipulation. Virtually all of the evidence for Intervention has been gleaned from publicly available records. Deepcaster’s profitable recommendations displayed at www.deepcaster.com have been facilitated by attention to these “Interventionals.” Attention to The Interventionals facilitated Deepcaster’s recommending five short positions prior to the Fall, 2008 Market Crash all of which were subsequently liquidated profitably.
Note 2: Two Key Sectors are Signaling that they have begun to launch, and another that it has begun to dive, all as we earlier forecast.
In our forecasts we identify these Sectors and the reasons they are launching or swooning.
If you are not already in position it is not too late to get in certain of these.
Enjoy the ride! These moves should last for a while, but not for a long time.
We thus provide Timing Forecasts in Deepcaster’s recent Alert, “Major Moves Signals; Forecasts: Gold, Silver, U.S. Dollar/Euro, U.S. T-Notes, T- Bonds, & Interest Rates, Equities, Crude Oil,” posted in ‘Alerts Cache’ on Deepcaster.com. And, as our recent profitable Buy Recommendations indicate (see Note 1), profit can be made from our Analyses and Financial and Geopolitical Intelligence.
Note 3: There are Four Fortress Assets most Investors should hold in Today’s environment of increasing Geopolitical Economic, Financial and Market Risk.
And in buying into today’s Buy Reco, you would be obtaining an ownership interest in two of them, neither of which is a Precious Metal.
Perhaps most important in our June Letter published today, we describe Why these two Assets are among the 4 “Must Own” Fortress Assets.
Indeed, all Four Taken Together are the Must-Own “Fortress Assets Quartet.”
And all have Unparalleled Profit and Wealth Protection Potential, regardless of what comes.
Fortress Assets are those which offer considerable Profit Potential and a considerable degree of protection from inflation, hyperinflation or deflation.
To identify this Quartet and to see our Forecasts for what is coming Next in Key Market Sectors, read Deepcaster’s June Letter, “2 Fortress Assets in 1 Buy Reco; Forecasts: U.S. Dollar/Euro, U.S. T-Notes, Equities, Gold & Silver, Crude Oil, T- Bonds, & Interest Rates,” posted in Latest Letter and Archives’ on Deepcaster.com.
Note 4: RECENT PROFITS TAKEN: Our attention to Key Timing Signals and Interventionals and accurate statistics has facilitated Recommendations which have performed well lately. Consider our profits taken in the last six months in our Speculative and Fortress Assets Portfolios*:
• 95% Profit on Crude Oil Call on June 11, 2014 after just 73 days (i.e., about 470% Annualized)
• 75% Profit on Equity Index Call on May 27, 2014 after 21 days (i.e., about 1305% Annualized.)
• 30% Profit on Equity Index Call on May 13, 2014 after 34 days (i.e., about 320% Annualized)
• 75% Profit on Crude Oil Call on April 14, 2014 after 13 days (i.e., about 2000% Annualized)
• 60% Profit on Water Management Company on March 3, 2014 after 454 days (i.e., about 50% Annualized)
• 100% Profit on Crude Oil Call on February 10, 2014 after 27 days (i.e., about 1400% Annualized)
• 30% Profit on Equity Index Puts on February 5, 2014 after 8 days (i.e., about 1440% Annualized)
• 55% Profit on Water Management Company on January 15, 2014 after 406 days (i.e., about 50% Annualized)
*Past Profitable Performance is no assurance of future Profitable Performance.
DEEPCASTER LLC
www.deepcaster.com
DEEPCASTER FORTRESS ASSETS, HIGH POTENTIAL
SPECULATOR & HIGH YIELD PORTFOLIOS
Wealth Preservation Wealth Enhancement
Financial and Geopolitical Intelligence
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-- Published: Thursday, 26 June 2014 | E-Mail | Print | Source: GoldSeek.com
