• The Broken U.S. Dollar
  It has been my theory that this year we would see one of the worst performances by the stock market since 2008. However that has always been dependent on Bernanke not being able to break the dollar’s rally out of its three year cycle low. As of this morning the dollar has printed a failed daily cycle. More often than not a failed daily cycle is an indication that an intermediate degree decline has begun.
• Economic Austery is a ‘Loaded Word’ Says World Bank President
  Bloomberg TV’s Erik Schatzker spoke to World Bank President Robert Zoellick this morning about the economic woes facing Italy. Zoellick said that Germany and other European nations can do more for Italy, and that austerity is a “loaded word.”
• Tail Events, Isolation, New Normal Of Hyper Monetary Inflation
  The year 2012 has started out in strange ways. While celestial forces augur for rare tail events, the assurance of man-made events that stretch far into the extreme tail of probability are not only very likely but will be of a type to reflect the change in the global balance of financial power. The Paradigm Shift mentioned over the course of the last two to three years is at work, having moved into a higher gear. The gold is moving from the West to the East, along with the power. We will not see the process reverse in our lifetime. The sanctions set against Iran have been devised by a former global leader nation that is beset by insolvency, fraud, and lost integrity. The backfire has consolidated forces into a more fortified position against the USDollar.
• Gold Touches 7 Week High on Fed Euphoria
  INVESTMENT DEMAND to buy gold continued to push wholesale prices higher Thursday morning in London, after the US Federal Reserve vowed to keep Dollar interest rates at zero until at least 2014 – one year later than previously promised.

  The global market’s AM Gold Fix here in London was set at $1713 per ounce, more than 3.8% higher from Wednesday afternoon and the highest level since Dec. 8th.

• Slow Boat To China, Oil and Global Trade
  An article of 26 January published by Bloomberg put it this way:
  Container ships can’t go any slower.  Shipping lines are running out of options to stop losses as sailing speeds reach their lower limit, exhausting a solution that helped restore profitability in 2010.
• America’s Shadow Banking System, A Web of Financial Fraud and Criminality
  The Wall Street Journal reported on January 19th that the Obama Administration was pushing heavily to get the 50 state attorneys general to agree to a settlement with five major banks in the “robo-signing” scandal.  The scandal involves employees signing names not their own, under titles they did not really have, attesting to the veracity of documents they had not really reviewed.  Investigation reveals that it did not just happen occasionally but was an industry-wide practice, dating back to the late 1990s; and that it may have clouded the titles of millions of homes.  If the settlement is agreed to, it will let Wall Street bankers off the hook for crimes that would land the rest of us in jail – fraud, forgery, securities violations and tax evasion. 
• Gold Breaks Above $1700 on Continuing Negative Real Interest Rates
  Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,713.00, GBP 1,091.10, and EUR 1,300.59 per ounce.
  Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,659.00, GBP 1,064.08, and EUR 1,277.04 per ounce.
• I Stand By Silver $140 In 2012
  There is a well-established relationship between how silver and gold trade. They often trade similar in the same time period, but also at similar milestones, although those milestones are sometimes reached at different times. This can cause silver or gold to be the leading indicator, depending on the particular milestone.
  I have previously used this relationship to predict how silver will trade. Below, is an extract of that update:
• Money-Markets, CDs, and Bonds: The Ups and Downs of Stashing Your Cash
  Don Miller writes:
  In today’s volatile markets many investors are faced with the same troublesome question – "Where should I park my cash?"
  In fact, investors have withdrawn a net total of $328 billion from the stock market since 2007, according to Strategic Insight.
  Ever since, a big portion that cash has been looking for a home.

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