hello from germany,

first time since month that germany/dax is weak despite strong asian markets.

speaking of asia....

Many Savers, Few Spenders Leave South China Mall Almost Empty
amazing story about speculative building activity in china

beauty is nothing without brains / :-)

Inflation in Saudi Arabia / Brad Setser
even the bls could learn from the saudis…..

http://immobilienblasen.blogspot.com/

This morning I was watching Bloomberg Europe TV during my breakfast at 5:30 am GMT, and a subtitle impressed me. It said about so: "Gold and silver fall as speculators worry about the long run up". Since I'm long gold, I was a little scared, but after checking the gold spot http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=FOREX_XAUUSDO&v=s I realized that it was a false alarm; gold was even going up. But what does it mean?!? Maybe Bloomberg stole Bill's crystal ball and knows what's gonna happen? Maybe Bloomberg's contacts told in advance that some big HB&B will sell a lot of gold? Or is Bloomberg just helping someone to show that there is no inflation and no reason to switch to gold? Or maybe some journalist needs new eyeglasses to read graphs?!?

some food for thought - http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=30633

anyone have an opinion on Geovic Mining (GMC.V)? They have a nickel-cobalt mine in Cameroon. Nickel seems to be the shortage story that won't go away, and a majority of the production is in Russian (or other realtively unfriendly) hands now. Any other near term nickel producers out there?

also for moly - Tenajon Resources (TJS.V). I have a small position at $0.76 US. 25% in 2 days of moly mania. too good to be true, finger on the eject button.

Bill - what's your opinion of the companies that primarily mine or hold properties of metals other than "precious" or "base"? TIA.

KRY: fwiw, i'm betting the large gap down yesterday morning gets filled in.

Earnings expectations have been lowered substantially so we can get "so-and-so beat handily" headlines, but even that was not enough for YHOO or IBM to shine. The game carries on, but not for long. Let's see if IRA inflows have dried up today... we could get a few days down, maybe 1% down each day...

Im with you 2nd_ave, talked with Richard Marshall this morning and he hasnt heard of any changes, says that the countrys vice mining minister has nothing to do with the permit issuing, says its the same reporter who time and again writes these things. Heavy volume yesterday on kry, wondering just who was buying.

LVS, GOOD News

LAS VEGAS (AP)--The casino company run by billionaire Sheldon Adelson said Tuesday it expects about $1 billion in net proceeds from the sale of luxury condominium units under construction at its Palazzo property on the Las Vegas Strip.

Gross proceeds from the sale of 300 condo units are expected to range from $1.45 billion to $1.94 billion, while the condo tower is expected to cost about $465 million to build, Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) said in a document filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The proceeds are "higher than what we previously expected," Morgan Stanley analyst Celeste Brown said in a research note. She said the proceeds would add about $2 per share in value to the company.

long LVS

(Cara 100) LLTC has made a quick trip to the Distribution Zone the morning, after meeting earnings expectations, and committing to buy back $3B(US) of it's stock. Up 11% on a buyback plan?! We are definitely getting close to a top.

Confirming headline from AP:

"Linear Technology 3Q Does Not Impress, but Analysts Laud Accelerated Share Buyback"

LL&P

t4k

(now itching to short LLTC)

thanks for the advice bill - i think i get it. dumped TJS.V early this morning, even before reading your response. i am starting to feel invincible, like a previous poster mentioned in a previous thread. that cannot be good. too many stories (companies) sound too good to be true, so i will be more cautious.

and there goes KRY - amazing.

Lot's of homework in your writeup today, Bill. Feels like we are getting 3 or 4 WIR every week since your health improved. Don't know how you keep up the enery, but "Thanks" for the "classroom"; and do keep a Balance! Cheers

"After the broad market goes through a bearish phase, taking these stocks down too, these will not come back as quickly because there will be better stocks on the board early in a new bull market."

Thanks Bill for that statement. It is easy to get caught up in the CNBC mantra of the market (referring to the dow) always goes up, is safe, breaks new highs, etc.
Inversely, it is easy to get caught up in the mining promotions, gold to 2,000 forever, triple your money overnight thinking too. I would say even easier, once you get a taste of the gains that are possible. Last week I was trying to get into a stock at .54 and reluctant at .55 (waiting for it to come down to .54 like I 'knew' it would), then it shot to .74, now its back at about .68 and I'm seeing it as a screaming buy (if only it comes down to .67 like i 'know' it will). (Which it may very well be). Anyways, thanks for giving such an unbias view of the entire picture. It seems that most are either saying 100% equities (excluding those risky miners) or 100% pm's/mining shares. What I really like about your blog is that you're just giving a great, balanced analysis, taking a thousand different factors into consideration, and you've nailed it almost every single time.

thanks from me too, Bill, for educational gems this morning...

Lauriston -

YHOO's crash & burn reflects the opposite attitude by the market (and poor management of expectations by the company - desperate to prop sinking stock during 1Q?). As for IBM, the initial AH reaction (up to $99s) fits the low bar clearing bump. Yet, their cautious assessment of capex ought to concern traders marketwide as this confirms recent economic readings). I would have loved for the initial reaction to stick for a bit and IBM revisit Jan. high (low $100s) for a quick short.

With CNBC in overdrive to generate excitement with market records, I found AMTD's Moglia interview yesterday quite telling after their earnings miss. Apparently, individual investors have backed off quite vigorously in the wake of the Feb./Mar. drop (I think that the term "deserted" was used). Due to new highs and pervasive optimism broadcasted on loop, Moglia mentioned that they may return to a more aggressive stance soon. Usually, indivuduals follow market with a "6-week lag" (his words). So, end-of-April/early-May should be the time to watch for a next leg up or aggressive distribution assuming the powers keep the levels until then.

t4k -

So many temptations... Repeatedly rolled over by momentum... I can't get myself to move short aggressively in this market (though I nimble here and there). LLTC looks like an attractive target. Yet I would wait for a strong NASDAQ day before scaling in.

JML

There's been great money in the non-precious miners over the last couple of years, but as Bill says, you need to be careful now as it is hard to know how long prices will stay up. What I would avoid is the hord of small miners who are in exploration or planning on having a mine come on board in 2009 or 2010 or so. You've really got to have a lot of faith in long term metal prices to buy into something like that. My other concern is that with so many mines planned for this time period, that if prices do stay up that long, you could see a surge in supply just as these come on board which will drive prices down anyhow.

What is interesting with all these miners is how many have business plans are built on restarting mines which were shuttled at the end of the last commodity boom. If you look at some of the more successful ones of the last couple of years, you'll see mines like Eurozinc (bought out by Lundin) which sat on a Zinc/Copper mine for 10 or 15 years waiting for prices to come back and then sold out after 2 or 3 years of production. The issue is that these have all moved up now and are much more expensive, so the easy money has been made.

If you are interested in Nickel now, you can buy one of the big international miners who have large nickel postions (Xtrata, CVRD, BHP), but then you need to look at their full commodity portfolio. If you want more of a pure nickel play, the ones I would consider are FNX (the biggest now that Lionore is getting taken out), or First Nickel (FNI). Both operate in Canada and have real production. Another interesting one is Dynatech (DY), which owns 25% of FNX so is getting revenue now based on the current high prices and has the largest undeveloped Nickel mine in the world in Madagascar with funding provided by 2 major Japanese / Korean companies. Another option (higher risk in my opinion) is Skye Resources (SKR). They are in the process of reopening a mine which Inco closed in the 1970's in Guatemala, but the large risk here is that they won't bring production on until 2009 or 2010, so you need prices to stay high long term.

rob d, or others on "selling" the miners

I am not sure that I understand Bill's commentary about selling. I was the one previously feeling anxiety about holding onto to some good gains. My thought is that we are still in an uptrend. http://tinyurl.com/2kue28
While we are at the top of a channel, i'm not sure we are longerterm overbought. Try weekly data, too. Are we? Appreciate hearing how you read Bill's comments. thx.

Jumble: "LLTC looks like an attractive target. Yet I would wait for a strong NASDAQ day before scaling in."

Agreed, and a good approach to building short positions in overbought Naz100 stocks!

There's now at $3.30 (10%!) gap in the LLTC chart; that gap will be tested and likely filled during this year.

t4k

Good morning, Bill.

I nibbled on some MU jan 2009 calls this morning. Guess you can say this is a longterm hold.

SLW looks gold, though i'd like to see it consolidate a few more days. Bought some more aci on the coal and energy pullback.

I bought some GS based on the strength of the the banking index and JPM, tho i wonder wut happens to their monster gold short position on TOCOM. That could be nasty if they get trapped.

From http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat, David Rosenberg (Merrill Lynch) sees current market activity as the reverse of the events of late 2002 and early 2003. “Back then, the equity market just kept on slip-sliding away even as the economic data was turning up in fits and starts and we were moving further out of recession-mode – which had actually ended more than a year earlier,” he writes. “Fast-forward to today and we see the exact opposite – the data have weakened sharply for a few quarters now, no sign of a turnaround in growth, and equities are hitting new highs.”

anyone else hear that? it sounded like a starter's pistol...

"on your mark, get set"

BUY!

t4k

jasper - my interpretation of Bill's comment was to bet the jockeys, and be careful of the hype machine when it comes to juniors.

since he has already listed ones to watch, and more importantly, has not added any to the list, this may be a time for selling, or at least not trying to pick up new ones. i am not putting words in anyone's mouth though, and i could be wrong.

bb - thanks for the great post. 2009-10 is what worries me - it seems that every company i look at has mines coming on line then! Hedge fund manipulation and stockpiling make it real hard to figure out the future, and JMF's post about China overbuilding makes me wonder how long that story can go on. If their building boom slows, look out below. so much to think about - head spinning - going to lunch now. thanks all.

rob d

thx for the commentary. certainly on board with bet the jockeys and now is a good time to be careful about hype...and, selling will need to be triggered before too much longer...but how soon is the rub for me...i do not want to get attached to be list because as bill says/implies, there'll be more productive stocks to replace them.

I am definitely a candidate for Bill's mining exploration trust. But if we are late into a cycle and the bear appears will the money in a trust be dead money?

Thanks Bill the second paragraph from above answered my question:

"Someone recently commented that using RSI to help with selling was more difficult than when buying. I don't fully agree. These are technical indicators only. It's up to the individual to use a variety of tools before making decisions, and even then the tools used by one trader will be different than another's because of different time horizons, risk tolerances, account size, and so forth.

Please note that often the best way to use RSI-7 on the extreme values where the stock is over-bought on the Monthly-Weekly-Daily RSI-7 (ie, Distribution Zone) is to wait until the Daily RSI-7 has dropped back below the 70-line before selling. Otherwise you are likely to sell too soon. "

JMF,

I noticed you are from germany and I have been trying to learn how to best access the European markets. What sites do you use for research? What about online brokers? How are the equity option markets?

TIA

Comment here yesterday regarding "TM" nice bounce so-far I didnt get a taste however if one is anticipating a yen-bounce back to 114/115 good money to be made here. Then again if the dollar slide continues, the phrase "run on the dollar" will begin to get ink below $ 81.

folks calling a n.t. top on SLW now Bill, suppose rolling some profits into TM.....

Wow talk about a parabolic move!

jasper,

I seem to recall Bill's last outlook for gold to be i) a short-term spike within the next few months, followed by ii) a sharp correction that will keep prices suppressed for a relatively long period of time (1-2 years), and then iii) a final boost that could take gold to prices as high as 4 digits. This kind of dovetails with Rob McEwen's outlook for 2000/oz gold by 2009. And also with historical cycles where the biggest moves in price occur at the tail end of the cycle.

So I think if we were to follow his lead, it would be to i) let the miners ride the current wave until it fades, ii) rotate into technology after the broad market sell-off, then iii) back into the miners around 2008?

Doug Belanger interview this am on Robtv/Bnn
http://tinyurl.com/36hwg2

kry financing should close April 24th. watch your stop losses.

Kaimu,

ECU and CNU looking pretty good as an entry point at this price range? they have both been brought down over the last few days. I see that they are both in Mexico, which lends itself to the fact that you are big on avoiding unnecessary geopolitical risk, is that correct?
Finally getting some warmer weather here in Toronto, its supposed to hit the low 70's this weekend! Hooray!

To Bill:
You report that we are due for a recession and that the broader market will go down as will the PM stocks (which will not recover) Everyone posting seems to be very antsy about the PM miners and seems to believe it's imminent. Yet you seem to be still bullish. Would you or will you give us your opinion as to timing concerning the decline of the broader market and the PM stocks. Rodney

2nd ave

Next spike up....(just one mo' for the road joe) and I'll be scaling out if the scenario comes to fruition. Always possible that by May, when the mkt sells off/?....we'll see the miners go south too.
Really really appreciate your input. I get hooked and have to be careful to not jump in without a plan as to how to rotate out. thx again!

Mucho gracias senor Bill!

March Foreclosures reported up 47% in past year

http://tinyurl.com/3yyvmz

Nevada scored the highest foreclosure rate at one in every 183 households, with almost all the foreclosures in Las Vegas, the heart of speculative buying.

Bill,

Thanks for your latest post. You answered my question before I even had a chance to post it.

The last question I do have is about your WIR. Would it be possible for you to have a small section that reviews or summarizes your daily posts for the week? For those that are only able to reliably read your WIR's?

Reason being is that I have noticed your WIR's include market information while any write ups about a particular company is almost always in a daily style post. Maybe at the end of the sector sections there could be links that point back to the posts about companies in that sector that were reviewed that week?

Thanks for everything you do Bill, and to everyone else who contributes info to this blog.

-Quentusrex

You type as fast as you think -- and your thinking is consistently so right-on. Thank you so much.

Also, I've had trouble posting in the past (I am blocked an average of eight out of nine attempts.) FWIW (if anyone else is having the same problem) I figured out how to reach the folks at Typepad. They proved to be very responsive and helpful.

Again, Bill, thank you so much. I speak for a very wide, world-wide community.

Thanks Bill for all the hard work you put in. This by far the best financial blogg on the net.

when is your book coming out. May I request for an autographed copy of your book?

thanks,jk

NYUgrad

"kry financing should close April 24th. watch your stop losses."

For the neophyte could you expand on this thought. Thanks.

Bill:

Will the new system require a different 'sign in' name? Does it mean I may lose 'C.Note'?

Bill --

Here's an idea for improving the already super-useful WIR. Perhaps a virtual focus group? i.e. a bunch of readers in a "chat room" environment giving feedback on the current format. or, failing that an email category where people could send comments with suggestions.

From my side, I find I gravitate to the wrap-up, often skipping too quickly over the interest rate sections. There is SO much information there (and my knowledge of how various interest rates affect stocks is limited) so it's hard for me to wrap my head around it.

I'm sure other readers have comments on format. Don't get me wrong, though, I spend quite a bit of time with WIR always, and get lots out of it as is.

Jock

Bill:

Will the new system require a different 'sign in' name? Does it mean I may lose 'C.Note'?

KRY has proven and probable reserves of 14 million ounces of gold at Las Cristinas. That's the real reason to own the stock. I think if Chavez wanted to wrest control of the project he would have done it already. The real game is the volatility in the stock. People are making alot of money running it up and down, and I think that will go on for as long as they can stretch it out. But in the end I don't think there is any question the permit comes through and the company (rather than the Venezuelan government) mines the gold. As powerful as Chavez is within his own country, he is responsible to a larger international community, and I think he understands the rules.

Bill,

Thanks again for the continuous reinforcement on RSI & MACD indicators. They helped me bail on DELL yesterday, though I let my emotions get to me and bailed on LEND a little too early to try and control the losses I was having. Moved a little too quickly for me. (Up almost 6% today)

It seems like Yahoo gets beaten down every couple of months and then gradually comes back. It is a great one to play the RSI game on.

Nobody commented on Dean Foods (DF) yesterday. The RSI flatlined after the special dividend was paid. Any comments from anyone on this stock? Looks like there is a good entry point today.

Bill note how train-wrecks like DSL are moving higher on short-covering; evidently the good old boyz and HBB's smell a tax-payer bailout of housing coming. Dollar does not hold $ 80 and Gold goes to Pluto. Speaking of "8" handles, how does a 12 month target of $ 800 sound?

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/ne...dZk8& refer=home

While traveling I had a discussion with an in the field manager for conoco phillips. He deals striclty with downstream issues. The one he mentioned was huge demand for new construction LNG ships. Most will be built in Korea and wait time continues to be extended due to an increasing back log. That's a lot of steel. This is old news for the stock price of base metals and shippers, but I wonder if it's a sign of a longterm theme.

Bill have a buy signal on HW

Man, those Globetrotters can really play! ;-)

Hope everyone bought all the double long ETFs, or shorted the silly double inverse ones, because as you know, the stock market goes UP and makes everyone rich.

Sorry for being glib, but this is getting ridiculous: DJI up 13 out of the last 14 days, SPX up 12 of 14.

Color me impressed.

t4k

Bill & All

What is your take about the Swiss platinum etf story? ,

http://cmd-chart.blogspot.com/2007/04/producers-oppose-platinum-etf.html

seems a little strange to me.

t4k, agreed. This is getting ridiculous. Take a look at this StockCharts candle glance with daily RSIs on the international iShares. Most have RSIs north of 70. Kind of scary.

http://tinyurl.com/37g8xa

Eheh t4k, I'm with ya, where's the Volume for these high prices? I'm still going to scalp some but my powder keg is going to stay nearly full.

I'm really curious as to which of the banks left to report is going to fess up to their real credit crunch situation. CapitalOne has a very significant consumer credit exposure which is also ringing up increasing percentages of delinquencies, though they claim that their mortgage exposure is largely sold off already. Hmmmm...how about 'dem credit cards?

Did you see Dougie Kass' blurb about delinquent auto loans? Can you imagine the depression of prices if repossessions are widespread? This is already happening in the housing sector with foreclosures and defaults. Expanding the contagion, that means Cities, Counties, and States which rely on Tax Assessments on same will get less, meaning higher rates to make up for it.

Time to re-form a Sin Basket to go along with my Precious Metals one.

t4k -

I guess that this run has the hallmark of a liquidity-driven melt-up (as opposed to 4Q1999 speculation-based frenzy). We move up in stair steps without regards to technicals (or less-and-less to underlying fundamentals). On the bright side, this market musters records with minimal participation - DOW ATH with 10 stocks up (I would want a record with only 5 stocks up while we are at it). On the bleak side, what a unwieldy/poor close to this market - somebody did not want to stay too long tonight.

At this rate, we should have an opportunity to revisit some homebuilders short plays before the month is closed. Financials (WM, DSL, even CFC) may come up with a last gasp rebound before their hand is forced into larger write-offs/provisioning. Again, my cautiously pessimistic view for the medium term may be completely wrong and I will end up to pay in time for my arrogance to challenge the market's wisdom and Wall Street's public (and almost monolithic) optimism.

JML

redclaydawg,

"Did you see Dougie Kass' blurb about delinquent auto loans?"

Can you point me to this article/video/whatever!

Thanks

npmg,

if anyone is a neophyte it is me. but my statements before are independent of each other and are just my observations. a) the new 53M bought financing closes on or around April 24 per their press release. this probably means insiders/parties involved are limited in activity until it closes. b) i have no stop losses on my kry. I dont want a stop loss to trigger on a day like yesterday and have to buy back in higher.

When seas get rough i think about the fact that the most lucrative info is exclusive and that someone is willing to invest 53M cad at $4.25, with option to buy more within 30 days of closing. that is conviction. GRZ has their permit. Companies like GG and GFI have expressed interest in acquiring reserves.

Please take my observations on surface level. I get just as nervous as the next guy when pps pulls back like yest.

Oops npmg, I was unaware that Kass' remarks were only on the sub part of TheStreet.com. My apologies, and I scarcely doubt he would take offense at my sharing that little blurb. It isn't as if any of us who live in large Metro areas don't see the repo trucks in increasing numbers and in better neighborhoods.

I wasn't terribly surprised when I discovered that the ATL was in the Top 10 of foreclosures (Yahoo Finance) and wasn't shocked to discover that the auto repo rate (RepoMan friend) was off the charts too. Seems that the primary Auctioneer of repossessed vehicles has taken to leasing storage property in adjacent Counties. More vehicles than there are buyers....

Don't be on the wrong side of this deal when it crashes for it is likely to be cataclysmic.

I'm not buying this hem

Bill

I think the PDF of the WIR is a great idea.

Regarding repossessions - pawn shop stocks have been doing well for years: CSH, EZPW, WRLD.

Anyone know of some repo or collections firm stocks that might do well in a credit crunch?

First Horizon National (see my Monday post as an opportunity for shorting) reported today a miss on earnings, will be exiting nonprime lending. Let's see how we do tomorrow :-)

First Horizon National Copr. (FHN : first horizon natl corp com
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Last: 41.20+1.55+3.91%

5:20pm 04/18/2007

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FHN41.20, +1.55, +3.9%) late Wednesday reported first-quarter net earnings of $70.5 million, or 55 cents a share, down 67% from $215 million, or $1.67 a share, in the year-ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting, on average, a per-share profit of 59 cents. The Memphis, Tenn.-based bank holding company said net interest income in the three months ended March 21 fell 3.4% to $237.4 million from $245.7 million in the comparable period last year. Chief Executive Jerry Baker said the company will be "consolidating functional areas, reducing management-to-staff ratios, closing unprofitable locations, exiting non-core businesses like nonprime lending, and refinancing portions of our capital."

Final distribution has started. Cramer just pushed DSL hard with $110 PT as short squeeze, takeover target & beneficiary of rate cut (I love the logic: rate cut in face of RE collapse so buy financial institutions holding the loans that helped finance the underperforming assets).

Also, new GS price target for the salesman: $350.

JML

Bill, Jumble at al:

I doubt that this move can top until the shorts are forced to panic/cover. So far they refuse (being true believers). But there is nothing more amazing than a room full of true-believing shorts who have ridden a losing portfolio on and on and on trying to squeeze through a very small door when someone shouts "fire."

The biggest players (HBB types) will shout "fire" to complete their distributions and will then be looking for lower prices to put their positions back on.

Look for a big up day on news followed by a big up day on no news followed by a "big up opening/flat-to-lower close day."

Then "get the hell out of dodge."

ALOHA !!

Back in October 2005 Goldman Suchs bought a seat on the TOCOM in Japan and within three months had taken a huge short position on gold. Why did they do this? So they could short gold in Asia after the NY markets had closed. Goldman is the agent for the US Treasury and whatever administration is in power and of course the ever present FED! It is no coincidence that an ex-CEO of Goldman (Paulson)is in charge of the US Treasury.

On Tuesday, 4/17 Goldman covered another 1,343 short contracts to add to the 8.302 they covered on Monday, 4/16. Total short positions on TOCOM is now 21,676. That is the lowest short position since last Jan 2006.

For some reason the insider trading Goldman Suchs does not want to hold short contracts on gold. That can only mean they expect the POG to rise based on news we have yet to hear about.

It will be interesting to see when Goldman starts shorting again since they are now holding no long positions on the TOCOM.

Get ready for some fireworks!

.
.
Donald Luskin:

You'd better listen to him:

http://www.smartmoney.com/aheadofthecurve/index.cfm?story=20070413

Moab:
I do know of a repo/collection stock...
Portfolio Recovery Assoc - PRAA
I don't follow it; and I don't know what's up with it at the moment; but I had a profitable very short term option trade with it last april/may around an earnings announcement.

moab - PRAA is/was a big pick of the Motley Fool guys a while back - bound to be lots of info on their boards about it. good luck

A "radical proposal" re gun control in the US. Cho passed the background check because he was not a convicted felon. But, he WAS a diagnosed, suicidal mental patient.

Maybe, just maybe, suicidal mental patients should be included in instant background checks at gun dealers, and denied "the right to bear arms" !!!

offered from the site of the recent NRA convention ...

Kaimu
Your a mountain of information, will keep my eyes and ears open.
Bullion
Could you please explain to me as to why we should pay attention to Donald Luskin ?

Kaimu,

Thanks for the info. Any chance you can share your source for the Goldman gold sales?

Moab:

PRAA ASFI ECPG AACC are collection companies. PRAA, I seem to recall, is the only one involved in home foreclosures.

Charts are all over the place. These are not simple businesses to value either. I didn't really like any of them when I looked at them.

Stay away from FCFC - possible delisting.

Thanks for the info about collection companies.

ALOHA !!

Here is my source for Goldman info on the TOCOM.

Link: http://www.tocom.or.jp/index.html

You would have to click on "member" info then scroll down to Goldman Sachs Japan. Notice all the "0-0-0" on the long side!! Are they ever long on anything other than massive "bonuses"?

A couple months after Goldman became a member of the TOCOM they lobbied hard against the TOCOM listing "member" transactions to the public. Unlike America the Japanese told Goldman to get lost and Goldman failed to change the listing. What a shame that Goldman has to operate in plain sight on the TOCOM ... They are not used to such "transparency"!!

Bullion-

What a load of unmitigated crap. Luskin sets up a series of straw men and knocks them down. This is his favorite form of argument. To wit, "the bears" have never said that MEW itself was enough to send the economy into recession but in combination with other negatives it may be a different story. He then crows that "the bears" have been wrong since 2002 yadda, yadda. Whom exactly? Traders like Ritholtz called for a rally then and so did Grantham in 2003. Perma bears like Prechter? Was it Mauldin? (I don't think so.) Whom then? It is EASY to make claims without specifics and I find Luskin a MASTER of these.

I think the man should be asked about his MetaTrends Fund that blew up in the Bear Market and why he should be listened to now if you want to get to specifics.

I abhor these posts that say "You better listen to..."without any explanation. What a vacuous attempt at sounding mysterious but sophisticated. Anyway, a little respite from my duties so I had stored up a rant.

On matters near and dear, I am seeing a lot of overheated charts folks. Keep your gains.

Best...

kaimu

I noticed GS also had 0 positions in silver on that exchange. That may also be a change as I recall they've had short positions in the past although I don't recall on which exchange they retained it.

A note: Checking just a moment ago, GS has established a minor long position on gold, while still retaining the reduced gold short positions.

Thanks for the info site kaimu! You're on to something.