Dear All,
On Friday the Commerce Department reported 2.8% annualized GDP growth. The New York Times reported this on its front page as follows:
ECONOMY GREW AT QUICKER PACE IN 4TH QUARTER -- RECESSION FEARS FADING.
Shadowstats reported the story a bit differently:
'Net of Involuntary Inventory Build-Up, GDP Growth Was 0.8% Instead of 2.8%.'
The Fourth Estate is thoroughly complicit in conveying government propaganda. Worse, with few exceptions economists are content using false data as the basis for their work.
NYTimes: U.S. Banks Tally Their Exposure to Europe’s Debt Maelstrom Here the New York Times ignores and whitewashes the central truth to the story, which is that the 5 largest banks in the U.S. are actually the obligors on the very insurance the Times is describing. This has been a cute game whereby the banks have been creating gigantic paper earnings by writing worthless insurance and shuffling premiums. Game over. The unthinkable has happened -- Greece is defaulting. The ISDA (a wholly owned agent of these banks) cannot formally declare a default without bringing down these banks. A mountain of paper is the only way out. This alone assures the price of gold going parabolic.
Reporters Without Borders publishes its annual review of worldwide media and compares journalistic freedom internationally. The latest index ranks the United States 47th in press freedom, barely nudging out Latvia and Haiti but trailing Ghana and Botswana: Press Freedom Index 2011-2012
Misccellaneous...
The trend...
The days of the dollar's supremacy are fading. The east is thumbing its nose at the west. Recall that several months ago the head of the U.S.' central bank proclaimed that gold is not money:
India to pay gold instead of dollars for Iranian oil. Oil and gold markets stunned
NYTimes: U.S. Drones Patrolling Its Skies Provoke Outrage in Iraq
Wikipedia: The Embassy of the United States in Baghdad is the largest and most expensive of any embassy in the world. At 0.44 square kilometers it is nearly as large as Vatican City.[1] It also employs 15,000 people and cost $750 million to build. The Embassy opened in January 2009 following a series of construction delays. It replaced the previous embassy, which opened July 1, 2004 in Baghdad's Green Zone in a former Palace of Saddam Hussein.[2]
Regarding gold and silver...
No respectable money manager or mainstream financial publication dares talk-up the incredible investment potential for precious metals; the bull market in gold and silver is antithetical to Wall Street's interests. So long as hushed-tones are the rule though, the wall-of-worry is firmly in place. The source here is quite correct -- "[G]old is at the intersection of money trends." Barron's: 'Anonymous' Hedge Fund Guru Sees Gold Price Soaring
Position yourself for the inevitable and ignore the daily noise. The Fed must lower the value of the dollar and raise the value of gold. The Federal Reserve's particular brand of paper has been -- for far longer than any Open Market Committee member can recall -- the Coca Cola of currencies. The fizz is gone.
All the best,
Jeff
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