Blog

December 18. 2006 – Treasury secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke (together with 59 underlings) trekked to China to meet with one of the federal government’s largest creditors. In the Great Hall of the People, under a painting of Chairman Mao, they were lectured by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi, who gaveRead more

Dec 5, 2006 – The CRB Continuous Commodity Index closed at 408.79 on November 30th, an all-time record high. This new high means that the correction in commodities is over, and prices are resuming their long-term uptrend. Consequently, hindsight tells us that we have just finished another correction in commodities. It is just one ofRead more

December 4, 2006 – This is the time of the year that I dust-off my crystal ball in order to look at the year ahead. I will share with you what I expect to be the good and bad news for 2007. But before I do that, I would like to first revisit what IRead more

Nov 27, 2006 – While America was celebrating Thanksgiving, the US dollar swooned. Major support was broken in the process, and the US Dollar Index closed at the lowest level since April 2005. The extent of the damage can be seen on the following chart. Support at 84 had been holding, but has now givenRead more

November 13, 2006 – In 1787 Russian general Grigori Potemkin constructed facades of buildings along the banks of the Dnieper River to fool Catherine the Great during her visit to the Crimea. These facades have since been called “Potemkin villages”. I think the US Treasury with the help of the Federal Reserve is playing aRead more

October 23, 2006 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average made a new record high this past week. It settled back somewhat on Friday, but still closed the week above 12,000, which was also a new record high for a weekly close. I provided some inkling that a new record was coming. In my article ofRead more

Oct 4, 2006 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average yesterday closed at a new record high. In stark contrast, gold was whacked, closing down $21.40 on the day. Therefore, what would you rather own? The DJIA or gold? At first blush, one would think the Dow was the better choice, given its new record high.Read more

October 2, 2006 – Connolly to Baker to Paulson. It could be the names of three infielders in an around-the-horn triple play, but it’s not. These guys are pitchers, and they throw bean-balls at anyone who holds dollars. The history of John Connolly and James Baker is already written, as they served as Treasury SecretaryRead more

September 18, 2006 – In November 2005 the Federal Reserve announced that it would no longer compile and publicly report M3, which is the total quantity of dollars in circulation. I strongly derided the Fed’s decision, commenting that it would have unfavorable consequences for the dollar. My thinking was that the termination of M3 reportingRead more

Sept 15, 2006 – “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” – Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations The Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (www.GATA.org) knows that Adam Smith told only half theRead more