Silver Bars Bonanza
A little while back I had gone over all the trouble I had locating silver bullion bars online. At a local coin shop I was able to procure 10 silver eagles, and they were not shall we say low markup! I had about quit on the idea of getting a stash when I stumbled upon EBAY.
Now you have to put in the time and be crafty, but so far I have been able to get a good amount of 1 ounce bars at reasonable markups to spot. One set of 10 one ounce Pan American bars I got for just about $11.50 each, not too shabby! So the silver buy is on again. This is great as both gold and silver crash and burn, it seems I am always right on time!
The Second Great Depression Will End in Second Half of 2009; The Markets Say So
As you are all well aware, the stock market looks ahead 6-9 months and prices in that future with neverending accuracy. The market is always right and is a forward looking mechanism. So what does the recent action say?
Well except for that horrible down day (over 700 down on the DOW) the markets have had a nice two weeks. The major down day was blamed on the call of a technical recession, but today's scary job loss number (-553k for November) obviously mean things are at the bottom. And if that is not right, well more government help is on the way so a bottom is here in either case. Can't argue with that logic!
Here is a Yahoo Finance story with all the details:
Stocks shake off jobs report to end with big gains
Stocks shake off dismal jobs report to end with sharp gains; indexes jump more than 3 percent
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street put an upbeat spin Friday on the government's report that the nation lost more than half a million jobs last month. Stocks reversed early losses and closed sharply higher as the data raised hopes that Washington will again step in to help the economy.
"In a kind of paradoxical sense, the really ugly employment numbers probably helped the case for more help from Washington, whether it's through the broader stimulus plan or more targeted industry measures," said Craig Peckham, equity trading strategist at Jefferies & Co.
Now if journalism existed the question to Mr. Peckham would be: "How successful up until now has the government intervention been?". Remember last August the government really got into the help business and things have certainly been on the mend ever since!
Again, this is why the markets are worthless right now. The markets are priced to reflect an idea that the FED/Treasury/Congress can or will be able to do anything helpful. Shoveling out money has failed, but what else can they do? It is easier to play make believe than think things out and thus you will see days like today and dumb comments like Mr. Peckham's. One might ask that guy if he thinks government hands in the pocket of his company Jeffries and Co is bullish for their earnings.
Dissent Will Not be Tolerated
On Wednesday I poked fun at the FDIC chair Sheila Bair (The Crutch that is Soon to be a New Appendage)when she said the government needed an "exit strategy" while on the same day Paulson was saying the Treasury was targeting loan rates to 4.5% and Nouriel Roubini was calling for massive government intervention. It seemed funny to me to be so at odds on core principle.
Well as we all know many, if not all, employees of the FED/Treasury read this blog and they were not amused at the contradiction. In fact incoming Treasury man Timmy G was so incensed at Mrs. Bair breaking the "government is going all out" mantra he has hatched a plan to dump the poor old bird (from Bloomberg):
Geithner Seeks to Push FDIC’s Bair Out After Clashes
Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Timothy Geithner, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for U.S. Treasury Secretary, is seeking to push Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair out of office.
Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has argued Bair isn’t a team player and is too focused on protecting her agency rather than the financial system as a whole, according to two congressional officials and a person familiar with his thinking. Bair has battled with Geithner and fellow regulators over aid to Citigroup Inc. and other emergency actions, making her enemies in the Bush administration.
“The idea of having an independent actor on the stage with you who might not be singing the same tune can make you nervous,” said Wayne Abernathy, a former Treasury official who is now executive vice president with the American Bankers Association in Washington. “They recognize that she’s a very independent person.”
HAHAHA! I love it. The FDIC chair is concerned with keeping her agency equipped to do what it has to, protect savings at troubled banks! The nerve! The gall! How could she do this? Add to this that Mrs. Bair is an independent actor that does not engage in blatant group think and she is as good as gone. There simply will be no disagreement about help for Wall Street. The markets cannot take any hint that help mat be slow or not coming at all. Silly Sheila, brains are a hindrance in the new paradigm.
Friday Night Entertainment
Not much in the way of requests, so I guess it is up to me.
Outlaw Josey Wales Clip
Love the scene when Wales faces down the bounty hunter:
Music To Make the World Go Round
Friday night means tunes to get you going.
I am a soundtrack maniac. I love the great music great films often have. Listen to this wildly pretty though sad tune from the "Lord of the Rings" called "Gandalf has Fallen":
From the really really strange vault I submit Primus with the song "Winona has a Big Brown Beaver". Very out there:
This song by Bon Jovi always gets me going. Great tune to drive to, listen to "It's My Life":
One more for this evening. Another great Ipod find was the amazing band Faith No More. You caanot dislike the song "Epic":
Have a good night.
