Economy
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.
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” at future Fed meetings, as Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig said on Feb 1st?
Given the raft of good economic news lately, one might be forgiven for wondering what the Fed has in mind here. If everything is so economically rosy, why are they already dropping trial balloons about more Quantitative Easing? What are they seeing that we are not seeing, that justifies more than $100 billion in thin air money each month, and why won’t they just tell us what it is?
Here’s how PeakProsperity.com member dbworld put it earlier today:
How long can the party in stocks last?
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” at future Fed meetings, as Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig said on Feb 1st?
Given the raft of good economic news lately, one might be forgiven for wondering what the Fed has in mind here. If everything is so economically rosy, why are they already dropping trial balloons about more Quantitative Easing? What are they seeing that we are not seeing, that justifies more than $100 billion in thin air money each month, and why won’t they just tell us what it is?
Here’s how PeakProsperity.com member dbworld put it earlier today:
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:
"Straight Talk" features thinking from notable minds that the PeakProsperity.com audience has indicated it wants to learn more about. Readers submit the questions they want addressed and our guests take their best crack at answering. The comments and opinions expressed by our guests are their own.
This week's Straight Talk contributor is Catherine Austin Fitts: investment advisor and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Solari Investment Advisory Services, where she offers subscribers guidance for navigating the risks of the global financial system and the political economy. (FYI: Chris will be the guest on her weekly podcast, The Solari Report, on Feb 3). Her perspective on Wall Street and Capitol Hill are shaped by her past roles as Assistant Secretary of Housing under George H. W. Bush, and before that, as Managing Director and board member for the investment bank Dillon, Read & Co.
1. Despite (or perhaps because of) your time as Assistant Secretary of Housing under Bush Sr., you are extremely critical of the government’s financial stewardship. What, if anything, changes with administrations and how much is institutionally baked into the cake?
The federal financial model is institutional, and its ultimate governance is outside of the government.
Straight Talk with Catherine Austin Fitts: We Are Victims of A Financial Coup D’Etat
by Adam Taggart"Straight Talk" features thinking from notable minds that the PeakProsperity.com audience has indicated it wants to learn more about. Readers submit the questions they want addressed and our guests take their best crack at answering. The comments and opinions expressed by our guests are their own.
This week's Straight Talk contributor is Catherine Austin Fitts: investment advisor and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Solari Investment Advisory Services, where she offers subscribers guidance for navigating the risks of the global financial system and the political economy. (FYI: Chris will be the guest on her weekly podcast, The Solari Report, on Feb 3). Her perspective on Wall Street and Capitol Hill are shaped by her past roles as Assistant Secretary of Housing under George H. W. Bush, and before that, as Managing Director and board member for the investment bank Dillon, Read & Co.
1. Despite (or perhaps because of) your time as Assistant Secretary of Housing under Bush Sr., you are extremely critical of the government’s financial stewardship. What, if anything, changes with administrations and how much is institutionally baked into the cake?
The federal financial model is institutional, and its ultimate governance is outside of the government.
Inflation Is So Much Worse Than We’re Told
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Executive Summary
- Why inflation is several percent higher than claimed
- The criticality of correctly weighting the CPI & how the current methodology is flawed
- Case study using healthcare, one of the largest victims of underweighting in today’s CPI
- Why the Fed (erroneously) sees deflation and is making dangerously-flawed policy decisions as a result
- The 8-steps that will signal our progression into an inflation-induced financial crisis in the US
- Recommendations for preserving the purchasing power of your assets
Full Report (for enrolled members only)
Provides a much deeper dive into the CPI, its flawed methodology, the likely implications of understating inflation, and strategies for individual investors than available in the public-only article. If you are a looking to protect the purchasing power of your current wealth, it’s important to understand the stealth tax your assets currently exposed to from the erroneously-low reported inflation rate.
Inflation Is So Much Worse Than We’re Told (Full Report)
PREVIEW by Chris MartensonInflation Is So Much Worse Than We’re Told
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Executive Summary
- Why inflation is several percent higher than claimed
- The criticality of correctly weighting the CPI & how the current methodology is flawed
- Case study using healthcare, one of the largest victims of underweighting in today’s CPI
- Why the Fed (erroneously) sees deflation and is making dangerously-flawed policy decisions as a result
- The 8-steps that will signal our progression into an inflation-induced financial crisis in the US
- Recommendations for preserving the purchasing power of your assets
Full Report (for enrolled members only)
Provides a much deeper dive into the CPI, its flawed methodology, the likely implications of understating inflation, and strategies for individual investors than available in the public-only article. If you are a looking to protect the purchasing power of your current wealth, it’s important to understand the stealth tax your assets currently exposed to from the erroneously-low reported inflation rate.