Inflation is Raging – If You Know Where to Look

"Most people – certainly most governments and economists – define inflation as a general rise in prices. But this is wrong. Inflation is an increase in the money supply, of which a rising general price level is just one possible result – and not the most common one.

More often, excessive money creation shows up as asset bubbles, where the new money, instead of flowing equally to all the products that are for sale at a given time, flows disproportionately into the ‘hottest’ asset classes. Readers who were paying attention in the 1990s might recall that the consumer price index was well-behaved while huge amounts of money flowed into financial assets, producing the dot-com bubble.

The same thing happened in the 2000s, when excess currency flowed into housing and equities. In each case, mainstream economists and government officials pointed to modest consumer price inflation as a sign that things were fine. And in each case they were simply looking in the wrong place and completely missing the destabilizing effects of an inflating money supply.

Now we’re at it again, with economists, legislators and central bankers using low consumer price inflation as a rationale for even easier money, while ignoring epic bubbles in sovereign bonds, equities, high-end real estate and collectibles around the world. These bubbles are the true evidence of inflation, and since they’re growing progressively larger, it’s accurate to say that inflation is high and accelerating. Let’s take some exotic examples, first from the art world:

Art prices painting a disturbing picture of inflation

The Francis Bacon painting “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” was sold for a whopping $142.4 million as part of a $691.6 million Christie’s sale on Tuesday night, making it the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction.

at  http://dollarcollapse.com/inflation/inflation-is-raging-if-you-know-where-to-look/

Andrew Maguire - Physical Markets For Gold & Silver On Fire

"On the heels of continued pressure in gold and silver, London metals trader Andrew Maguire spoke with King World News about the incredible demand taking place around the world for both physical gold and silver, and how this is being reflected in the stunning and record premiums.  KWN also has an update on bullish sentiment.

After another week of continued pressure in the gold and silver markets, we have finally seen both gold and silver bullish sentiment fall to the historic lows seen on June 28th.  There are now a stunning 63% fewer gold bulls than what was seen at the peak level of 2011.  Moving to silver, there are now an astonishing 73% fewer silver bulls than the high set in 2011...."

at http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/11/23_Andrew_Maguire_-_Physical_Markets_For_Gold_%26_Silver_On_Fire.html

China Announces That It Is Going To Stop Stockpiling U.S. Dollars

"China just dropped an absolute bombshell, but it was almost entirely ignored by the mainstream media in the United States.  The central bank of China has decided that it is "no longer in China’s favor to accumulate foreign-exchange reserves".  During the third quarter of 2013, China's foreign-exchange reserves were valued at approximately $3.66 trillion.  And of course the biggest chunk of that was made up of U.S. dollars.  For years, China has been accumulating dollars and working hard to keep the value of the dollar up and the value of the yuan down.  One of the goals has been to make Chinese products less expensive in the international marketplace.  But now China has announced that the time has come for it to stop stockpiling U.S. dollars.  And if that does indeed turn out to be the case, than many U.S. analysts are suggesting that China could also soon stop buying any more U.S. debt.  Needless to say, all of this would be very bad for the United States.

For years, China has been systematically propping up the value of the U.S. dollar and keeping the value of the yuan artificially low.  This has resulted in a massive flood of super cheap products from across the Pacific that U.S. consumers have been eagerly gobbling up.

For example, have you ever gone into a dollar store and wondered how anyone could possibly make a profit by making those products and selling them for just one dollar?

Well, the truth is that when you flip those products over you will find that almost all of them have been made outside of the United States.  In fact, the words "made in China" are probably the most common words in your entire household if you are anything like the typical American.

Thanks to the massively unbalanced trade that we have had with China, tens of thousands of our businesses, millions of our jobs and trillions of our dollars have left this country and gone over to China.

And now China has apparently decided that there is not much gutting of our economy left to do and that it is time to let the dollar collapse.  As I mentioned above, China has announced that it is going to stop stockpiling foreign-exchange reserves...

The People’s Bank of China said the country does not benefit any more from increases in its foreign-currency holdings, adding to signs policy makers will rein in dollar purchases that limit the yuan’s appreciation.

“It’s no longer in China’s favor to accumulate foreign-exchange reserves,” Yi Gang, a deputy governor at the central bank, said in a speech organized by China Economists 50 Forum at Tsinghua University yesterday. The monetary authority will “basically” end normal intervention in the currency market and broaden the yuan’s daily trading range, Governor Zhou Xiaochuan wrote in an article in a guidebook explaining reforms outlined last week following a Communist Party meeting. Neither Yi nor Zhou gave a timeframe for any changes.

at  http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/china-announces-that-it-is-going-to-stop-stockpiling-u-s-dollars

The Debt Bubble is only getting bigger

"“I see a bubble in everything that relates to the financial sector,” Marc Faber the author of the Boom Gloom & Doom report told CNBC on Tuesday. He puts bonds, low-quality bonds and equities on the top of that list. “If you look at the financial sector as a percentage of the global economy, it’s very large. We have a huge debt bubble, and it’s only getting bigger. It’s not getting any smaller.”

at http://www.marcfabernews.com/2013/11/the-debt-bubble-is-only-getting-bigger.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MarcFaberBlog+%28MARC+FABER+BLOG%29#.Uo-l-cR22m4

War In Gold Intensifies As Massive Battle Rages In London

"Today the man who predicted the recent takedown in the gold market ahead of time told King World News that the war in gold has now greatly intensified as a massive battle is now raging in London.  William Kaye, who 25 years ago worked for Goldman Sachs in mergers and acquisitions, not only spoke about the war in gold, but he also shared with KWN additional news about the West’s increasingly desperate actions in gold, as well as catalysts that will change the course of the battle.  Below is what Kaye had to say in this fascinating and powerful interview.

Kaye:  “The major news that nobody cares about is China has now announced something we’ve been anticipating for quite some time, which is they are now going to be invoicing their oil imports in renminbi.  This is another major step in China sidestepping the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency...

“This means that China will have bilateral trading arrangements with Russia and the other major countries, such as Iran, that provide energy to China.  So, again, this is another brick out of the wall for the US dollar and by the same token US hegemony. 

But nobody seems to care, and if you noticed, instead of gold spiking $50 or $100 higher on that news, it was smashed lower.  In a way this should come as no surprise because this is exactly what has happened on gold bullish news practically all year..."

at   http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/11/21_War_In_Gold_Intensifies_As_Massive_Battle_Rages_In_London.html

Stunning Events To Create A Historic Financial Earthquake

"Today 50-year veteran Art Cashin warned King World News about the historic events taking place in the major markets, including gold.  Cashin, Director of Floor Operations at UBS ($650 billion under management), also spoke with KWN about the massive accumulation of gold by the Chinese and the flow of gold from West to East.

Eric King:  “Art, you’ve been warning recently about the great danger, the fact that the Fed is employing so much leverage.  KWN published a piece of yours which included comments from a couple of individuals, including Peter Tchir.  Can you talk about the danger of this leverage that the Fed is employing for the listeners (and readers) globally?”

Cashin:  “The Fed has bought up significant amounts of some of the (Treasury) issuances, particularly the 10-Year, in trying to affect rates further out.  They’ve become a dominant factor.  And I wonder how they can get to tapering because they have become kind of addicted in these purchases.

The Japanese are not buying (US Treasuries) at the rate they were buying a year ago.  The Chinese are not buying Treasuries at the rate they were buying a year ago.  So you begin to wonder, how can the Treasury manage if the 3rd leg of the stool, which is the Fed, comes apart?  So, there will be a good deal of pressure there.  They talk about, ‘Tapering is not tightening,’ but the markets may see it another way.  

Now, that having been said, they have induced the banks, who can’t get in a full lending cycle, to take the money that the Fed gives them when it buys the bonds in its quantitative easing program, and they are leaving them in the vault at the Fed under their name.  And that’s in the trillions of dollars. 

Now there is no inflation at this time because that money has no velocity.  It’s locked up.  But the great concern here is should that money begin to gain velocity, that could turn into a sudden and sharp inflationary pressure, virtually coming out of nowhere.

And I do not believe the Fed would be able to stop that by raising rates.  I think they would have to take more drastic measures, perhaps raising reserve requirements, which would be like hitting the economy in the head with a two-by-four.”

at http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/11/16_Stunning_Events_To_Create_A_Historic_Financial_Earthquake.html

“Orwellian Propaganda,” Delays & A Catastrophic Ending

"As the Dow breaks 16,000, and pressure on the gold and silver markets continues, today a man who has been involved in the financial markets for 50 years, and whose business partner is billionaire Eric Sprott, spoke with King World News about “Orewellian propaganda,” delays, and a catastrophic end game.  Below is what John Embry had to say in this fascinating and timely interview.

Embry: “As you know, Eric, sentiment in the silver market is even more negative now than it was at the historic low set on June 27th.  But nothing has changed on silver.  People need to understand that there is a lot more demand for physical silver than there is actual silver coming out of the ground.

Obviously the people running this paper scam are going to every above ground source in order to get inventory to keep the price from exploding....

“The fundamentals are so powerful in terms of the supply/demand for silver, and when you superimpose on top of that the monetary debasement we will have to experience in coming years, I strongly believe that in the fullness of time silver will be one of the greatest bull markets in the history of the world.

You are talking today about a price today of roughly $20 for silver, but you will see triple-digits before this is over, and even way beyond that if things continue to unfold in a hyperinflationary manner.”

at http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/11/18_Orwellian_Propaganda,_Delays_%26_A_Catastrophic_Ending.html

The 21st Century would belong to Asia — and in particular, China

"The 19th century may have belonged to England and the 20 century to the United States, but the 21st century belongs to China, says American investor Jim Rogers.

Rogers, the billionaire co-founder of the privately owned hedge fund Quantum, made the comments on Nov. 16 at an economic forum in Nanjing, the capital of east China's Jiangsu province, according to a report from the state-owned China News Service.

During his speech, Rogers said he has strong confidence in China's future development based on his personal experiences over the years. The 71-year-old said he has toured the world twice, the first time in 1990 when he visited more than 50 countries in nearly two years, and again in 1999 when he visited 116 countries over three years. He said he was certain that the 21st century would belong to Asia — and in particular, China — the first time he visited Nanjing in 1984, when China was undergoing reforms and opening up."

at http://www.jimrogersinvestments.com/2013/11/the-21st-century-would-belong-to-asia.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FWOHK+%28Jim+Rogers+Blog%29

The History Of Debt

at http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-15/history-debt

A Look At the Great Chinese Gold Rush

"China is taking over the world one gold bar at a time. The infographic below shows

 how, in the space of a few decades, it has developed a huge appetite for the world’s physical gold.

The above words of Will Bancroft (the realasset.co.uk) are edited excerpts from the introduction to his following infographic* entitled Tracing The Great Chinese Gold Rush."

at http://www.munknee.com/look-great-chinese-gold-rush/

Gold To Begin a Parabolic Rise In 2014 – Here’s Why

at http://www.munknee.com/gold-to-begin-a-parabolic-rise-in-2014-heres-why/

Asian Central Banker’s Shocking Confession About The West

"“I was struck by the fact that one of the central bankers did volunteer to me that most central bankers are aware of the fractional reserve nature of the Western gold banking system, and its vulnerabilities.”

Eric King:  “Chris, that’s staggering that this man admitted central banks outside of the West understand that the West is essentially running a Ponzi scheme with regards to the Western gold market.”

Powell:  “He clearly acknowledged their understanding that gold does not back all of the claims to gold that are floating around the world financial system, particularly when it comes to the West.  You would probably never get a central banker to acknowledge that publicly, but that is precisely what he said to me off the record.” 

Eric King:  “Chris, the fact that you were in Asia presenting to these two key central banks, and this central banker admitted that the word is out amongst the central banks that the West is running a Ponzi scheme, an unbacked paper gold scheme, and when you see all of this massive accumulation of gold by China, Russia, and various other BRIC nations, it does in fact appear the word has leaked out about the Western scheme.”

Powell:  “Certainly the Asians know what is going on -- I mean, that’s where the gold is going.  The Western central banks obviously know -- they have evaded virtually all of my questions.  I would bet my life, Eric, that despite all of the public acrimony between the United States and China, the Fed and the People’s Bank of China are on the phone every day consulting about the gold market.  

They are doing a very delicate dance as China tries to hedge its disproportionate US dollar foreign exchange reserves with gold and other hard assets, without exploding both markets (gold and the dollar).  I don’t think anything major happens in the gold market from day to day without China’s consent.  China could blow up the gold market any time it wanted.  It could also blow up the US dollar market, the US interest rate market and bond markets any time it wanted. 

I can tell you that after speaking to this central banker, and hearing his very candid confession, that all of the major central banks know what’s going on.  This doesn’t mean that all of them are involved in the scheme as the United States, China, and Britain are, but they know, and they know how vulnerable the system is.  Meaning, it is delicate and could come crashing down if not properly managed from day to day.

As an example, another central banker admitted to me off the record that, yes, the gold price is ‘of profound interest to central bankers.’  Well, that is just confirming what I said to you.  I don’t want to give away too much information here because I want to respect my contacts around the world, but the reality is that the gold market is micro-managed, despite all the incessant denials.” 

Eric King:  “William Kaye was telling KWN the Western scheme is nearing its end because they are running out of physical gold to continue the scheme.”

Powell:  “We see these enormous volumes of gold moving from West to East, sometimes through Switzerland.  We saw the disparity in the Bank of England’s gold vaulting reports between February and June, where 1,200 tons of gold seemed to disappear.  When I asked the Bank of England about that they basically told me to drop dead and they would have no further comment on the matter.

All of this echoes what Kaye is saying.  We can see these gold outflows from the West, and we can also see the inflows to the East.  We don’t know exactly when the metal will run out, but we do know we have seen this movie once before.  This is exactly what happened when the London Gold Pool was drained.

The pool collapsed and there were emergency US Air Force transport flights, according to the Federal Open Market Committee Meeting Minutes, flying gold over from the United States to the Bank of England in 1968.  This was at a time when the Bank of England was advancing its own gold into the market on behalf of the United States, in an attempt to hold the gold price at $35 an ounce.

In March of 1968, the outflow of gold had reached hundreds of tons per week.  At that point, the nations participating in the Long Gold Pool realized they had only a few weeks’ worth of gold left at that staggering rate of outflow.  So, they closed the London Gold Pool.  

The dollar price of gold literally failed at that point.  The price of gold was $35 an ounce of gold one day, and the next day there was no price at all because there was no official market.  I suspect that either that will happen, and the gold that is available will run out, or more likely the central banks will see what’s coming and arrange an international currency revaluation.  At that point there will be chaos in the gold and currency markets, but in the end this will mean substantially higher gold after the official reset of the international gold price.”

at http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/11/14_Asian_Central_Bankers_Shocking_Confession_About_The_West.html

The Ingredients For A Massive “Crash” Are Now In Place

"...“The Schiller P/E is now 25.  The historic earnings multiple is 19.  This is a pretty weird place to start a new bull market from.  In any event, the market has been rising for 5 solid years.  This is as long as the market normally rises without some sort of correction.

But because of QE, and because Mrs. Yellen isn’t going to do anything different anytime soon, I think we just have to accept that the market is going to go higher and P/E ratios will continue to expand, making this market even more expensive.  The thing is that in bubbles you can get quite a bit more expensive than this.

The bad news is that if you normally have your 4-year setback in the 3rd year of the decade, this is like winding a spring for the 4th, 5th and 6th years of any decade to be strong.  The next time you run the risk is in the 7th year, going into the 8th year.

If you look back at the last several decades, it’s either 1987, 1997, or 2008 when you get the really nasty corrections or bear markets.  Having said that, my work says this is not the start of a new secular bull market.  You don’t start bullish secular trends from 25 times earnings, after a 5-year continuous rise.

If you look at the S&P 500, divided by the purchasing power or PPI, you will see what it buys in real dollars.  It gives the image that this really is a secular downtrend that started in the year 2000, and in ‘real money’ we are absolutely nowhere near making a new high.  For that matter, neither are any of the Western markets.

But only in devalued money are the US, German, and British stock markets on the cusp of going into new highs, and in bubbles that’s what happens.  But people should understand that the ingredients for a crash going into early 2014 are already in place.

If you look at sentiment, you normally begin a major move in despair and despondency.  You grow stock prices through climbing a ‘wall of worry‘ and cynicism.  You lose momentum when people become confident.  And when they are universally telling you, ‘We’ve got a great recovery, nothing could possibly go wrong,’ you are probably near a top.”

Griffiths added:  “The secular trend for gold is still absolutely intact.  The entire fall from $1,900 was similar to what we witnessed in the 1970s, and just a normal Fibonacci retracement in a bull market.  We will have to wait and see where the ultimate low is for gold, but the notion that the secular uptrend is dying is incorrect.  

My bet is that $1,180 will probably hold, and next year not only will gold go through $1,900, but up to about $2,500.  This will shock many market participants.  After that we go on in the next year to the $3,000 area.  We are also keeping our eye on high quality gold stocks because as soon as gold itself starts to go, these stocks will fly.  You can buy some of them at less than book value, and the share prices are typically 80% off their highs.  They also pay dividends."

at http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/11/14_The_Ingredients_For_A_Massive_Crash_Are_Now_In_Place.html

Chilling Warning Coming From China & The Elites

"Today a man who has lived in 18 countries around the world, and witnessed collapses in many of these countries firsthand, told King World News “I don’t think the rest of the world is really appreciating what’s happening right now, but portable wealth, and I mean at the very top-end, is going ballistic.”  Keith Barron, who consults with major companies around the world and is responsible for one of the largest gold discoveries in the last quarter century, also stated, “I need to clarify here that this unbelievable situation appears to be being fueled by a great many Chinese buyers who are aggressively exiting US dollars.” 

Barron:  “The situation in Europe continues to be fairly grim.  S&P has lowered the credit rating of France in the last week.  We have also seen the general strike in Greece, the transport strike in Portugal, and the employment rates are not being improved at all in the PIIG countries...."

at http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/11/15_Chilling_Warning_Coming_From_China_%26_The_Elites.html

Gold Is Flowing From The Western World To The East

"Gold is moving out of western markets and into eastern markets, a new report from the World Gold Council highlights.

"The recent dynamics of the gold market have worked to ensure that lower prices (caused, in part, by ETF outflows) boosted Asian demand to an extent sufficient to absorb the gold flowing from western markets," according to the report.

Here's how it works:

Gold continued to work its way through the supply chain, to be converted from London Good Delivery bar-form, via the refiners, into smaller, Asian consumer-friendly denominations of kilo-bars and below. This process is borne out by recent trade statistics. Data from Eurostat show exports of gold from the UK to Switzerland for the January – August period grew more than tenfold, to 1,016.3 t.

Consumer demand in China and India dwarfs the rest of the world. Check out the chart:

at http://www.businessinsider.com/how-gold-is-flowing-from-west-to-east-2013-11#ixzz2keRlsGR8

Federal Reserve Whistleblower Tells America The REAL Reason For Quantitative Easing

"A banker named Andrew Huszar that helped manage the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program during 2009 and 2010 is publicly apologizing for what he has done.  He says that quantitative easing has accomplished next to nothing for the average person on the street.  Instead, he says that it has been "the greatest backdoor Wall Street bailout of all time."  And of course the cold, hard economic numbers support what Huszar is saying.  The percentage of working age Americans with a job has not improved at all during the quantitative easing era, and median household income has actually steadily declined during that time frame.  Meanwhile, U.S. stock prices have doubled overall, and the stock prices of the big Wall Street banks have tripled.  So who benefits from quantitative easing?  It doesn't take a genius to figure it out, and now Andrew Huszar is blowing the whistle on the whole thing.

From 2009 to 2010, Huszar was responsible for managing the Fed's purchase of approximately $1.25 trillion worth of mortgage-backed securities.  At the time, he thought that it was a dream job, but now he is apologizing to the rest of the country for what happened...

I can only say: I'm sorry, America. As a former Federal Reserve official, I was responsible for executing the centerpiece program of the Fed's first plunge into the bond-buying experiment known as quantitative easing. The central bank continues to spin QE as a tool for helping Main Street. But I've come to recognize the program for what it really is: the greatest backdoor Wall Street bailout of all time.

at  http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/federal-reserve-whistleblower-tells-america-the-real-reason-for-quantitative-easing

Man Who Predicted Gold Smash Tells Investors What’s Next

"Kaye:  “Right now I am focused on the manipulation that is ongoing.  As you know, I had warned KWN readers around the world that the powers that be were in fact going to conduct one more downside attack.  We are in the midst of that attack right now.  We have now gone past levels that most people would have expected....

“We are attempting to retest the lows made in the last couple of weeks, but a lot of gold is getting lost by the West in the process.

The thing for investors to focus on here is the battle between paper and physical.  As I said, a lot of physical gold is getting lost in the prosecution of this down-move.  The migration of physical gold from the West to the East is accelerating yet again.  But there is a timeline on all of this.  The real question is, when does that timeline expire?  I believe we are getting very close, but we are clearly not quite there yet.

However, what has become increasingly apparent to our firm is the fact that all of the markets are controlled.  News has come to light that the banks have been actively manipulating so many markets, and so it would be a shocker if gold wasn’t in that equation as well.

Central banks, by design, manipulate fixed income and currency markets.  There is a knock-on effect on equities from those manipulations because it effects the so-called ‘risk-free’ rate of capital.  But the linearity of trading, particularly in recent years, suggests outright manipulation in the equity markets as well.

Circling back to gold, as I mentioned, it would be a shocker if the gold market wasn’t being manipulated.  So, we as a firm work under the assumption that gold is being manipulated.  The interesting thing at this point is that the gold market is experiencing the kind of extremes that you rarely see in markets.

These extremes are indicated by the fact that physical demand continues to be incredibly robust, particularly in Russia and China, as well as other BRIC countries.  This migration of gold, primarily from the central banks and sovereigns located in the West, to the East, that can’t go on indefinitely.”

Eric King:  “What will be a sign that the West is losing control?”

Kaye:  “It’s really hard to find definitive evidence that we’ve reached the 9th inning of the end game -- it could still be the 8th inning.  But things such as backwardation in the gold market, where the spot price is higher than the future paper prices, that strongly suggests the hoarding of gold, and that is certainly one thing that would indicate we are close to the end.  We have also seen the negative lease rates on gold.

So, we are late in the game but we are not quite there yet.  The big winner here is China, and to a lesser extent Russia and the BRIC’s countries.  These are the players, in the end game, that are accumulating gold very rapidly which is being drained from Western central bank vaults.  This means the loser in this game is the West.

The West is losing its inventories of gold, which had been accumulated over a considerable period of time.  If those inventories run dry, you are going to see a dramatic reversal of the trends that are currently in play.  This is when the physical market will dictate to the paper market what the price will be.  

One of the major catalysts is the fact that China is going to be backing, probably sometime early next year, its own physical spot gold market.  They will be honoring futures and forward contracts, but they will be fully backed by physical gold.  When that kicks into play, assuming China does what I would expect, this will require the global market to come to China.

China is already the most important gold buyer in the world, so at that point the world price will be established by the Chinese, and the West and the LBMA will become increasingly irrelevant in terms of the gold market.  As that scenario unfolds, it will be game over for the very highly leveraged fractional reserve, Western style, gold market that exists today.

We will then have true price discovery in gold, which we haven’t had for a considerable period of time, and we will find out what the true value of an ounce of gold is really worth.  This will be a historic transition because the reality is that the true price for gold at that point will be much, much higher than what we are seeing today.”

at http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/11/13_Man_Who_Predicted_Gold_Smash_Tells_Investors_Whats_Next.html

Fed Official Who Helped Orchestrate QE: 'I'm Sorry, America,' QE Really Was A Huge Wall Street Bailout Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-official-sorry-about-qe-2013-11#ixzz2kSoEarmc

"Andrew Huszar, a former Federal Reserve employee who executed QE, has written a Wall Street Journal op-ed apologizing for the "unprecedented shopping spree."

Huszar worked at the Fed for seven years before leaving for Wall Street. The central bank recruited him back in 2009 to manage "what was at the heart of QE’s bond-buying spree–a wild attempt to buy $1.25 trillion in mortgage bonds in 12 months."

"I can only say: I'm sorry, America," Huszar writes. From the Journal:

It wasn't long before my old doubts resurfaced. Despite the Fed's rhetoric, my program wasn't helping to make credit any more accessible for the average American. The banks were only issuing fewer and fewer loans. More insidiously, whatever credit they were extending wasn't getting much cheaper. QE may have been driving down the wholesale cost for banks to make loans, but Wall Street was pocketing most of the extra cash..."

at http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-official-sorry-about-qe-2013-11#ixzz2kSoJembc

IEA: The World Is Totally Unprepared For When The Great American Shale Boom Fizzles Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/iea-energy-outlook-bearish-on-shale-2013-11#ixzz2kSmxYMrD

"The International Energy Agency says world markets are unprepared for when — and it's a when, not if, it asserts, — the Great American Shale Boom fizzles, The FT's Ajay Makan and Neil Hume report.

In its latest World Energy Outlook released this morning, the IEA forecasts unconventional oil production will require $700 billion annually — basically about where we are now — to sustain current output levels. Even if the industry is able to do so, production will begin to slip in a decade regardless because of shale wells' high decline rates.

At that point lower-cost Middle East production will have to take over again. But those countries haven't been making the necessary investments to prepare for this outcome, the agency warns, meaning the rest of the world will be caught flat-footed. 

Here's what IEA chief economist Fatih Birol said in presenting the report this morning, per FT:

"...key Gulf producers have been adopting a 'wait and see approach' to investment, because of the perception that the US shale revolution would produce an 'abundance of oil'.

“ 'I am really worried that we are giving the wrong signals to the Middle East, which may end up with us not having investment in a timely manner,' [Birol] said.

“ 'The wait and see behaviour is definitely not in the interest of consumers or global oil markets because it may mean significantly higher prices in the future.' ”

at http://www.businessinsider.com/iea-energy-outlook-bearish-on-shale-2013-11#ixzz2kSn4PQZ9

The Fed Has Pumped the System in 90+% of Months Going Back to 2008

"The markets have been extremely quiet the last few days. With the exception of the hard selling that occurred on Thursday it’s been a snooze fest.

The reason for this is that no one wants to commit heavily to a position at the moment. We’re all well aware of the negatives the market is facing, namely declining earnings, a weakening economy, the decreasingly marginal effect of Fed intervention, etc.

However, no one wants to commit heavily to shorting the markets because they’re all too afraid that the Fed or “someone” will step in to prop up the markets should any significant drop occur.

This has happened repeatedly in the last year: every time the market began to crumble and take out support, “someone” stepped in a started buying. And soon stocks were back off to the races.

At this point we all know that the “someone” is the Fed. Numerous Fed officials have pointed to the rising stock market as a sign that Fed intervention has been “successful.”

Moreover, the Fed has barely left the markets alone since 2008..."

at www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-11-12/fed-has-pumped-system-90-months-going-back-2008

The world is floating on a huge artificial lake of liquidity. &the liquidity has got to go somewhere

"ET Now: US Federal Reserve is likely to follow loose monetary policy. Do you see this as a booster for Asian equities because in the short term, all financial markets are a function of global liquidity?

Jim Rogers: For the first time in recorded history, all the major central banks in the world are printing money at the same time. So, the world is floating on a huge artificial lake of liquidity. It (the liquidity) has got to go somewhere and most of it is going into markets. The world economies are not getting so much better but the markets are certainly much better because of all the money printing..."

at www.jimrogersinvestments.com/2013/11/the-world-is-floating-on-huge.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FWOHK+%28Jim+Rogers+Blog%29

Is The World About To Get Hit By Another Huge Wave Of Central Bank Liquidity?

"Last week, the ECB stunned markets by cutting interest rates.

Now the question is being asked: Are we about to see a big, new wave of central bank easing?

SocGen economist Klaus Baader identified this question as the #1 thing on clients' minds right now.

In his note last night, he wrote:

...the ECB is not the only developed economy central bank that we suspect will move to an even more expansionary stance. Although the series of upside surprises in economic data releases in the US recently – such as PMI/ISMs, GDP, and crowned by Friday’s strong payrolls – has increased the risk of an earlier taper, we believe forward guidance could be used by the Fed to signal that policy will remain ultra-loose for considerably longer than currently indicated..."

at http://www.businessinsider.com/global-central-bank-easing-2013-11#ixzz2kMvI3Idd