Silver Beating Gold - Obamacare - Market Commentary

Pay particular attention to the David McAlvany video mentioned below.

As the gold/silver ratio rises, it points to higher prices of silver and likely both precious metals. Currently, silver is far out pacing gold. Think silver miners FVITF & HL and silver Eagles or Canadian Maple Leaves.
Both gold and silver are trading in rather narrow trading ranges except for some volatility. Gold is staying mostly above $1100 and Silver above $17.


From ZeroHedge.com:

State Tax Revenues Plummet By $87 Billion, Biggest Year Over Year Decline In History; Record State Tax Hikes In Progress

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released a report "State Tax Changes in Response to the Recession" in which the center notes that "national recession has had such a devastating effect on state finances that states took in $87 billion less in tax revenue from October 2008 through September 2009 than they collected in the previous 12 months. This 11 percent decline, the steepest on record, resulted from the impact on tax collections of lost jobs, reduced wages, and lowered economic activity." And here we are, missing the forest for the Greek tree, and discussing evil CDS speculators' role in Greece barely able to make a €5 billion bond auction, when we should be all over the evil Municipal CDS speculators wreaking havoc in our own back yard. Check out the good graphs and read it HERE.

Certainly, this questions the rosy picture the government statistics are painting.

From FT.com:

Regulators tell US banks to hold funds

By Justin Baer and Francesco Guerrera in New York

Published: March 9 2010 22:30 | Last updated: March 9 2010 22:30

US Regulators have told banks not to increase dividends or buy back shares until political and economic uncertainty surrounding the industry dissipates, in a move that will delay by months the return of capital to shareholders.

Some investors in financial stocks argue that winners of the credit crisis, such as JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, have profitable businesses and strong balance sheets and should consider raising dividends or buying back stocks. Read it HERE.

Holding funds rather than lending. In Keynesian Economics this is very bad for the economy. Thus, the recession continues.

From FT.com:

CFTC urges end to derivatives secrecy

By Aline van Duyn in New York

Published: March 10 2010 01:05 | Last updated: March 10 2010 01:05

A leading US financial regulator on Tuesday called for the prices of derivatives trades to be disclosed in the same way as stock prices, saying only large Wall Street banks benefited from the current lack of transparency.

Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said standard credit default swaps and other privately traded over-the-counter derivatives needed drastic reform, reflecting their role in the financial crisis. Read it HERE.

The bullion banks have a hold over government, so do you really believe this will every happen?

From GATA.org:

Another gold analyst strives to miss the point

Submitted by cpowell on Wed, 2010-03-10 02:51.

10:15p ET Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold (and Silver):

GATA's clamoring with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission over position limits in the gold and silver futures markets is gaining notice, most recently from gold market analyst Martin Murenbeeld, whose comments come in the March 5 edition of the Gold Monitor letter of Dundee Wealth Economics, for which Murenbeeld is chief economist. But like some other gold market analysts, Murenbeeld seems to be striving to miss the point. He writes:

"The original intent of the CFTC's review of position limits in commodity markets was to 'dampen' oil speculation (which is a politically sensitive issue, but with little hard evidence support it). The Financial Times reports (February 24) that most of the complaints from small speculators, however, actually deal with trading in silver and gold. GATA is around the periphery of these complaints, I suspect, as the general feeling seems to be that 'a handful of large banks control a disproportionate short position in futures.' Read it HERE.

I recommend that you listen to the McAlvany Weekly Commentary HERE. To save time and continue your computer work, you can listen to this in the background by minizing it after you log on and start the commentary. Listen to his outline of the three phases of the gold market. There is some great insight on the recession and on the bond markets.

From TownHall.com:

Is Health Care a Right?

by Walter E. Williams

Most politicians, and probably most Americans, see health care as a right. Thus, whether a person has the means to pay for medical services or not, he is nonetheless entitled to them. Let's ask ourselves a few questions about this vision.

Say a person, let's call him Harry, suffers from diabetes and he has no means to pay a laboratory for blood work, a doctor for treatment and a pharmacy for medication. Does Harry have a right to XYZ lab's and Dr. Jones' services and a prescription from a pharmacist? And, if those services are not provided without charge, should Harry be able to call for criminal sanctions against those persons for violating his rights to health care? Read it HERE.

From TownHall.com:

Artificial Stupidity

By Thomas Sowell

A woman with a petition went among the crowds attending a state fair, asking people to sign her petition demanding the banning of dihydroxymonoxide. She said it was in our lakes and streams, and now it was in our sweat and urine and tears.

She collected hundreds of signatures to ban dihydroxymonoxide -- a fancy chemical name for water. A couple of comedians were behind this ploy. But there is nothing funny about its implications. It is one of the grim and dangerous signs of our times. Read it HERE.

The miners from Scottrade.com:

The currencies from Kitco.com:

Some prices: BYDDF 8.72 (Climbing); FVITF 2.49 (Climbing); SNWT 0.136 (up a bit); XDSL (0.023) (Sad); TBT 49.06 (This is an ETF which is a short on long term bonds. It has started moving up as the interest rate on these bonds is creeping up.); DOW up 23 to 10587; Gold up 0.90 to 1123.10, and Silver up 0.20 to 17.56.

In these days of dwindling trust in government which is turning into more anger, the precious metals become the center of central bank and investor purchases. The purchases are not yet the main focus, but interest in the metals is growing during this second phase of the gold bull market.

The Bible warns that we should not put our trust in men. How often, have we trusted them, elected them, and then found that they were wolves in sheep's clothing? We are to put our trust in the unchanging God of all: King Jesus. He, alone, deserves our trust and total dependence. He created us and sustains us on a daily basis. Praise Him daily!

Best to each, Doug