Having personally begun gold and silver investing in February of 2001 with Lear Capital, Eric's gold and precious metals diversification strategies were one week early early in getting into this current bull run. A market timer? Maybe. A student of history - definitely "yes". Eric joined Lear Capital over five years ago and now helps clients with their own gold diversification strategies as a Senior Account Representative.
Eric takes wealth preservation very seriously, and relies on lessons of monetary history to practice what he preaches. Eric's international travels have allowed him to experience strong fiat currencies, weak ones and hyperinflation firsthand. Indeed inflation and gold are major topics of today's financial news as helicopter money rains from the heavens. Is it bold to predict hyperinflation for the U.S. dollar (and probably many more fiat currencies)? Sure, but history is on his side. Rather than argue with deflationists until he is blue in the face, Eric takes a simple approach. The bible talks of gold as money and the book of Revelation discusses hyperinflation. That settles it.
Inflation, (ultimately hyperinflation) and deflation are just two sides of the same coin - a currency that won't do what you need it to do in your own life. Gold and silver bridge that gap. Eric believes that and perhaps Thomas Jefferson said it best. "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. "
Now that we added another percent over the 100% of debt-to-GDP ratio in just 21 days (can anyone say exponential debt accumulation? Sure you can!), it is time to give kudos to Chuck Butler of Everbank for catching a good find today in his Daily Pfennig. Here’s Chuck:
“I read a great piece on Gold yesterday, by Jeff Clark of Big Gold who writes for Casey Research. Jeff did a great job in the article, and so I stole a snippet of it… Here, Jeff talks about “the downfall of every fiat currency (the dollar) are the two D’s. Debts and Deficits… So with that in mind, consider the following:
• Morgan Stanley reported that there is "no historical precedent" for an economy that exceeds a 250% debt-to-GDP ratio without experiencing some sort of financial crisis or high inflation. US total debt currently exceeds GDP by roughly 400%.
• Detailed studies of government debt levels over the past 100 years show that debts have never been repaid (in original currency units) when they exceed 80% of GDP. US government debt will exceed 100% of GDP this year.
• Investment legend Marc Faber reports that once a country's payments on debt exceed 30% of tax revenue, the currency is "done for." By some estimates, the US will hit that ratio this year.
• Peter Bernholz, a leading expert on hyperinflation, states unequivocally that "hyperinflation is caused by government budget deficits." Next year's US budget deficit is projected to be $1.3 trillion.
Chuck again… yes, debts and deficits… I’ve ranted over these for years, and people (non Pfennig readers!) are finally beginning to realize that deficits really do matter! And as long as we, as a country continue to go down this road of debts and deficits, I would look for Gold to remain the anti-dollar…"
Folks, you can almost feel the tears welling up, as THIS will end in tears. Debt accumulation at this pace destroys currencies. I agree with Jeff Clark. I agree with Chuck Butler! Want real gold, real physical gold that stands the test of time? Given what appears to be on the horizon, it is time to accumulate some gold coins. Time to call Lear Capital!
There is nothing like throwing over 6,000 years of history out the window with one statement. I call that silly. It’s even sillier when a man with the wealth of Warren Buffett says it, as he recently called physical gold a “valueless asset”. The UK Telegraph picked up the comment in reporting that Fortune Magazine had interviewed Mr. Buffett on this subject. Also from the UK Telegraph article, their writer Emma Wall wrote the following last Friday:
“Buffett's attack comes as private bank Coutts predicts that the gold price will hit "new highs" by the end of 2012. In a report from the bank, that counts the Queen among its clients, gold is confirmed as a "key asset in investment portfolios".
Hmmm….. I think it is fair to say that the Queen of England knows her history. Also, one of the wealthiest men the world has ever known Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who was named by Forbes magazine as “the founding father of international finance” said “Wealthy men have always collected rare coins”. He probably knew his history too. Rothschild said that back when coins had value and were primarily physical gold or silver. Guess what modern founders of finance, like Richard Fisher, the President of the Dallas branch of the Federal Reserve are doing with their own money – investing in gold! Fisher’s disclosure of investment was recently released by the Federal Reserve as well as the holdings of the other Fed branch presidents. Another hmmm….. If the Fed presidents have so much faith in paper money, then why does Fisher own more than $1 million in gold and another $50,000 in platinum?
Back to Warren Buffett. If he thinks that gold is a “valueless asset”, then why did he say this on 8/19/09: “Unchecked greenback emissions will certainly cause the purchasing power of currency to melt.”? Combine that with his firm Berkshire Hathaway’s investments in silver a decade ago (did he think that the other monetary metal was also a “valueless asset”?) and an investor would have to conclude that Warren likes to speak out of both sides of his mouth. Sorry Warren, I appreciate your head-fake, but I’m going to continue to measure my stack of gold coins. I don’t know what your agenda was with your comment from last week, but I know that history is on my side. I’m buying more physical gold from Lear Capital!
You have heard it a million times. Maybe not a billion or a trillion or a quadrillion times, but you have heard it A LOT of times. “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, try the reverse on for size, as headlined above. Can you catch the drift of where I am heading with this? Notice how it seems too easy to say trillion anymore? It is a shame, but it shouldn’t be. However, in this debt-gone-mad world we live in now and this excuse for paper money (you have heard me call it Helicopter Money many times), it is just too easy to use those words. Well, this article from last year by Jeff Clark is a historical reminder of the usual outcome of paper money.
In fact, he has a prediction that hard to ignore: “History has a message for us: No fiat currency has lasted forever. Eventually, they all fail.”
What causes a currency to fail? From the article: Peter Bernholz, the leading expert on hyperinflation, states unequivocally that “hyperinflation is caused by budget deficits.” Clark takes us through the pictures of 23 failed currencies. No citizen or their respective politician thought it would happen to them in their country, but they did. All of them. Do you yet have the currency that doesn’t fail in your portfolio? Physical gold has never been worth zero. A gold coin never fails. Give us a call at Lear Capital today to begin to accumulate YOUR stash of gold coins!
A real asset for a real asset. Real oil for physical gold. I’m not going to comment on the political nature of this type of transaction where India & maybe now China will be buying Iranian oil with physical gold, however I WILL comment on the financial nature of this transaction, as it is a game-changer. It was inevitable! When you debase global fiat money (Helicopter Money) as you have heard me call it before, you make the worlds drillers, the miners and the farmers realize that they have something more valuable for trade. Think about it for a minute – wouldn’t you? Gold demand will surely rise on this news. That is why I’m continuing to accumulate my REAL MONEY (ie. gold coins, numismatic silver coins, etc.) from Lear Capital for the day I may have to pay for my oil with a gold coin or a silver coin.
Folks, I’ve watched this video from CNBC yesterday three times now explaining when or if a credit default swap “credit event” has occurred or how it may occur. The folks at CNBC gave it the name Default 101. Watch it and you will probably feel your eyeballs roll backwards.
That is the problem today. All of this slicing and dicing, and the world cannot determine the difference between an asset and a liability. Do you need a quick lesson on why gold is money and IS NOT a liability?
Aristotle once said why markets have always chosen gold as a store of value and medium of exchange and why they have ignored other items:
1. Physical gold is durable. That’s why we don’t use wheat.
2. Physical gold is divisible. That’s why we don’t use diamonds.
3. Physical gold is convenient in that it is portable and very valuable. That’s why we don’t use lead.
4. Physical gold is consistent. That’s why we don’t use real estate.
5. Physical gold is value in and of itself. That’s why we don’t use paper.
Enough said. Don’t let things get too complicated! Buy gold coins at Lear Capital!
The Mc Alvany family is very well known in financial circles for stellar advice – especially on the subject of physical gold. So, when I saw this video on Fox Business News featuring an interview of Mc Alvany Financial Companies CEO David Mc Alvany, I took notice. Fox Anchor David Asman asks Mc Alvany “Is a Banking Crisis on the Way in 2012?” Mc Alvany’s answer is a definite “yes”. He concludes that up to 20% of US & European banks will be nationalized through this. He also performs a great explanation of fractional reserve banking. If watching this video doesn’t scream “buy gold!”, I don’t know what does! Watch it, call us at Lear Capital and buy gold!
Eric Fry of The Daily Reckoning calls it on the carpet. Slight of hand, funny money, helicopter money. In yesterday’s issue he called it by the above title. He surmised and brought in a fellow colleague to give us his thoughts: “No matter how you slice it,” observes our friend Dan Denning, editor of the Australian Daily Reckoning, “many of the world’s governments need money. If the private markets don’t give it to them, their central banks will have to do the job. This will lead inevitably to money printing and currency devaluation. The amount of money these governments require is staggering.”
So, more smoke and mirrors! Eric Fry finishes with this:
“Where is that money going to come from?
It’s hard to say where the money will come from, but it’s easy to say where it will not come from. It will not come from private citizens who are looking to park their cash in safe and secure investments. There aren’t enough folks with actual money to invest who are willing to lend that money to a bankrupt government. So in order to fill this $10 trillion funding gap, we should expect a few more quantitative easing programs and other forms of money-printing.
Meanwhile, we should also expect a lot more attempts by government powers to repel the forces of economic nature: More “coordinated central bank intervention,” more “emergency landing facilities,” and more ad-hoc, too-big-to-fail remedies.
So at least we’ve got that going for us — a lot more of the stuff that hasn’t worked… and never will.
Buy gold…some more.”
More good advice from Eric, especially after this pullback in the gold coin price. Today’s gold news is all about gold demand in light of the action of central bank decisions of propping the financial system up! Call us today at Lear Capital to get your gold coins!
The folks at Silver Doctors blog picked-up on this and had this to say about the fast food chain Taco Bell promoting a contest where you can win “real traditional gold” (an American Golden Eagle) instead of Federal Reserve Notes:
“Think this doesn't demonstrate a MASSIVE PARADIGM SHIFT!?!
Even 2-3 years ago, it would be completely inconceivable for a major US fast food chain to offer gold as an alternative contest prize to federal reserve notes. While this may be seen by many as merely a novel alternative concept designed to gain attention (which it will) Taco Bell is clearly riding the forefront of the sheople's awakening to gold and silver.”
Here are just a portion of the contest details:
“If I win, what form does the gold get delivered to me in?
Verified winners will get the gold in American Eagle Gold Coins (equivalent dollar value is also an option upon request).
How much gold can I win?
You can win either $190 or $1,142 in real gold! The price of gold fluctuates, so the prize values are based on the price of gold as of August 2, 2011.
How do I enter?
Text the 9 digit code found on your specially marked DORITOS® Tortilla Chips bag from a meal deal at participating Taco Bell locations to 24477 (CHIPS). Msg & Data rates may apply. To enter without purchase or incurring text message charges, call 1-800-352-1335.”
I think this is very cool! The contest runs until 12/28, so start dialing that (800) number! Or, if you are not feeling that lucky, call us at Lear Capital via (800)576-9355 to buy YOUR American Eagle gold coins, rare gold coins or numismatic silver coins!
Ya think? Yes, I think. Looks like the central banks of the world are aiming at their feet. Those shots are going to hurt, not just now, but in the future too. Dan Amoss of Agora Financial certainly thinks so. He wrote this appropriate article entitled above, Print…Ready…Aim…
Here Dan has it in spades: “Once central banks start lending to insolvent banks, there can be no orderly exit. When sovereign defaults occur — and they will, in Greece and Portugal, and probably Italy and Spain — there will be an acceleration of money-printing to keep the system propped up.”
An acceleration of money printing? Of helicopter money? Glorious. More than last week? Where is my gold coin? Gold coins? Trust me. You too need gold coins to hedge your portfolio right now. Lear Capital has them!I really don’t know how to say it any better than a true analyst like Bill Bonner of The Daily Reckoning. He said it in fine fashion here, discussing the Euro debt crisis:
“What’s the matter with the Germans, anyway? Why don’t they get on-board with the Fed? Why don’t they want to print money? If they would just give the signal — ‘don’t worry, we’ll print the money’ — the whole crisis would be over. In Europe, as in America, bond investors would be reassured. They would know that they’d get their money. The ECB would buy Italy’s bonds, and Greece’s bonds, and Spain’s bonds… Heck, it would buy everyone’s bonds. Bond investors would get their money. They would stop hiking interest rates. Italy could cover its losses.
Everyone would be better off, no? Just like they are in the USA. Right?
It all seems so simple. Why don’t the Germans get it?”
Eric’s add here. I’ll tell you why they don’t get it. Bonner says it perfectly:
“While US policy makers, official economists and jackdaw kibitzers are terrified of another Great Depression, Germany’s officialdom is afraid of hyperinflation. Hardly any Germans are still alive who remember it, but the experience of hyperinflation of the early ’20s is painted on the German character like graffiti on a national monument. They can’t ignore it. They can’t forget it. It will take generations for it to wear off.”
Well, it hasn’t worn off with me. As a student of history and a follower of the advantages to own physical gold, I get it! Don’t helicopter money me! That solves nix! Speaking of a solution, you can solve this in your own portfolio. Add physical gold! Own numismatic silver while you are at it. Call us at 1-800-965-0580 to discuss the gold inflation hedge today!Jim Grant is a calm steady voice that investors have known to count on for decades. If you watch this video, you will see what I mean. However, even a calm steady voice can sound quite the alarm about inflation. Jim is asked his views, on this subject. His answer is this: “My expectation about inflation is that there will be a lot of it suddenly.”
I am certainly in agreement of that! One of my best friends calls the great grocery store Whole Foods “whole paycheck” for a reason! How are you protecting yourself from the current inflation and the coming sudden inflation? Is physical gold in your portfolio? If not, call us today at Lear Capital!
Stock markets around the globe rallied yesterday. Everything in Europe must be fine, right? The founder of the Daily Reckoning, Mr. Bill Bonner doesn’t think so. Here’s what he said about this yesterday:
“In Europe, Monsieur Sarkozy and Frau Merkel — not to mention an army of technicians, bankers and delusional incompetents — are finding ways to solve Europe’s debt crisis. How? By adding more leverage...debt...and confusion. To simplify, today’s bad debt will be guaranteed by tomorrow’s bad debt. The authorities are just hoping that between today and tomorrow is sufficient time for them to get away. It may be a bigger problem, they say to themselves, but at least it will be someone else’s problem. “
I can’t recall how many times I have heard the term “kicking the can down the road” in the last few years. I have my own can, and lately it is hard to kick. It’s filled with gold coins and numismatic silver coins. A can full of physical gold should be every investors doorstop in an era of broken promises by politicians. Call us today at Lear Capital to learn how to fill your can.
Gary Gibson who writes for Whiskey and Gunpowder wrote today about the economic problems and what he views as the reason for the uprisings we see. His take:
“And what exactly is causing our economic problems? In short: inflation. Both the creation of new money unbacked by productive activity — literally, conjured up from nothing at the whim of a central banker — and the artificially low cost of borrowing to expand the amount of debt…again, thanks to central bankers buying government debt with the money they create in order to shove interest rates down.”
AND:
“In other words, inflation is causing the things that have people revolting in the streets.”
This was predictable. Class, what is our best antidote to inflation for your portfolio? Safe haven gold! Numismatic gold and numismatic silver can give you peace of mind at such a time. From Lear Capital – of course!
I find it disturbing that statements like this are being run-up-the-flagpole. In the guise of social change, this is openly being discussed. It is not my job here to pontificate on social issues, but economic ones – YES!
Robert Murphy wrote yesterday for Whiskey and Gunpowder an article entitled Inflationists in Wolves' Clothing as he took issue with economists calling for more helicopter money. Just reading the term “free money” makes me want to count my stack of gold coins!
He concluded: “The world has been in a strange environment in the last three years, in which massive expansions in central-bank balance sheets haven't led to $10 gasoline and $5 loaves of bread (my add here – not yet!). Regardless of which school of thought can best explain these events, we are all going to rue the fact that the grand lesson flowing out of this episode is that money printing can bring prosperity. Now that this idea has firmly taken root, it will take a large collapse in consumer purchasing power to remind everybody why "inflation" used to be a dirty word.”
Before you hear more misguided economists ask for more helicopter money, put your hard earned money into physical gold with us here at Lear Capital!
What a carnival it is lately. You can almost feel it. This crazy, insolvent and illiquid world because it is oozing in debt. It doesn’t pass the nose of James Turk very easily either. I have followed James Turk for over 7 years now. 7 years of wisdom – especially on physical gold - and this statement does not miss the mark! Here’s James, as interviewed today by King World News:
“The only uncertain thing is: On which side of the Atlantic will a major bank collapse? Because there are so many insolvent and fragile institutions around, it is hard to say which domino will topple first. I don’t think investors fully understand at this point the potential ramifications. When the first domino toppled in 2008, central banks stopped the contagion at Lehman, but they didn’t solve the problem, which has now become larger and much more severe than it was three years ago. What this means is that once the first domino topples, this event may be beyond the control of any one government or even central banks.”
Hmmm…. “….this event may be beyond the control of any one government or even central banks”. Hello! Got gold? Got physical gold? Call us today at Lear Capital to discuss it more!
I’ve heard former CNBC anchor Erin Burnette accuse Jim Cramer of attending the “church of what is working now” in investments. That is why Jim Cramer recently AGAIN sang the praises of owning physical gold in your portfolio. Why, you may ask? In a nutshell, it’s all supply and demand. Gold supply and demand is what it is all about!
Here’s what Cramer said:
“Gold is another fantastic, long term theme that you will be able to fall back on for years to come. I’m telling you that no portfolio is complete without gold in it.”
Watch it, ponder it and call us at Lear Capital to get yours!
As I have stated many times before, I like listening to older, wiser folks. There is nothing that compares with experience! They also tend to remember history – certainly a plus when it comes to physical gold investments!
Here’s a portion of their exchange, as Bill Bonner asks if the gold price is heading higher:
“But it’s plain as day that gold is going to go higher. There’s simply no other place for people to try to safeguard their wealth as the dollar, euro, and other currencies plummet toward their intrinsic values. What else could people buy as they get more and more afraid of paper currencies losing acceptance? What are corporations going to do with the billions of dollars in their treasuries when their management gets frightened? Where else can they go when they need to get rid of dollars, euro, yen, and yuan? Central banks, too – what will they do when they need to dump dollars in favor of something that will hold value?
This is why I see a bubble in gold still ahead. It has nothing to do with the supply and demand for gold in the jewelry trade, or whatever – it’s going to be a result of there being no viable alternatives when the paper-money con game is over. Gold is the ultimate cash, and that’s where people will go when there’s a global, total, panic to cash.”
Bonner finishes the article in his own words:
“Gold is fundamentally a bet that the financial authorities are losers...that the world’s paper-based monetary system is headed for destruction, and they can’t stop it. It is a good bet.”
My take on it? Yes, I agree that physical gold is still a very, very good bet! Call us today at Lear Capital to learn more!Long time investment guru Porter Stansberry waxes eloquently on the subject of physical gold investment as he wrote last Thursday. It was picked-up by the good folks at Agora Financial and their 5 Minute Forecast staff:
"I enjoy offshore fishing," our friend Porter Stansberry wrote yesterday, drawing a useful Friday afternoon analogy... if, in fact, you're trying to decide if gold is in a bubble or not.
"I have a relatively modest center console fishing boat," Mr. Stansberry goes on. "I like it because it's really fast and I can get across to the Bahamas quickly, which is my favorite place to fish. But to get there in a reasonable amount of time, I need calm water.
"My wife is always surprised that I can tell the surface conditions of the ocean just by looking at the sky. I know because the ocean is the mirror of the sky. While you might not be able to ‘see' the waves in the sky, waves are caused by wind. You just can't see the wind.
"The same thing is true about the price of gold and the stability of fiat currencies. Gold is the mirror of the world's paper currency system. The price of gold doesn't reflect the intrinsic value of the metal -- which is almost unchanging over time. It reflects the relative value and volatility of paper currencies.
"The people who are arguing that gold is overvalued are not looking at the right numbers. They ought to be looking at Europe's banks. They ought to be looking at the amount of short-term obligations that are sitting on the U.S. Treasury's books.
"The price of gold is reflecting the likelihood that the world's sovereign nations decide to bail out Europe's banks and paper over the U.S. Treasury debt."
As usual, the Agora Financial folks and their 5 Minute Forecast have nailed it. I’ll let them expound: “In today’s 5, we celebrate the 40th birthday of the Great Dollar Standard era, initially by quoting (liberally) from our own Empire of Debt: On Aug. 15, 1971, the administration of Richard Milhous Nixon did something extraordinary. It slammed the “gold window” shut. Henceforth, foreign governments would not be able redeem their surplus U.S. dollars for gold. Mention the late president’s name and the average person recalls the crime with which he is most associated: B&E (breaking and entering) at the Watergate. But while the public’s attention was distracted by Nixon’s fumbling sidekicks, another team of Nixon’s goons was pulling off the biggest heist of all time. What was their crime? Breach of contract? Theft? Fraud? Counterfeiting? It was all of those things. The breached the solemn promise of five generations of U.S. Treasury officials and set in motion the worldwide credit bubble of the pax dollarum age.” I really could not agree more. I remember vividly that date, because when my Mom heard the news on the Monday following this Sunday night surprise, she stomped around the house like a wet hornet! I remember it well – even as a 9 year old at the time! How did my parents hedge their bets during that gold bull run that went another 8.5 years from this day of infamy? They invested in gold coins and numismatic silver, of course! How to play it today, 40 years later in this “pax dollarum age”? Again buy gold coins and numismatic silver from Lear Capital, of course! On this date forty years ago, President Nixon closed the gold window. You can read reams of information about this and how after this date the US dollar was no longer backed by physical gold. In my opinion, just as I stated above, it is a day that will live in infamy.
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