Greetings from Laguna Beach

The big question investors are grappling with at this stage is whether the rise in prices has simply been a bear market rally, or whether we are back in a primary bull market.

This post alerts one to the factors at play regarding the performance of banking stocks – factors beginning to point to the possible initial stages of the long-term bottoming-out of the relative performance of banking stocks and, ultimately, to better prospects for stock markets as a whole.

Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/4mj2sp

Enjoy the read.

When looking into mfg. equip. reliability performance, marketing group always wants uptime results. We engineers prefer to analyze downtime results because that allows us to focus on trouble areas.

Good morning.

Here are your Cara 100 Ratings Changes:

Downgrades:

COST - to Neutral @ Piper Jaffray
DELL - to Sell @ Cross Research

Target Price Raised:

DELL - $25 to $28 @ Needham
DELL - $20 to $21 @ Lehman Bros.
TS - $61 to $70 @ Jefferies & Co.

_________________________________________________

Have a great day and a better weekend.

On a slightly different note:

Mayor Bloombucks, overseer of both a vast human rights violation at the company he owns involving pregnant women and, more reprehensibly in my estimation, the guiding hand behind the proliferation of "stop and frisks" in which literally hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, mostly men, mostly minorities have been searched ILLEGALLY by the po-lice in clear violation of the constitution, seems to have zero interest in public safety when it comes to the safe operation of construction cranes. Perhaps Tony Soprano is a close personal friend. At least regarding the "stop and frisks", the Supreme Court is clear:

In 1968, the United States Supreme Court carved out an exception to the "probable cause" requirement. In the landmark case Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), the Supreme Court ruled that a police officer may detain a person briefly on the street for limited interrogation in the absence of "probable cause," so long as a lesser standard of "reasonable suspicion" has been satisfied.6 To justify a patdown frisk, a police officer must have a reasonable fear that he or she "IS DEALING WITH AN ARMED AND DANGEROUS INDIVIDUAL."7

adding to DUG/SMN/QID...reopening a position in TBT...think the downside is in play...

shark- in response to your question, it's just the way DCR was set up-> 3 consecutive days of oil prices over 111, and the seesaw gets terminated...

but note also they plan to offer DCR/UCR-2 later this summer...

DCR- in at 1.21-> purely a bet...;)

shark,
I live in Washington Heights. My neighbor, a spanish guy, 28, who looks like he's maybe 20, typical neighborhood guy, North Face jacket, jeans, etc., is constantly stressed about walking around getting stopped and frisked.

Me, middle aged white man, typical of that genre, well, five years of walking around the neighborhood, I've never even been close to having to think about it.

Random my eye. Probable cause - BS! I guess looking like a hood rat is probable cause...

As far as the cranes go, well, several years ago the Voice, I think, did a long article on how the same mob-related people and companies keep showing up in the building trades, and the state of NY and the city seem unwilling or completely incapable of keeping these easily seen and widely known criminals out of the trades.

That, along with lax enforecment and penalties for violations in building, and the mayor's stated reliance on illegal business and activites to provide cetain services, means the city and the trades will keep on killing innocent, random New Yorkers.

Aside from this crane, there was just another in a long series of debris blowing off buildings. That has been going on for years. It seems every month a steel plate, a sheet of glass, some random iron bars or whatever, blows off a building. They fired the building commisioner, and yet stuff still keeps blowing/falling off the tops of the buildings.

No one seems to ever pay any significant penalties.

(Why is that such a recurring theme _everywhere_ these days?)

vinod- looking at the airlines...but i just don't have the guts, man...

adding smn

from dow:

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200805300939DOWJONESDJONLINE000651_FORTUNE5.htm

going to be tough for basic materials.

Stephen1985,

You asked where to purchase bullion and coins: I like APMEX, www.apmex.com

Oh yeah, apparently the reaction to the last crane collapse was to send inspectors out nailing job sites for every little tiny thing, generating lots of violations. A mindless, makework reaction to a serious problem, not even close to dealing with the issues.

Expect more of that next week.

First, I suspect the vast majority of buyers have no idea about the disappearing nature of DCR. 2nd, your bet weems to be paying off.

Also, someone I know rather well was arrested by the NYPD for smoking a joint while walking down a a quiet street at night. He was arrested and spent the next 4 hours....Driving around the East Village in the back of a Po-lice van doing what? Watching them catch criminals? Hell no. he spent 4 hours in handcuffs while they did nothing more and nothing less than looking for other people....smoking marijuana. Then, he spent overnight at 100 center street and wasn't released 'till 11 am the next morning. Your tax dollars at work.

excellent job 2nd.....

RE: Stephen1985,

You asked where to purchase bullion and coins: I like APMEX, www.apmex.com

Thanks but I am in Canada!

DCR- 12% in 40 minutes...shoulda bet the entire port..;)

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: FIRST QUARTER 2008 (PRELIMINARY)
CORPORATE PROFITS: FIRST QUARTER 2008 (PRELIMINARY)

"With preliminary we get the first assessment of corporate profits for the quarter, and here are the numbers stated by change from the preceding period" (Table 12):

Corporate profits with inventory valuation adjustment:
Q2 2007: +101.2
Q3 2007: -17.4
Q4 2007: -48.9
Q1 2008: -162.6
By domestic industry category:
Financial Industry:
Q2 2007: +53.4
Q3 2007: -32.2
Q4 2007: -73.9
Q1 2008: -21.6
Nonfinancial Industry:
Q2 2007: +31.0
Q3 2007: -11.6
Q4 2007: -30.7
Q1 2008: -145.9

BEA: http://tinyurl.com/69lhuh

Source: http://tinyurl.com/6qjv4e

GFI: Adding at 12.79

Dell earnings

Let's not forget they lowered guidance a lot over the last few months so they could come out with numbers that would beat...

ALOHA !!

Thanks Bill ... It is nice to see once in awhile where a veteran Wall Streeter comes forward to tell it like it is!! SteveC's comment about DELL is exactly the type of garbage that makes the US stock market lose credability. Perhaps we should apply the same "financial magic" to Olympic track and field events and lower the hurdles to make the athletes perform better! WHat's the difference between the Wall Street word "guidance" and "performance"? Hummmm????

Paul Van Eeden about monetary policy of the FED :

http://tinyurl.com/5cd3cn

2nd you out of dcr?

Perth Mint -- In recent weeks, some questions have been posted here and elsewhere about the Perth Mint about leasing Gold/Silver out and about delays in filling orders.

Here is a response to those questions that seems to explain very reasonably what is happening. There may be other explanations, though, that are not so favorable - you are on your own.

" Why Does A Mint Lease Out Gold/Silver?
Troy Schwensen
May 29, 2008

There have been many accusations and innuendo [innuendos] directed at the precious metal mints around the world in recent weeks, namely the Perth Mint here in Australia. The two primary questions targeted at these institutions are as follows:

1. Why do they lease out inventory?
2. Why are there delivery delays to customers?
...."

http://tinyurl.com/4j3q5b

Is oil the biggest fake-out market or what? 2nd I feel good for you but bad for the guy you sold to:)

By the way, in many careers the value of hindsight can be incorporated and benefited from...eg: a salesman can make more cold calls, a doctor can do more tests and change treatments. Trading (like pro sports)is one business that would be absolutely easy, simple, if not for the fact that one must act in real time and live with the consequences. Woulda coulda shoulda are probably the oldest 3 words in this business.

blah blah blah (no offense to you spot)

But since when is an unallocated pool, the property of investors, part of the working pool of metal for a fabrication company?

"A Mint generally comprises many business segments including:

1. A Metal Depository (sells-metal related investment products).
2. A Refinery (which the mint may have a joint venture in).

The depository's primary role is to purchase metal and store it on behalf of their clients, either in an allocated or unallocated format. They may also lease a portion of their gold and silver inventory to their associated refineries, which swap much of this metal to producers in exchange for lower purity gold and silver to be refined in the future."

key word: "They may lease a portion THEIR gold."

Since when is investors unnallocated, pooled gold THEIR (the Mint's) gold? And since it does belong to the investors, how much of the lease revenue goes back to those who actually own the gold? Zero, that's how much.

I'm trying to remain neutral. But this looks more and more like typical gold sell side scamming. Hard to believe an institution like the Perth Mint is involved in this.

But then again, given what they pulled with their Lunar I series, I should not be surprised.

shark- no, still holding...if i had 20,000 shares i would have sold at +12%, but i don't...i have the equivalent of a red chip riding on a high-low bet...the black chips are on DUG/SMN/QID...

Bill, good post.. however. The malice runs deeper. Scam Street has ensconced itself into a position of oligarchy, and will not allow new talent or new ideas to enter. This may seem a minor complaint, however free societies require free markets. When failure is not acknowledged and the failures bankrupted, their failed ideas continue to rule. This is the old heads I win, tails you lose. Scam Street never loses, now that they have placed a fawning lackey at the head of the Fed and a henchman at the top of the Treasury. As long as shares such as FSLR, AMZN, PCLN and CRM continute to trade at multiples of up to 500, the scam is on. As long as banks are allowed to write their own checks to manipulate markets via fractional lending to themselves, the lie continues. When the oligarchs continue to oppress, eventually even the bread and circuses wear off the charm, and torches and pitchforks come out with the unwashed masses. Although fund clowns think this is all a joke, there are three generations still living who remember when almost every major city was rioting or aflame.

Adding QID 37.28

Also added to CNSL this AM @15.08.

i think we're in for some downside towards the end of the day

Van Eden video is entertaining. Amazing how the CNBC folks can't see through the smoke created by the FED and economists to downplay inflation. Paul's point is basically that since 1970, your dollar is worth a lot less, hence oil costs a lot more. The cnbc crew just didn't buy it...

NOT.V getting hammered today and down pretty hard in general on no news in particular. But could go down to $2.50 January low I suppose...

Hmmmm....I was noticing NOT last night AH, was looking like a coming opportunity.

I hear you my man. I have to tell you I've had a bad week. 3 stopouts tiny losses. 2 of em went on to good gains. One play I didn't take today went good. I'm sick of this.

No one mentioned Tiffany's improved foreign sales. Should be good for the bugs.

Craig:
Positive news also came from two of the world's biggest emerging economies with overall demand for gold in China and Russia up 15 percent and 9 percent respectively on the same period last year, driven by increasing consumer wealth and ease of access to attractive jewellery and retail investment products.
http://tinyurl.com/4sq8v3

Paulson before Congress: No one at the Fed had anything to do with the 2 dollar price for Bear.

Paulson, according to the 3 part WSJ Bear coverage, talking to Morgan officals: The price is 2 dollars.

Was he under oath that day? Will there be a shred of accountability?

Why do I even ask.

[Bill Cara note: The Bear collapse needs to be studied in depth by Congress, but did you mean Paulson or Bernanke, the Fed or the Treasury Dept?

btw, in an important speech a couple days ago, Dallas Fed Head Richard Fisher, a very smart guy, had some stinging words for Federal politicians. Basically he opined that these politicians are out of control. Their fiscal house is so far out of order that it is possible that no type or amount of monetary policy can save the US from bankruptcy, not just instability. The data he presents is compelling. Is anybody listening?

http://dallasfed.org/news/speeches/fisher/2008/fs080528.cfm ]

Who's ready to throw in the towel on this short oil trade? Shorting oil is expensive.

Crystallex to appeal refusal of Las Christinas rebuttal:
Crystallex International Corp. has advised shareholders today that it has received a communication from the Director General in the Administrative Office of Permits at the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources of Venezuela that the legal rebuttal filed by Crystallex on May 12, 2008, has been denied.
The communication expressly advises that Crystallex has the right to appeal to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources within 15 business days from the date of the Director General's communication. Crystallex has instructed its legal counsel to prepare an appeal to the Minister. Crystallex has a number of legal avenues to pursue both in and out of Venezuela in order to protect its shareholders' rights.

Bill

I watched an interview recently of Jimmy Rogers [some where in Asia] and he made the statement Federal Reserve will no longer exists within the next decade.

Can anyone here tell us where to find Bill's entry-level price list? I know gold is ~$800, and GG is ~$31, but for some reason I'm not atune to the whole picture. THX!

Got 200 TLT to short on Fidelity. !

ALOHA !!

MikeNYC ... You have misplaced concerns in terms of credability. First off anyone who buys into an unallocated program anywhere is at risk for only one reason ... "supply"!

Say you have an unallocated account and you want to take delivery or transfer into an allocated account. The PMCP does not charge for storage of an unallocated account, but if you want to take delivery or transfer to allocated they will charge you for fabricating and other fees. When you buy unallocated the fabrication fees are not charged since you have not taken physical possession. The Perth Mint would go broke if they did not charge fabrication fees. Have you ever seen a gold or silver bar being fabricated? Its a labor intensive process ... Study the PMCP to understand the difference between allocated and unallocated.

What everyone is missing here is the "supply" factor and I have mentioned this many times prior. You have to align yourself where the SUPPLY is ... The SUPPLY is at the PERTH MINT and the country risk with the State of Western Australia is the BEST!! Please inform me of one other government entity in the World that supports and promotes GOLD and mining the way the government of Western Australia does?

I personally know Troy Schwensen who wrote the Perth Mint article that "spot" refers to. If you go read that article and notice the flow chart and who is a 100% JV partner with the Perth Mint you will notice it is NEWMONT AUST. Now go to Kitco or GoldMoney and try to find who their suppliers are? Good luck! If you go to GoldMoney you will notice their supplier is KITCO and if you go to KITCO you won't be able to find that info, except that I do know through my Perth Mint contacts that KITCO has a big account with the Perth Mint! I find that totally laughable that the very entities criticizing the Perth Mint are also dependent on them for supply! I call that "biting the hand that feeds you"!!!

I don't buy the Lunar I "coins" and only a fool would pay to have coins fabricated and stored so I am not concerned as it is not an economical way to play the "gold" play and take possession in a country outside the USA(known for confiscation)!

Fisher makes this prediction while the rest of the Fed and Treasury are sponsoring 'Take Your Family and Your Life Savings to the Beach" events. What is this, Jaws IV: the Fed Feeds Your Kids to the Shark to Give the Banks More Time to Do Some WaterSkiing?
Jesse's Café Américain

Fed's Fisher sees 'frightful storm' brewing
By Alex Peacocke

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher yesterday predicted a grim economic outlook for the United States and indicated that the Federal Reserve Board may be considering a change in monetary policy.

In remarks made to the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco last night, Mr. Fisher, a voting member of the Fed’s open market committee, predicted a “frightful storm” ahead for the U.S. economy.

He said that he expects “a change of course in monetary policy to occur sooner rather than later, even in the face of an anemic economic scenario,” if inflation expectations and developments continued to worsen.

Recent increases in commodity prices already have investors concerned about swelling inflation, which Mr. Fisher described as “the most insidious enemy of capitalism.”

The Fed has already cut its funds rate three times this year, to 2%. Mr. Fisher’s predicted change in policy presumably would indicate a hike in interest rates at the next FOMC meeting, which is scheduled for June 24-25.

bill,
Thanks. I'll clarify. I had it a little mixed up. Or let Dealbreaker.com clarify. It was Geithner of the Fed testifying before Congress.

From Dealbreaker:

"Journal reporter Kate Kelly reports that JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon was mulling a price of $4 or $5 a share for Bear Stearns but was talked down to a lower price by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. "I think this should be done at a low price," Paulson told Dimon. The price got knocked down to $2 a share.

But lawmakers were told a different story when the Senate Banking Committee held hearings on the deal. There was a good deal of attention focused on $2 asking price for Bear Stearns. Lawmakers wanted to know how the price was reached and if regulators were involved in determining that price. New York Fed President Timothy Geithner denied they had set the price or even negotiated it.

"We did not set or negotiate the price," said Geithner.

According to Kelly, Paulson urged Dimon to lower the price because he was "leery of appearing to bail out Wall Street investors at a time when homeowners were losing their houses to foreclosure in record numbers." Concern about moral hazard--the notion that the rescue could encourage risky behavior in the future--also played a role.

It seems implausible that Geithner didn't know about Paulson's negotiation with Dimon. The call to Dimon from Paulson was made after Geithner and Paulson had talked on Sunday afternoon. Together they decided Paulson should call Dimon.

So were lawmakers misled or was Geithner misinformed about Paulson's role?"

kaimu,
I am increasingly uncomfortable with how you personalize any criticism of the Perth Mint. I'm not attacking you or your choices, yet you seem to react strongly to the slightest hint that they are not on the up and up.

You consistenly bring up GoldMoney and Kitco when no one is talking about them. It's like when one catches someone doing something and they just point the finger to others and say "He's doing it! He's doing it worse!" It's irrelevant.

Futhermore, the Lunar I comment has nothing to do with storage. People who bought 1/2 oz lunar sets expected to see 12 coins produced. The Perth Mint assured collectors/investors they would never fail to complete a set. That's in writing.

Guess what? Those people have nine coins and three empty slots in their little coin holders. That's all they will ever have, and it's simply because the Mint decided, for business reasons, to stop production and roll out Lunar II.

If those people are the fool, it's because they trusted repeated promises by the Perth Mint. They are not fools. They got screwed by the Perth Mint, plain and simple. (I am not one of these people.)

By the way, I talked to a couple of law firms in Australia. Not one would even entertain the thought of any action against the mint. So if something does happen to anyone's gold in Australia, good luck getting local representation.

And now, unnallocated gold that belongs to a group of purchasers is poured into bars to be sold to someone else and returned later.

If it's expensive to make a bar, then they ought to reflect it in the price. Not take the easy way out and use gold bought and paid for by someone else. Hey, I'd like to use someone else gold for a while for free, too.

One thing that is clear, from the worst of the worse, up to and including the Perth Mint: Custodians of gold absoutely cannot stand to see gold, whether it is theirs or someone elses, just sitting there in the room. They have to do SOMETHING with it. Hence the multiples of swaps, OTC forwards, loco swaps, quality swaps, options sales, futures sales, and on and on that proliferate like weeds.

Ad hominum attack, redirection, blame the victim...

Do you have any more aggressive, unfair conversational tactics you wish to introduce?

"deficit math is always a sobering exercise" Still running from ditch to ditch?

Nice run in TSO today......this is my oil weakness play........as crude weakens, margins should improve. In the meantime I think refining assets are being eyed by most major producers, especially foreign producers looking for a footprint in N.America.

On a sidenote - just returned from a little holiday in Cabo Pulmo Mexico - no phones in the town, no tv, no newpapers, great and cheap sport fishing fishing. Kind of like rehab for a news junkie!

Interesting play may be developing in refiners. The red headed step children of oils they have been absolutely creamed over the last few months. Am selling out of the money puts in VLO and TSO as their RSI's have finally begun perking up. VLO peaked last July around 79 and is now 50.8, TSO hit a high of 66 in October before falling to its current level of 24.5. Falling margins due to soaring gasoline prices have been cited for their underperformance-maybe a backdoor way to play an anticipated decline in the price of oil.

optionoracle.....impeccable timing

Why is WGW performing so poorly?

Paul Van Eeden on CNBC, making the case that the Fed has caused 90% of the increase in oil prices over the years.

http://tinyurl.com/5cd3cn

I'll let Caraistas decide which commentators should be seen as wearing Bozo the clown wigs and red squeaky noses . . .

Paul Van Eeden on CNBC, making the case that the Fed has caused 90% of the increase in oil prices over the years.

http://tinyurl.com/5cd3cn

I'll let Caraistas decide which commentators should be seen as wearing Bozo the clown wigs and red squeaky noses . . .

Aurator
resourcestockguide.com:

The Company surprised to the downside by lowering its annual production target for 2008 and 2009 from an original estimate of 155,000 – 165,000 ounces to 135,000 – 145,000 ounces, effectively a 12% decrease. The Company attributed this decrease to a slower-than-expected leaching process. Cash costs were revised upwards by $60 per ounce to $470-$490 per ounce gold...

Given the Company’s flawless execution to date, the news was a disappointment.... We are seeking further explanations from WGW’s management regarding this “surprise”.

What do you expect from Australians?

WGW is another Rob M hole in the desert suitable for dumping bodies. Any value above and beyond that is purely conjecture. Send all your hate mail to someone else.

Actually as I study the daily chart it appears that IF gold moves up WGW could do really well from here or near here.

Truly the theme of my day has been that despite advances in gold all day long the juniors haven't done jack. Which bites cause I was long some CDE which has been put to sleep apparently.

From Richard Ficher's "Storms on the Hrizon":

"Or we could instead divert 68 percent of current income-tax revenues from their intended uses to the entitlement system, which would accomplish the same thing. "

Isn't military spending something like 58% of the outlay?

I'm beginning to lose patience with the Gold and Silver Juniors. Sold Geologix to take profit.

When I run out of patience and sell non-performing positions, it's a good sign a huge run-up is just ahead.

Even though they have meteoric rise potential, dead money is still dead money.

"Meteoric rise potential" is an oxymoron, since a meteor always starts high and ends badly. hehe

It's alright, not always....meteors exist in space, where there is no gravity, or up or down.

It's only when they get near a planet or heavenly body and gravity does it's thing that it ends badly. Otherwise all is well.

Peter Schiff weighs in. He's been almost perfectly accurate so far. He expects a decoupling, with Asian and European economies to fare much better than the US. Thinks Canada will hold up due to oil.

http://tinyurl.com/45cxmp

It's a Meteoroid when it's still in space. ;)

ALOHA !!

Bill I read Fisher's speech and I have problems with it. I applaude him for at least showing some sort of honesty and clarity in a sea of muddy waters that is known as the US FED and their data/propaganda!

There is an inhrent conflict of interest when the US Treasury and the US Fed team up with Wall Street(Paulsen) and put out highly biased data like the CPI and BLS Jobs Report, just to name a few. In the speech Fisher lays blame for the debt of the USA onto the politicians for their wreckless spending. To be sure politicians spend wrecklessly but who prints the money and who was it that convinced the spineless US Congress back in 1913 to let private bankers administer the monetary system of the USA under the guise of the US Federal Reserve Bank? Like Stuart Smiley used to say, "While I point my finger at you there's three pointing back at me!" Mr. Fisher made no reference to the charter of the US Federal Reserve. Here it is ...

FEDERAL RESERVE ACT

SECTION 2A—Monetary Policy Objectives

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee shall maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy's long run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.

[12 USC 225a. As added by act of November 16, 1977 (91 Stat. 1387) and amended by acts of October 27, 1978 (92 Stat. 1897); Aug. 23, 1988 (102 Stat. 1375); and Dec. 27, 2000 (114 Stat. 3028).]

Read that! Just how successful have these guys been over the past 95 years? Prior to the US FED Americans could have bought a new home for $1,800USD in 1910 out of a Sears catalog!

Of course when the US Federal Reserve was created in 1913 and first opened for business in 1914 the USA had real money, backed by gold and silver. Now we do not! Without "real money" the US Federal Reserve is essentially a "lame duck" whose activities only benefit the US bank and the elite insiders like Hank Paulsen and the family banking monopolies of the 20th century like the Morgans!

Why doesn't Mr. Fisher address the quality of our monetary system instead of blaming a bunch of polticians for being human?

The US FED has a long standing record of manipulation and self serving actions that date back to its inception! Based on historical performance I believe they are long overdue for elimination. Let the US Treasury take over their duties and offices, but a US Treasury without Wall Street at the helm! A US Constitutional amendment separating "Bank and State" is needed ...

The US Dollar is not "as good as gold" and the US FED is no gold standard either!

I'm kinda glad yhoo's advance is being pushed out, provides opportunity to prepare.

I thought those were asteroids.
You mean meteorite, right?

I'm mainly pulling this stuff out of my asteroid...

ALOHA !!

MikeNYC ... Whats with you? I post "misplaced concerns" WOW ... that is very offensive! Is that any different than saying "I disagree"?

You brought up the Luna relating to gold storage issues in your original post.

"But then again, given what they pulled with their Lunar I series, I should not be surprised."

You offered the Luna "scam" as proof the PMCP is not credible. I disagreed as to what a collectible coin has to do with the PMCP? If you understood the PMCP and the allocated program then you would see that coins are offered for fabrication and storage. I only use the word "fool" to describe someone who would store collectible coins as a way to own gold in an allocated account. I stand by my statement only a "fool" would do that! Am I not allowed to use the word "fool"?

Where is your comment on the "supply" issue? I'd love to hear from anyone who can clear up the issues of supply related to the other gold and silver storage companies.

All you do is talk about being attacked! I am trying to offer my knowledge of the Perth Mint and its operations as compared to other "similar" storage options outside the USA.

Lets recap ... I posted "misplaced concerns" and "fool". Were those the words you were offended by? As far as I can see most of my post was informational addressing your concern about the credability of the Perth Mint PMCP, which is a warehouse receipt. If you want to take possession it always costs extra! All mints and exchanges operate that way ...

Nice job Aurator: A meteor is the visible event that occurs when a meteoroid or asteroid enters Earth's (or other planet's) atmosphere and becomes brightly visible. I think that probably ends badly, especially if you get drilled by the darned thing.

Meteoroids are smaller than Asteroids and are larger than cosmic dust.
The stuff you learn at Bill Cara.com.....who knew?

I am considering a physical silver bullion purchase denominated in 100 oz. bars. I have looked at both Kitco & Apmex - Kitco seems to be moderately cheaper - $30 per bar or so.

Is there any other reason not to favor the cheaper price? Thanks in advance.

BillyS:

I've been using APMEX. For one thing, I can send them a personal check. You lock in the price at the time you hit the checkout button. Then I send a check standard mail. Box arrives within 2 weeks. Very pleased. Thinking of placing another order, in fact. Be careful what is charged for insurance. Shipping is only something like $20 at APMEX.

If it's one ounce or less other than silver, been buying bars with assay cards. Have silver rounds and small bars, plus a first bite of the 100oz bars. Silver gets bulky fast...

"mining-friendliness" is locality-by-locality!

From Peru, incakolanews.com reports:

I've had precisely seven mails (five of those from German readers, which surprised me) asking for more details about this blog earlier in the week that mentioned the ban on mining placed on junior miners in the Carabaya/Macusani area of Peru. This ban apparently affects companies such as Solex Resources (SOX.v), Vena Resources (VEM.to), Frontier Pacific (FRP.v), Bear Creek Mining (BCM.v), Strathmore (STM.v) and others.

The basic question from all the mails has been, "can you back up the claims?". Well here's an article in the Puno regional newspaper "Los Andes" from a couple of days ago that gives some more background. An exhibition was given to locals at the weekend, with the region's national congress representative present, After the show was over, the local leaders decided to tell the congressman;

"....to transmit to President Alan Garcia that the the decisions have been made and that the exploration and exploitation of uranium will be paralysed in June 2008, as soon as the agreements signed with the directors of the (junior mining) companies have expired."

I hope that's clear enough. Basically, the whole Macusani/Carabaya region is radioactive for investors in more ways than one. If you have any more doubts, I strongly suggest you get into contact with the IR departments of the companies concerned to see what they say about the subject. I always say that you can judge a company on the sincerity of its disclosure policy, so take time and go ask them about it yourself.

On this news alone, companies like SOX with the vast majority of assets there look like they're in deep trouble.

OT: You can actually get hit by a meteor. The odds however, are about as good as me calling a long term top in oil.

http://tinyurl.com/6rosmp

I don't care who the supplier is. I'm talking about gold that presumably has been delivered and is in the vaults.

Using gold for fabrication and production that has been bought and paid for, even in unallcoated form, by gold investors, is in my opinion, dirty, dirty business. I don't care if it's a loan or not, another division of the same company or not or whatever.

As far as my Lunar comment, well, perhaps it's a different division of the Perth Mint. Fine. You see it as a seperate operation. I see it as the Mint promising one thing and turning around and shafting people who believed them. And all I'm saying is that fits the pattern of an organization that would tell investors they are storing their gold in a vault and then making a low cost loan of that SAME GOLD to another division, fabricating it, and then selling it to other investors and then later putting it back.

Come on! It's not their gold to loan! It belongs to the pool investors. Period.

Were I to need a gold loan for my backyard smelter, I'd need to go out and pay leasing fees, transport fees, storage costs, etc. The Perth Mint is taking a free ride on stored, unallocated gold.

If Perth Mint had to go out and purchase a legitimate working pool of THEIR OWN gold, there would be that much more gold off the market AND it would cost them some money.

"Well, heck! Why do that when there's this whole big pool of unallocated gold sitting right there that we can use for free!"

I think we may have a fundamental disagreement here that stops the conversation. I think it is wrong to use the gold of another person, even in unallocated form, to transact unrelated business. You seem not to. I don't really know where the topic can go from there.

And people who bought retail silver coins after being reassured that their purchases would not be diminished by the Mint's failure to follow through are not fools. They have been fooled! They are all 3 coins short of a full set. Next time you are talking to your Perth Mint contacts, please ask them about that. I'd love to hear the answer.

I watch people for my living. we each re-act and reflect the environment we are in to an amazing degree of accuracy. In this there is an edge on the blog commentary currently which is getting sharper.

Discussion groups are discussion groups: banter and back and forth cuts are all part of the game.

I just mention this as in reflection as I think it points to the market is getting closer to its own edge than anyone of us would wish to admit.

just me

Re: Paul Van Eeden, Hard Money Advocate

My apologies if this is a repost:

http://watch.bnn.ca/#clip56488

This clip is much calmer.

I wonder if anyone at any point will consider the Bovespa as over extended as the oil price due to money supply, or to compare inflation adjusted terms to 50 years ago of just about any market or commodity out there. I really doubt if anybody would be happy with those comparisons.

But yes, sorry to confuse you with the facts, the money supply has increased, and this caused a rise in prices. No mention of the effect of long term interest rates. Interest rate comparisons make the world go round.

This week has left me wondering again whether anyone is really prepared for a collapse in the futures markets. If settlements in the futures markets come grinding to a halt, because of say, a collapse in the oil price despite the influx of money supply, and money becomes very scarce, then this would cause physical demand for gold.

Brief sign of gold advancing against oil this week. Gold basis still very tight, not much to tell there.

Thanks for listening, ya buncha trader-rubes.

:0

How about securities borrowed to short?

Best to buy allocated (not on margin)?
Do you short? Isn't that the same thing as the Perth Mint is doing?

I would be pissed about the incomplete set too...unless it added value in some wierd/stupid way by being incomplete.

Another point: Some customers are of sufficient size or frequency or are well known enough that some unfortunate events tend to not happen to them. I know Kaimu isn't a central bank or foreign reserve, but in the world of gold bugs, we all Kaimu is one of those really big tropical beetles.....he's hard to miss. When you get cold calls to buy/sell PM's you are a larger gold insect than the average. In short, size matters. Something tells me Kaimu's well secured and hidden sock drawer is larger and weighs more than some other listers. Mine for instance. :>) When you buy in bulk you get deals and good service. It's always been that way. I can't get one of those preferred Private Swiss accts (yet) either. I'll find another way.

BillyS: FYI - I have used Bullion Direct for over 2 years to buy silver/gold (without a problem)- They offer several options to buy - auction,catalog etc. Their prices are very good -before you buy from others check out their prices.. Good luck

if someone buys an ounce of gold from me and then pays me to secure it in a safe, it's pretty clear to me that's the whole enchilada...any bets made on that ounce of gold (which is what any further transactions would be) immediately introduces additional risk...i would have to ask the owner's permission to take that risk, and compensate him for it...that's how i would run the business...

Craig: I need to think about that. It feels different.

For example, there are a whole host of costs with mainting a working pool of gold. Insurance, storage costs, and so on. It sounds like they are also doing a quality swaps. That's a legitimate business in the gold world, with it's own set of fees.

Borrowing shares to sell short, or lending to short sellers, seems like a more arms length transaction. Making an interest free gold loan to your fabrication division, using your pool customers gold, to then fabricate bars to sell to your bullion customers, feels like a lot of self-dealing and free riding.

Please, anyone, kaimu, tell me where I'm wrong. I may be naive to the way things work, but I still think this smells very bad.

As far as sets go: I know it's unrelated to gold loans. But I bring it up because it's my only personal dealing with the Perth Mint. And frankly, I'm turned off by their attitude towards people who, by definition, were repeat and good customers.

There are no 1/2 oz sets to compare. But a quick look at completed 1 and 2 oz set auctions on ebay shows a consistent approximate price of roughly 30 bucks per ounce. Individual coins vary more but seem to consistently go for less, sometimes a lot less.

But that's not the whole point: plenty of people would just enjoy looking at a full set. I have many of these coins in the original 20 coin plastic tubes rolls they came in. Pure speculation, and so far they have surpassed plain bullion, so a very good one. But the few completed sets I have, in their presentation boxes, are stunning to look at, in their entirety. The 1/2 ounce people have three empty slots staring back at them in their presentation boxes.

TOMORROW IS THE DAY!!!

Tomorrow the Dems are finally putting the Hillary Clinton campaign to bed, and I for one could not be happier. I have enveighed against this power-mad bitch since she was back in the White House baking cookies and standin' by her man.

Bill Clinton was everything she's not. Bill was a fresh-faced newcomer, she is a tired old catchers mit. Her entire campaign was purely a personal pursuit of power, which reminds me of a Hillary joke.

q: Why is Chelsea so ugly?
a: Janet Reno is her father.

And another...

During the PA campaign Hillary and Chelsea, seeking to drum up extra support visited a few lesbian bars. Asked about it later, Chelsea remarked, "I've never seen so many women with my mom's haircut"

tudu tah...

And finally,

The devil visits Hillary and offers a deal.
"All the power and money that you seek, in exchange for your soul and the souls of your daughter and husband"

Hillary asks, "what's the catch?"

My opinon, guaranteed to piss you off, especially the Canadians, God love you:

I will not be governed by a female. It is not in the natural order of things. That may be fine for Bolivia or some other backwards-assed country where people are afraid of their mommies, but this is the good 'ol U. S. of A., and I'll take the black guy over the woman any day.

You know Shark, you can't get self respect by disrespecting others.

You have completely lost mine.

You are a smart person, please do not disillusion yourself by blaming your schooling for not getting the job of your choice.
It's the attitude displayed above that is to blame. I suggest you do something to change it as what you project is what you will get.

If you need a place to stash your PM's, I can help with that. So what's wrong with the Kitco pool account, anyway? That is, unless armagedon falls upon us, but didn't that already happen back in 2000?

It's not so much the schooling per se as much as it's the sociological pull in a more general and overarching sense. And of course I have a huge ego. Who doesn't that's worth a damn?

hulbert-> (contrarian perspective on) sentiment points to further downside for gold:

http://tinyurl.com/6clah2

So who was it that said AMD stock was crap? Can't remember, but I can say I really admire Jerry Sanders. He wears lots of gold, has a different color Rolls-Royce for every day of the week, and a cool money-green company logo ( big green arrow pointing up at 45 deg.) and company color scheme. Greatest job I ever had was working with these guys about 20 years ago I'd see Jerry come walking down the hallway while having a conversation with a janitor or production worker. He's just that kind of a guy. But those were the good 'ol days when the stock was $5 and we were working on a new fab just behind Jerry's headquarters (which we called the Western Whitehouse because it looks just like the DC whitehouse) we beat the socks off the Death Star (Intel). Stock went to the moon.

BTW, I also worked with Intel - Man, what a total bunch of jerks!

The ironic thing, Craig, is that's exactly how a lot of the guys on the tading desks, where shark wanted to go, talk. I seem them in the city all the time. Google the 'Chung email' for a fairly rank and famous sample. He lost his job at Carlyle over it, became a punch line to a famous Internet trading joke, but now he runs gobs and gobs of money for some other firm.

Which is not to be taken as espousing the post. Just an observation.

Hey Sharky, How did Bill meet hillary? They were both going out with the same girl.

That may be, but this is Bill's blog livingroom, full of international guests of all nationalities, genders, shades, shapes, sizes, and languages. It is not acceptable to disrespect members of this community.

We need to remember there are a lot of Caraistas that don't post we may not be aware of.

Craig, I was tired last night and unable to respond to you properly.

It's my right as a citizen to ridicule leaders and would be leaders in whatever manner I choose. They get to run for the highest office in the land, and I get to make jokes about them. It's the way the system works. I mean what I said, but I said it because I am more honest than most people. As Sosa said to Scarface, "There's no lying in you Tony".

I don't have to live a lie because I am not beholden to any system or organization. As an independent trader, I stand somewhat outside even the circle of humanity that most of us feel we belong to. I know no comfort except the affection of my attack cat Cupcake. Perhaps my experiences have shaped my outlook. My father didn't work for international oil companies squirreling away money so that I can go to paradise and grow reefer or whatever. He was actually a criminal of sorts who ran his own crew and died penniless leaving my mom and me broke. But he didn't just die. He was killed, murdered by the doctors at St. Vincent's hospital Bridgeport while receiving unneccesary surgery a couple of years ago. My wife? The only girl I ever asked to marry me called the cops on me the same day in 2 jurisdictions and leveled bogus stalking charges, which put me in an adverserial relationship with a bunch of cops (again) It's a nasty way to end a relationship with someone who loves you, and is proof that she's even more character disordered than I had feared. Even though some of most follish people I know made big bucks on Wall Street, my timing wasn't very good and you already know about my stillborn career. I am NOT telling you this to justify my dark view of things. But I do subscribe to the notion that events do inform and affect most of us in ways we perhaps would prefer didn't but most of us are unable to totally surmount the prison wall of bullshit that surrounds us eventually.

So the would-be Clinton political dynasty does offend me personally. My friend whose dad sold porno by mail in the 70's, got rich and had the accomodating habit of crashing airplanes, dying young, and leaving it all to my friend, who is now sitting on a real estate portfolio that generates 50 million a year gross rent does inspire a healthy feeling of envy on my part.

Happily married guys whose wives remind me of my ex make me feel....mixed feelings, 'cause I know the minefield that marriage actually is and how nothing is as it appears, but Craig, I refuse to believe the timeworn axiom that we get what we deserve in life and do not get what we do not.

We each get more or less than we "deserve", and even invoking that word betrays a lingering naievete on my part.

Some folks get lucky and have everything go their way, others become wealthy by being smart (make fewer mistakes) and working hard, while others work hard but just aren't smart enough to become wealthy.

Most of us fall into the second two categories, I know I'm not the smartest person around, so I figure I need to work hard, try not to make mistakes, and count on having some luck. I realize monetary success doesn't come without participation in society, that's why I'm here now.

Society shuns prejudices and other anti-social behaviors, and while it's true we're all products of our micro-environment, we must learn to respect society by suppressing prejudices, if we wish to participate. We're more anamalistic than we think. Like a mother wolf quickly teaches her pups not to poop in the den, so too does society teach us not to crap all over other each other.

Shark:
I am posting today in response to you because you represent one reason that American democracy is in grave danger. Your post above represents a strangeness of our public discourse that we ignore at our peril. The views about the Clintons that you feel so free to express is a manifestation of the extent to which something has gone basically and badly wrong in the way America's fabled "marketplace of ideas" now functions.
Unfortunately, your views are not developed in a vacuum. They are fueled by the exhaustive, non-stop coverage of this election process by a media that has long since departed from what used to be the normal good sense and judgment we expected from our television news media which is supposed to function in the public interest. But the media no longer exercises good sense. Instead, in recent years it has indulged more and more in a pattern of serial obsessions that periodically take over the airwaves for weeks and months at a time.

Your views are not a harmless extension of your right to vote. They incite hate and potential violence. Your willingness to express them so freely on a public blog reflects not just your views but also your lack of respect for American democracy - and you are not alone, unfortunately.

Lessmore,

You express an opinion...now back it up with facts. Exactly what are you saying?

Also folks, according to my NY Times, the CFTC is planning to change the policies regarding commodity speculation this upcoming week. They do not say what those changes will be. Could DCR be ready for it's moment in the sun?

lets do this the smart way,
you can dislike the clintons without making disparaging remarks about hillary's gender.

here is a youtube documentary about the clinton
family from a very credible insider, its in 11 segments and all the clips are listed, watch this and do some basic research and you will likely have a lesser opinion of the clintons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7dtVm9-Z5M

that being said, sharky, while theres no point in suggesting your comments were inappropriate because some folks may agree with you or at least share your sentiments, you make yourself sound less and less credible when you make racial remarks about political candidates, and your preference for a "black guy over a woman" as if its some lesser of two evils.

im not going to debate your right to say what you want, i enjoy hearing views i consider objectionable because its better to talk about this stuff than let it fester underneath a facade of civility. but consider how your comments might make women or black people reading this board feel.

the whole game of pretending you dont game isnt a credible one, if you really didnt care youd wouldnt be posting on this board as much. speak your peace but dont back track with sob stories about your past as if they in some way justify your gilted views on women and black people.

im not buying it and i suspect neither are most people on this board. stick to trading and mabey youll get more a positive response from people.

shark- is there a link to the NY Times article?

Maybe you're not home. So I'll address a few of your points.

You write: "I am posting today in response to you because you represent one reason that American democracy is in grave danger."

Am I more to blame than nepotistic dynastic privilege?

You write: "The views about the Clintons that you feel so free to express is a manifestation of the extent to which something has gone basically and badly wrong in the way America's fabled "marketplace of ideas" now functions."

Really? Is questioning the legitimacy of having some guy's wife run for president purely because her husband was once president really "a manifestation of the extent to which something has gone basically and badly wrong in the way America's fabled "marketplace of ideas"? I think not.

You write: "Unfortunately, your views are not developed in a vacuum. They are fueled by the exhaustive, non-stop coverage of this election process by a media that has long since departed from what used to be the normal good sense and judgment we expected from our television news media which is supposed to function in the public interest." So now you are saying my views are the result of media influence? that is just plain insulting on one level, and incorrect on another. I have never heard the media question the legitimacy of nepotistic dynastic privilege, which is the bulk of my argument gainst Rodham-Clinton.

You write: "Your views are not a harmless extension of your right to vote"

No they're not. The're an expression of my first amendment right to free expression of my ideas and opinions, which legally speaking are generally held to be harmless.

You write: "They incite hate and potential violence."

It has always been thus with political speech. However, do I incite more violence than Bush/Cheney starting 2 wars? More violence and dislocation than NAFTA? Vietnam? The Cold War? My potential to incite violence is extremely limited when compared to the elected politicians I criticize.

Finally, you write: "Your willingness to express them so freely on a public blog reflects not just your views but also your lack of respect for American democracy"

So now the public expression of political ideas envinces a lack of respect for American Democracy? If so, it's a first in American history.

I really need to find something to do on the weekends.

Probably is a link, but I get the actual paper tossed on my doorstep. It's on the front page of the Saturday business section.

Alright Shark,
I think there are a few things going on here, and I think the results are a product of the input.....that is, your thinking.

Let me give you an example: My father didn't die. He and my mother didn't get along in the strongest way that is possible to convey. After he left I was essentially without a father figure, but I was lucky to have other mentors that took time to help me. It didn't reduce the anger and abandonment issues I and my brothers had to deal with, and to a great degree we are still dealing with those issues as you will be dealing with yours in your life. It is well proven that male children of abscent fathers have various issues dealing with society and relationships and a large percentage deal with rage, anger, issues with respecting women and other social issues. They also tend to live in poverty.

One problem with abscent fathers is that there isn't a male figure that guides a young man in how the world works, how to treat people, especially women, and to demonstrate how healthy relationships operate by example.

I find this interesting as the first comment I wrote last night and then decided was less than appropriate was to suggest that you would not have a successful marriage and may never see a vagina again if there wasn't some kind of breakthrough in your thinking. It turns out you said that in so many words yourself, perhaps less flippantly or jokingly than I was, but I can see from here, through a computer, that you are a person with relationship problems and some strong but misguided impressions of the world and of people different than yourself. I know your your mother didn't teach you to disrespect women or those with more or less melanine than yourself. You did that on your own.
I am not at all surprised to hear your story about your wife and how that worked out. I knew that before you told me. I suggest you stop looking at her part in this and instead concentrate on the part you control, that is, how you are responsible. Her part, whatever it is, is beyond you to do anything about. It's my experience that you likely come from similar family systems and were attracted to one another for just this lesson in life.

Regardless, I can tell you now, from my own experience, that you are responsible for everything that happens to you, positively or negatively. You make all your own decisions as you don't rely on mom or Dad anymore.

You are responsible. Your wealthy friend isn't responsible for you or your decisions. Cupcake isn't responsible. You alone decide how you will be, what you will get in life, and how that will happen. You aren't a victim of anyone but yourself anymore.

Now to how it works. I think you have it completely backwards. People don't get what they deserve. They get what they ask for, what they *project*. Casey may chime in here on the Tao and he is more than welcome to.

The fact is you get what you throw out to the universe and work for. If that is confusion, feeling the victim, resentment over lost relationships, anger and misunderstanding of those trying like you to make it in the world, then those are the things that will find their way to you. If it is understanding, genuine caring, and acceptance of others then you will see those things come into your life.

So far what you are asking for you are getting, just as the plan works.

I'm simply suggesting that you ask for understanding by understanding, ask for healthy relationships by accepting and working on healthy relationships, knowing people by getting to really know them and not pre-judging them. If you don't want to be judged, you must refrain from judging others. In fact there is no substantial difference between yourself and every other person on the planet so your insults to them are really insults to yourself.
That's why I told you you can't get self respect by disrespecting others. You can come to some understanding about your parents, accept their humanity, their foibles, their weaknesses in life. Your anger with your father results in you unavoidably rejecting one half of yourself.
Your disrepsect of women results in disrespect for your mother and the half of you that is your mother. when you accept them as humans then you may come closer to accepting your own humanity and that of others.

I now understand my parents are just people with issues like everyone else. YES, I think they were horrible parents that were totally self absorbed (and had NO business having children), that just gave me something to NOT do to my daughter or repeat in my life.

I am not opposed to jokes, political jokes are especially fun, or political opinions which I share freely myself, but society as a whole has decided that jokes or disrespect about inborn unchangeable conditions like nationality/race, hair color, skin color, gender, ability or disability, etc are no longer funny or acceptable.

What I'm suggesting is that you give everyone else the benefit of the doubt you seek, and that you work on treating people with the respect they are due, and not your prejudices and hatred based on the inborne and unchangeable. It is by accepting their core that you will accept yourself and receive acceptance from others.

You alone have the power to change your life and make it better. All you have to do is follow the golden rule.

Craig,

I appreciate your spirit and the message.

Craig,
Christians have been trying to do the Golden Rule thing for two thousand years and one thing Jesus said was to expect to be stepped on for turning the other cheekOr one of the apostles said it in the Bible. I don't know if one can take the comment that what one sows so shall he reap. Is there any factual studies on it? It seems that we are to take that phrase as one of God's truths blindly. Political correctness seems to be the order of the day though in print and in public. Outside of the public arena let the bigotry fly. All races put it out there. Discrimination is very color/race oriented. Maybe that is a truth we can take blindly whether we like it or not. It is how we deal out ethical fairness in public that counts; all people are created equal.

ALOHA !!

WOW ... I was gone all most all of yesterday and most of today(SAT)and the hole blog has gone Billary and the Nazis on me!!

Chickenpookie ... You posted"If you need a place to stash your PM's, I can help with that. So what's wrong with the Kitco pool account, anyway? That is, unless armagedon falls upon us, but didn't that already happen back in 2000?"

Whats wrong with Kitco pool accounts? Nothing unless you trust their supply, which is partly dependent on the PERTH MINT! But here's what they reveal in the FAQ part. They use a vault owned by HSBC New York to store their gold. If you want to trust your gold to HB&B be my guest. Thats why I don't own GLD or SLV! I prefer to be with a gold warehouse outside the USA owned by a 105 year old Mint backed by a GOLD LOVING government who is partners with NEWMONT AUST!

MikeNYC ... I just received this info from Euro Pacific, who is a dealer for the Perth Mint, that may shed some light on the current PERTH MINT situation.

Now I mostly have allocated so I do not really have a large stake in "unallocated", but I do have some.

If you go allocated there is a whole two page list of PERTH MINT product that they send you showing you the various items you can choose to allocate and the associated costs. You can choose bullion coins or bars of all sorts and sizes. I can boil down that entire list of some 50 products to just two! It is the only two I would even remotely consider holding in an allocated account for only one reason ... "serial numbers"! You can study all the various Mints around the World or the various Kitco's but why have an "allocated account" if you don't put items in it without serial numbers. Look at coins ... Ever see a serial number on a bullion coin? I haven't! I have only seen serial number on bars. The only bars the PERTH MINT puts serial numbers on for the purpose of "allocated accounts' is the kilo gold bar and the 1000 oz silver bar. Well, on a 400oz gold bar but I have not bought one of those.

I see holding physical in two ways. You want your own personal stash in coins, foreign and pre 1933, to hopefully avoid ever being confiscated by the next FDR. I prefer the British Gold Sovereign for personal stash within the borders of the USA. For allocated international storage I prefer the serial numbered kilo gold bars and the 1000 oz silver bars. Mints and exchanges prefer those also since it is easier to store and ship and keep track of one 1000 oz silver bar than 1000 silver one ounce coins coins or 2000 1/2 ounce silver coins!

If you look at that PERTH MINT flow chart I have posted before, which is the same one Troy has in his article the Perth Mint never swaps outside their loop of trusted partners. Its not like they are loaning bought-and-paid-for gold to JP MORGAN!!! The US MINT probably does that via the US FED but not the PERTH MINT. I do know the PERTH MINT sells to the LME-London Metal Exchange indirectly through AG Matthey who refines metals for the LME.

There is a recent post our on LEMEtropole Cafe by "Mexico Mike" who brings this article up by Troy Schwensen as well and he compares the PMCP to a Ferrari you buy and you're then told you cannot drive! It is at beast a bad analogy. As I have said the "unallocated PMCP" is essentially a warehouse receipt. You can't take possession of the metal unless you first pay for fabrication, shipping, insurance and process fees. A better analogy would be paying the sticker price for a Ferrari at the dealer and then being told you cannot drive it until you pay the sales tax, license and insurance! Once you pay those costs then you get the keys! Until you pay those costs the Ferrari remains in the showroom! Its apples and oranges!

I also have to comment that it seems only those who are competitors of the PERTH MINT and their reps who raise these allegations outside the Australian borders in the USA or Canada. If the PERTH MINT is so disreputable and fraudulent it seems there would be by now many lawsuits in Australia against them for fraud. I haven't seen a single lawsuit in 105 years! Makes me wonder what these people's agenda really is? I mean if you have a legitimate beef with the PERTH MINT and you can show damages or fraud then why not sue them? They allow lawsuits in Australia ... The phone books are full of barristers!

Since I deal mainly with the PERTH MINT Depository I don't follow the collector coins! When I was there in January I did see them in the PERTH MINT STORE. Didn't any of those pissed off coin collectors and coin dealers sue the Perth Mint for reneging on three coins? That seems like a nice class action lawsuit waiting to happen!

Here's the other factor about all these people with these complaints against the PERTH MINT. None of them are clients of the PERTH MINT PMCP! MikeNYC, do you own a PMCP and have you bought an allocated account there? Have you ever even been to the PERTH MINT? Have you ever been to Perth? Have you ever even been to Australia? Do you know any Australians? Did you even see Crocodile Dundee? HA!! A bit off course, but it seems strange that none of the clients of the PERTH MINT PMCP are suing because they didn't get their metal! I have heard of two week delays and once I even had to wait two days, but I got my metal every time!

It also seems strange that Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific would want to be associated with the PERTH MINT if there were serious shortage issues due to swaps or fraud!

That said here is the alert notice put out by Euro Pacific on the PERTH MINT PMCP inventories which they claim are full plus some.

READ ON:
Dear Valued Perth Mint Client,

A little over 5 years ago, Euro Pacific Capital wanted to find an international, government guaranteed, affordable and flexible method of precious metals ownership that would fit in well with our bearish outlook for the U.S. dollar and bullish outlook for precious metals. We found The Perth Mint Certificate Program (PMCP), which was originally launched in the U.S. about 10 years ago.

You purchased the PMCP and your investment has appreciated significantly as a result of the U.S. dollar's decline and the rise of the value of gold, silver and platinum. Your cost of doing business under the PMCP has not changed for more than a decade.

About four years ago, The Perth Mint introduced a small .25% trading levy on all purchase and sale transactions. Euro Pacific Capital has been absorbing that .25% additional fee on the buy side only. However, effective July 1, 2008, we will no longer absorb this fee and future purchase orders will be charged 2.25%. Liquidations will remain at 1.25%.

The Perth Mint wanted to create the PMCP to accumulate sufficient quantities of gold, silver and platinum to enable them to conduct their fabrication and minting business without dependence on commercial leasing of precious metal. They decided to forego a small, client storage charge in order to eliminate high commercial leasing costs.

Today, the Perth Mint stores hundreds of millions of dollars of gold, silver and platinum from the PMCP. The Perth Mint now has more silver than needed to offset inventory requirements. The excess silver comes at a storage cost that the Mint has been absorbing at about $700,000 per year.

Therefore, to offset these silver storage charges, effective July 1, 2008, The Perth Mint will be adding a 25-cent surcharge on all silver PMCP buy orders. This small, one time only fee will not eliminate the cost of storing excess silver, but will decrease it.

SO, WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

Since we are in the midst of a correction (also known as a buying opportunity), consider adding unallocated silver now, before the silver surcharge becomes effective.

In the end, whether you add gold, silver or platinum to your portfolio we believe the PMCP remains the safest, most flexible, and most cost-effective method of holding precious metals medium to long-term. Further, given the fundamental weakness of the U.S. dollar coupled with the strength of the precious metals supply/demand fundamentals, this perfect storm appears to be gathering momentum.

We anticipate that the bull market will continue for the better part of another decade. In our opinion, these small cost increases, the first in over 10 years of the PMCP's existence, do not outweigh the potential appreciation resulting from cost-effective precious metals ownership. If anything, they merely reflect the significant up tick in inflation that we have all anticipated and that has caused us to invest so heavily in precious metals in the first place.

If you have any questions, or if you wish to add to your PMCP portfolio, please call toll free (800) 993-8350 (US and Canada), or call direct at (949) 863-9500, ext. 237 or 238.

Thank you for using the services of Euro Pacific Capital. We look forward to further serving you.

Best regards...

Peter Schiff
President

Hasn't the pearmabears been saying the same thing for nearly 100 years, just about every year the sky is falling?

How about wrapping everybody up and get them into alternative energy?

We can help.