by
Chris Martenson
Well, that was quick. As you may have noticed, things are rapidly progressing from the outside in as the turmoil in the Middle East has now taken down two oil rich countries.
On the ground in the eastern chunk of this oil-rich desert nation, the signs of rebellion are plain to see in the armories of a military base near Baida: Weapons crates lay busted open and empty. Rifles are missing from their racks. Left behind are helmets and gas masks and cleaning kits—things that can’t shoot.
For four days, rebels newly armed with anti-aircraft guns and Kalashnikovs battled forces loyal to Libyan strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi and commanded by one of his sons. After days of firefights, feints and an ambush on unarmed local sheiks, the regime forces surrendered their hold on the vital local airport Tuesday morning—placing nearly all of eastern Libya outside Col. Gadhafi’s control.
The battle for Baida airport is one example of how quickly the tide across Libya has turned against Col. Gadhafi. A brutal crackdown by pro-Gadhafi forces across the country has left at least 300 dead over six days, civil-rights groups say.
Going, going, gone.
PREVIEW by Chris MartensonWell, that was quick. As you may have noticed, things are rapidly progressing from the outside in as the turmoil in the Middle East has now taken down two oil rich countries.
On the ground in the eastern chunk of this oil-rich desert nation, the signs of rebellion are plain to see in the armories of a military base near Baida: Weapons crates lay busted open and empty. Rifles are missing from their racks. Left behind are helmets and gas masks and cleaning kits—things that can’t shoot.
For four days, rebels newly armed with anti-aircraft guns and Kalashnikovs battled forces loyal to Libyan strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi and commanded by one of his sons. After days of firefights, feints and an ambush on unarmed local sheiks, the regime forces surrendered their hold on the vital local airport Tuesday morning—placing nearly all of eastern Libya outside Col. Gadhafi’s control.
The battle for Baida airport is one example of how quickly the tide across Libya has turned against Col. Gadhafi. A brutal crackdown by pro-Gadhafi forces across the country has left at least 300 dead over six days, civil-rights groups say.
by
Chris Martenson
The silver market continues to send urgent signals that supplies are very tight, an often bullish condition sometimes associated with rapid price rises.
For those not up on the lingo of the futures market, there are two ways to describe the prices of commodities in the future as compared to today. One describes a condition where commodities cost more in the future than they do today, and it is rather non-intuitively termed contango. If a commodity is “in contango,” it is priced higher for delivery in future months than it is for delivery today. Oil is an easy example, as it is nearly always in contango, and for perfectly intuitive reasons: There are carrying costs associated with storing oil (such as interest, storage fees and insurance) and those costs assure that future oil is almost always more expensive than present oil.
The other term describes the situation where the future price is less than today’s price, a rare condition for practically every commodity, and it is called backwardation. A commodity that is “in backwardation” is priced lower for delivery in future months than it is for delivery today.
Silver is in backwardation and has been for a while now.
Silver Shortage Looming?
PREVIEW by Chris MartensonThe silver market continues to send urgent signals that supplies are very tight, an often bullish condition sometimes associated with rapid price rises.
For those not up on the lingo of the futures market, there are two ways to describe the prices of commodities in the future as compared to today. One describes a condition where commodities cost more in the future than they do today, and it is rather non-intuitively termed contango. If a commodity is “in contango,” it is priced higher for delivery in future months than it is for delivery today. Oil is an easy example, as it is nearly always in contango, and for perfectly intuitive reasons: There are carrying costs associated with storing oil (such as interest, storage fees and insurance) and those costs assure that future oil is almost always more expensive than present oil.
The other term describes the situation where the future price is less than today’s price, a rare condition for practically every commodity, and it is called backwardation. A commodity that is “in backwardation” is priced lower for delivery in future months than it is for delivery today.
Silver is in backwardation and has been for a while now.
by
Chris Martenson
Guide to Navigating the Coming Crisis
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Executive Summary
- Here we provide a detailed summary of the complete analytical framework that has delivered double digit investment gains (2004-2010)
- Why this ‘recovery’ is false
- Why the Fed is stuck between a rock and hard place
- Why the US Treasury market is vulnerable
- Asia is the most likely trigger
Part I
If you have not yet read Part I, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
Part II – Guide to Navigating the Coming Crisis
Illuminating the future is our job, and we take it seriously.
The unfolding Egyptian situation provides a perfect analogy for what I see coming to the developed world. During times of massive change, it is most important to have a clear-eyed view, few limiting beliefs, and a reliable framework to help you decode rapidly emerging events.
What we do here at Martenson Central is deliver both up-to-the-minute information-scouting services and a framework through which those events and information can be interpreted.
Knowing what is likely to happen and having a solid framework for understanding those events provides emotional relief, removes uncertainty, and allows for crisper and more effective decisionmaking that can make you safer and even wealthier. These benefits are not speculation on our part; they are directly drawn from comments and feedback we’ve received from our members over the past several years.
The Crash Course is the foundation of that framework, which illuminates the main predicament as an inherent conflict between the currently evolved types of economic and monetary systems and looming resource scarcity, especially of oil.
Guide to Navigating the Coming Crisis
PREVIEW by Chris MartensonGuide to Navigating the Coming Crisis
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Executive Summary
- Here we provide a detailed summary of the complete analytical framework that has delivered double digit investment gains (2004-2010)
- Why this ‘recovery’ is false
- Why the Fed is stuck between a rock and hard place
- Why the US Treasury market is vulnerable
- Asia is the most likely trigger
Part I
If you have not yet read Part I, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
Part II – Guide to Navigating the Coming Crisis
Illuminating the future is our job, and we take it seriously.
The unfolding Egyptian situation provides a perfect analogy for what I see coming to the developed world. During times of massive change, it is most important to have a clear-eyed view, few limiting beliefs, and a reliable framework to help you decode rapidly emerging events.
What we do here at Martenson Central is deliver both up-to-the-minute information-scouting services and a framework through which those events and information can be interpreted.
Knowing what is likely to happen and having a solid framework for understanding those events provides emotional relief, removes uncertainty, and allows for crisper and more effective decisionmaking that can make you safer and even wealthier. These benefits are not speculation on our part; they are directly drawn from comments and feedback we’ve received from our members over the past several years.
The Crash Course is the foundation of that framework, which illuminates the main predicament as an inherent conflict between the currently evolved types of economic and monetary systems and looming resource scarcity, especially of oil.
by
Chris Martenson
There has been another Wikileaks release, exposing the US diplomatic channels as being aware of the possibility of Saudi overstatement of reserves and the possibility that future Saudi ‘swing production’ may be far more limited than believed.
Here’s how the Guardian UK put it:
The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.
The cables, released by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take seriously a warning from a senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom’s crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels – nearly 40%.
(Source)
Wikileaks: US Officials Concerned Saudi Arabia Has Less Oil Than Claimed
PREVIEW by Chris MartensonThere has been another Wikileaks release, exposing the US diplomatic channels as being aware of the possibility of Saudi overstatement of reserves and the possibility that future Saudi ‘swing production’ may be far more limited than believed.
Here’s how the Guardian UK put it:
The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.
The cables, released by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take seriously a warning from a senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom’s crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels – nearly 40%.
(Source)
by
Chris Martenson
The headlines are screaming at the top of every financial media outlet tonight: The Dow Closes Above 12,000 For The First Time In Two Years!
What’s going on here? Is the recovery well and truly underway? And, if it is, why is the Fed dropping hints again that “QE3 may get discussed” in the future, as Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig said today?
Given the raft of good economic news lately, one might be forgiven for wondering what the Fed has in mind here. Why are they already dropping trial balloons? What are they seeing that we are not seeing, and why won’t they just tell us? What, exactly, is it that justifies more than $100 billion in thin air money each month?
Here’s how member dbworld put it earlier today:
Why are the stock markets up?
PREVIEW by Chris MartensonThe headlines are screaming at the top of every financial media outlet tonight: The Dow Closes Above 12,000 For The First Time In Two Years!
What’s going on here? Is the recovery well and truly underway? And, if it is, why is the Fed dropping hints again that “QE3 may get discussed” in the future, as Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig said today?
Given the raft of good economic news lately, one might be forgiven for wondering what the Fed has in mind here. Why are they already dropping trial balloons? What are they seeing that we are not seeing, and why won’t they just tell us? What, exactly, is it that justifies more than $100 billion in thin air money each month?
Here’s how member dbworld put it earlier today:
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