Embry - There Is a War Going on Because Fiat Money Is Dying

"With global stock markets plunging, along with gold and silver, today King World News interviewed John Embry, Chief Investment Strategist of the $10 billion strong Sprott Asset Management.  Embry told KWN “There is a war going on right now” because “the pure fiat currency system is on its last legs.”  Embry also said “Europe is in desperate shape” and the implications are “horrific” if the US dollar loses its reserve status.  Bur first, here is what Embry had to say about gold:  “Gold is falling because the powers that be, with their paper shenanigans, are knocking the hell out of it.  We see tremendous physical demand.  Massive amounts of gold are going through Turkey, into the Middle-East.  Chinese imports are strong.  To me that’s the ultimate antidote...”


at http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/5/8_Embry_-_There_Is_a_War_Going_on_Because_Fiat_Money_Is_Dying.html

Richard Russell - After the Calm Comes the Storm

"With continued volatility in global markets, the Godfather of newsletter writers, Richard Russell, had some very interesting charts and warnings in his latest commentaries.  Here is what Russell had to say:  “I show the VIX below, often referred to as ‘the fear index.’  The VIX tends to rise as investors' fears rise regarding coming events in the market.  Note the long decline of the VIX during 2010 as investors were increasingly complacent.  Then in March the VIX shot up as the stock market crumbled.  Again in July the VIX surged to over 47 as the market sank into a vicious bear market. ”


at http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/4/25_Richard_Russell_-_After_the_Calm_Comes_the_Storm.html

Embry - The Powers That Be Would Love to See Gold Collapse

"In most instances, the quality shares represent real assets. But having said that, I think a lot of stock markets are severely overbought. This is happening because of the misplaced optimism regarding a sustainable economic recovery. When that false hope is punctured, there will be a violent correction. After a big leg down, stocks would probably be a good buy at that point

In reality, I think we are continuing to slowly unravel here. Egon von Greyerz summed it up beautifully in a KWN interview last week. The problem is infinitely too much debt. When you talk about debt ratios of 350% of private and public debt versus GDP, that is totally unsustainable.

Basically, the economy cannot grow anymore because it needs debt creation to grow, and we can’t even come close to supporting the existing debt. This is like watching a train wreck, in slow motion.

The reality is the powers that be would love to see gold collapse here...."

at   http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/4/9_Embry_-_The_Powers_That_Be_Would_Love_to_See_Gold_Collapse.html

MARC FABER: This Is Just The Beginning

"Stocks are off of their highs.
Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom Boom & Doom Report, thinks they'll go down a lot more before they start heading up again.
In an interview with CNBC this past weekend, Faber said that last Friday's disappointing jobs report only affirms his opinion that the U.S. economy remains anemic.
And he thinks stocks are headed for a correction or even a bear market, which translates to a sell-off of at least 10 to 20 percent..."

at http://www.businessinsider.com/marc-faber-correction-bear-market-2012-4#ixzz1rZZRx54N

19 Signs Of Very Serious Economic Trouble On The Horizon

"The following are 19 signs of very serious economic trouble on the horizon....

#1 According to one new survey, approximately one-third of all Americans are not paying their bills on time at this point.

#2 The U.S. housing industry is bracing for another huge wave of foreclosures in 2012. The following is from a recent Reuters article....

"We are right back where we were two years ago. I would put money on 2012 being a bigger year for foreclosures than 2010," said Mark Seifert, executive director of Empowering & Strengthening Ohio's People (ESOP), a counseling group with 10 offices in Ohio.

#3 The Citigroup Economic Surprise Index, a key indicator watched by many economists, is on the verge of heading into negative territory.

#4 We are supposed to be in the middle of an economic recovery in the United States, but bad news just keeps pouring in from major companies. For example, Yahoo is firing thousands of workers and Best Buy is closing dozens of stores.

#5 Richard Russell says that the "big money" is starting to quietly exit from the financial markets....

"My guess is that this is the big money that has been holding off as long as it decently can -- and then dumping their goods just before the close. I don't think the big money likes this market, and I think they have been slowly exiting this market, as quietly as they can."

#6 Goldman Sachs is projecting that the S&P 500 will fall by about 11 percent by the end of 2012..."

at http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/19-signs-of-very-serious-economic-trouble-on-the-horizon

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Robert Shiller Answers: Are We In Another Tech Bubble?

"Maybe," answered Shiller to Daily Ticker's Aaron Task earlier this week.
It's not the greatest answer in the world. But it's not a "No."
Remember, Robert Shiller was the genius who predicted the dot.com bubble of the late 90's in his book Irrational Exuberance. He also predicted the housing bubble. So, when Shiller talks about bubbles, people listen and markets move.
"There's always a chance of another technology bubble," Shiller added..."

at http://www.businessinsider.com/robert-shiller-tech-bubble-2012-3#ixzz1qn7EALpR

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Chris Martenson Interviews Charles Biderman: The Problem With Rigged Markets

"Charles Biderman: The Problem With Rigged Markets

"Even Wile E. Coyote had to come back down to earth sooner or later", says Charles Biderman, founder of TrimTabs Investment Research. In his opinion, the prices of stocks and bonds - enabled by excessive financialization of our economy and central bank money printing - have been defying gravity for a dangerously long time.

If we continue to do all we can to preserve the status quo -- to maintain "phony" asset price levels as Charles calls them -- at best we will restrict overall growth and handicap the economy.

The problem isn't so much the unfairness and malinvestment evident in a rigged market. As Charles shrewdly asks: what happens when the market becomes un-rigged?

We've never experienced the unwinding of an entirely manipulated financial system, so we can't predict for sure. But at this point, a painful collapse of our markets and loss of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency seem entirely plausible.

On Market Manipulation

The market is rigged. In January of ’10, I went on CNBC and on Bloomberg and said that there is no money coming into stocks, and yet the stock market keeps going up. The law of supply and demand still exists and for stock prices to go up, there has to be more money buying those shares. There is no other way in aggregate that that could happen..."

at  http://www.zerohedge.com/news/chris-martenson-interviews-charles-biderman-problem-rigged-markets

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RICHARD RUSSELL: A Massive Stock Market Collapse Will Wipe Out 60 Years Of Inflation And Leveraging

"Richard Russell, writer of the Dow Theory Letters, is just looking for the right time to buy stocks.
But that time isn't now. And until that time comes, Russell will be keeping his wealth in gold.
He writes in King World News:

What I want to illustrate is that great fortunes are made at super-bear market lows. But you must have the money at the lows. Which is why gold is so singular and valuable. If you have gold at the bottom of the next bear market, you can exchange it for a collection of great common stocks or funds, and then sit back and relax.

You are then betting on the lasting power of the US. If the US comes back, you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams. But you have to have the guts to hang on to your gold. And you need patience -- the patience of ten men.

And when the time comes, things will get messy before they get good.

And I wonder -- is there a super bear market waiting for us somewhere in the future? The great ride from the end of WWII to today has never been fully corrected. Some day it will be. And impossible bargains in stocks will be lying around -- with very few willing or solvent buyers.

...My thinking is that sooner or later we will be subject to a major correction (bear market) that will wipe out or correct 60 years of inflation and leveraging. When that happens, I want to own the only kind of money that the Fed can't destroy."

at http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-russell-stock-market-collapse-2012-3#ixzz1qhiKgurq

European Weakness Spreads And Accelerates

"European equity prices fell for the third day in a row and pulled back near six week lows, breaking below the 50DMA for the first time since it crossed above on 1/16. Today's drop was the largest in three weeks as Italian banks were halted (and Spanish banks sold hard), plunging their most in over three months and back at levels not seen since mid January. Most Italian banks are down 9-11% in March but BMPS is down over 24% as Italian sovereign yields start to come unhinged again (ironically a day after Monti announced the crisis was over). 10Y BTPs broke back below last Friday's lows (the moment the ECB stepped in last time to save the day) up over 5.2% yield - catching up to CDS levels (and ITA spreads are +23bps on the week). Spain is also weak (+15bps on the week) and heading for 3 month highs in its yields. Since the CDS roll (March 20th), the sell-off has accelerated with equity and credit markets tracking lower together (as opposed to the last few months where credit underperforms and then snaps back higher). We discussed the LTRO Stigma trade earlier and that has continued sliding notably wider today as LTRO-encumbered banks hugely underperform. We suspect hedges (sovereign credit, financial credit, and equity) placed early in the year for the 3/20 Greece event (among other things) have run off and now managers are reducing risk in real terms (selling) as opposed to replacing hedges which is why the uber-supported markets of Italy and Spain are losing the battle now. Lastly, Europe's VIX is its richest relative to US VIX since the rally began, jumping dramatically today.
The BE500 (Bloomberg's broad European equity index) dropped for 3 days in a row and the most today in 3 weeks - near 2 month lows..."

at http://www.zerohedge.com/news/european-weakness-spreads-and-accelerates

Norcini - Trading “Extremely Violent” & Will End in “Disaster”

"Initially you had money rushing into stocks and commodities with almost everything trading higher across the board. But for the last two days traders have looked at the data and jettisoned stocks and commodities. The bottom line is you are seeing these very large swings of say 2% to 3% per day in key commodities such as copper and silver.

We are also seeing big swings across the grain markets as well. Huge upside moves are followed by huge downside moves intraday. These false buy and sell signals and wild swings have been wreaking havoc in these markets and crushing to many traders.

In my opinion, the Fed and the Working Group on Financial Markets have been actively manipulating key markets. The Fed has been doing this manipulation in an attempt to push investors back into the stock market and out of commodities and hard assets.

Bernanke assists in this manipulation by jawboning key markets. As an example, if the commodities are showing too much strength, he or another member of the Fed will come out and sound hawkish. The Working Group on Financial Markets then goes in and starts putting heavy pressure on key commodities, which triggers a cascade of sell orders. 

This is, effectively, a modern day version of price controls...."

at  http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/3/29_Norcini_-_Trading_Extremely_Violent_%26_Will_End_in_Disaster.html

GARY SHILLING: This Bullishness Is Ridiculous, Stocks And Houses Are Headed For A Fall

"Ever since the Fed began printing money during the financial crisis, a parade of economists have predicted that the U.S. will be hit with runaway inflation that destroys the value of cash and bonds.
As yet, those economists have been dead wrong.
One economist who has been right, meanwhile, at least about bonds, has been Gary Shilling of A. Gary Shilling & Co. Last year, Shilling startled clients by recommending bonds, on the theory that the U.S. was still struggling with de-leveraging and deflation, rather than the inflation that so many feared. Bonds then went on to be one of the best-performing asset classes of the year.
In recent weeks, bond yields have begun to rise, leading many to believe that the day of reckoning is finally at hand.
No, it isn't says Gary Shilling.
Shilling does not think the economic recovery is gaining steam. He thinks analysts are much too optimistic about earnings for this year, and he thinks the recent resurgence in hiring is not the result of companies being optimistic about the future but because productivity gains are declining and companies need to hire to grow revenue and earnings. In contrast to those who have recently called the bottom in house prices, Shilling also thinks house prices have another 20% to fall.
In light of all this, Shilling still thinks deflation is a bigger problem than inflation. He's looking for the 30-year Treasury yield to drop back to 2.5%..."

at http://www.businessinsider.com/gary-shilling-stocks-and-houses-are-headed-for-a-fall-2012-3#ixzz1pxWIWmKC

Banks With State Debt Ignore Not-If-But-When Default

"European banking shares indicate a Greek debt default may be just a matter of time.
Investors have already pushed down financial stocks enough to imply the “erosion” in book value that may result from losses tied to a sovereign debt restructuring, said Dirk Hoffmann-Becking, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in London. A Bloomberg index of European financial firms dropped as much as 22 percent since April 15 to the lowest level since July.
A $1 trillion aid package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund may delay a Greek default and give Spain, Italy and possibly Portugal time to get their finances in shape, averting a wider contagion, analysts said. Greece’s debt burden is likely to prove unsustainable, said Thomas Mayer, Deutsche Bank AG’s London-based chief economist.
“Deficit reduction alone doesn’t solve the debt issue,” Mayer said in a telephone interview. He estimates Greece’s debt will rise to 150 percent of gross domestic product following the country’s austerity program, from 120 percent. “Hardly anyone I know believes they can carry it out and still not restructure. This is basically the expectation across all asset classes.”
Writedowns stemming from a Greek default would total almost $200 billion, estimates Jon Peace, an analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc. in London. Banks globally could lose as much as $900 billion in a worst-case scenario where Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain all have to restructure their debt, Nomura estimates.
‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’
Banks holding sovereign debt are faced with a “prisoner’s dilemma,” said Hoffmann-Becking, referring to a mathematical theory that seeks to explain the behavior of two parties that can choose to either cooperate or pursue their own interests.
“From an individual bank’s perspective, it would be great to get rid of the sovereign debt,” Hoffmann-Becking said by telephone. “However, if everybody did it you’d have a rapid collapse of the government bond market and then you’d have the default. And in the default, the fact that you have no sovereign debt actually doesn’t help you at all.”

at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=aVTX9yKZzdJ4