Date: Fri Jul 22 2005 14:09
trotsky (Carmack) ID#248269:
Copyright © 2002 trotsky/Kitco Inc. All rights reserved
actually, i think almost everybody is by now well aware that they were lying their a$$es off, as you have so colorfully put it ( and who can forget the allegedly 'masterful' presentation by Powell at the UN, that at the time only a handful of people, most of whom apparently are on kitco, identified for the risible scam it was ) . what's new is that PROOF IN WRITING has recently turned up in the form of the infamous ( and shamefully ignored by the US press ) Downing Street memos. these memos alone should suffice to make a case for impeachment actually, but of course we can expect the press to keep ignoring them. the Niger lie however may prove very dangerous for the administration...it was the key lie, the central case of the fearmongering ( 'we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud' as Rice put it at the time ) strategy, and although the document was revealed to be a forgery long ago, it would also have dropped down the memory hole if not for the Plame affair. now this is another 'proof in writing' that they lied and lied and lied , to paraphrase Ellsberg. if its provenance can be uncovered by the special prosecutor, heads may finally roll. politicians never seem to have to fear any consequences, regardless of what they're doing, as long as they manage to get rid of all the smoking guns. this time they may have been too clever by half...the desire to exact revenge on Wilson could prove their undoing. not even the yellow-bellied sycophantic US mainstream journalists will be able to ignore this one - one hopes so anyway.
Date: Fri Jul 22 2005 13:05
trotsky (dan) ID#248269:
Copyright © 2002 trotsky/Kitco Inc. All rights reserved
let me give you an example of share ownership proving its worth in time of upheaval. during WW2 European stock markets closed down, and 10s of millions ended up as refugees ( first fleeing Hitler's advancing army, and then Stalin's ) , in the process losing everyhting. a few gold coins in your pocket could be used to great effect via bribing of border guards etc., but refugees with big bullion hoards lost those...simply a matter of being unable to carry the stuff. however, owners of shares in European blue chip companies could reclaim their ownership status after the war by means of being in the share register. and in spite of the fact that e.g. Germany was completely flattened by allied bombing, and much of what was left of its industrial base was carried off by the Russians , the big German corporations like Daimler, Thyssen, the successors to the IG Farben ( nowadays Aventis, BASF and Bayer ) and so one rose back to greatness, and their shareholders were made more than whole again after the war.
understand also that shares are a stake in a business enterprise, a claim on its assets, cash flows, patents, etc. - this is quite independent of the monetary system in which they operate. so even in the event of the fiat money system collapsing, these ownership claims will still represent value. only in the event of a total collapse of civilization ( say, e.g. an asteroid hitting the earth , or nuclear war ) would these claims become utterly worthless. however, in such a scenario bullion would also be worth a lot less than e.g. a good assortment of guns, medical supplies, bomb shelters, etc...
even disregarding all of this a smart investment strategy at the very least demands some diversification. an undiversified buyer of bullion anno 1980 would be looking at huge inflation-adjusted losses at present, regardless of the recent rally in precious metals. all your ranting and raving can't change this fact.
Date: Fri Jul 22 2005 12:41
trotsky (Preacher@Plame scandal) ID#248269:
Copyright © 2002 trotsky/Kitco Inc. All rights reserved
people are imo concentrating on the wrong issue here. it is far less important who 'outed' Plame in a repulsive display of vindictiveness , than what lies at the bottom of it all, the forgeries that were used to propagate the Niger-Iraq uranium lie. it is reasonable to assume that not only was it known at the highest levels in government that these were forgeries , but also that the forgeries were actually produced at the very same levels.
their vindictiveness has brought the topic back to the forefront, where it belonged from day one. the question is, who was it that created the documentary 'evidence' used in propagating the big lie that has now cost 1000ds of lives and 100ds of billions in tax payer funds?
the fact that this deeper, and more important question, is likely to eventually be addressed is what imo has the neo-cons running scared and throwing the propaganda machinery into overdrive. i don't think they worry so much about turd blossom's fate...they worry that more of the pre-war conspiracy that produced the lies told to Congress and the people will be uncovered.
Date: Fri Jul 22 2005 12:15
trotsky (Earl,) ID#248269:
Copyright © 2002 trotsky/Kitco Inc. All rights reserved
"Why anyone would take pleasure in the creation of a police state remains incomprehensible."
not really. it's a psychological thing...he expects to be among the oppressors, not the oppressed, and looks forward to dissent being crushed under the jackboot. it's a common mistake supporters of tyranny have made over and over again throughout history. many of Stalin's and Hitler's early supporters also thought they would never ever come for them. many erred in this assumption to their vast surprise.
Date: Fri Jul 22 2005 12:02
trotsky (dan@bullion) ID#248269:
Copyright © 2002 trotsky/Kitco Inc. All rights reserved
they only say that to insinuate that gold is fated to go down. of course the exact opposite is true, i.e. when the public finally wakes up and DOES buy bullion, it will be time to sell.
regarding myself, i do regularly buy bullion, mostly for insurance reasons. however, i think gold stocks are the better investment and will provide a far greater return ( just as they have done in the bull market to date ) .
the same goes for palladium...shares in primary palladium producers are likely to be a far better investment than palladium bullion with its large agio and illiquid market.
Date: Fri Jul 22 2005 11:56
trotsky (goldfish) ID#248269:
Copyright © 2002 trotsky/Kitco Inc. All rights reserved
"the deflation of the 90's" - bwahahaha...the 90's have seen the biggest expansion in money supply in the history of mankind. calling that a 'deflation' really takes some chutzpa.
Date: Fri Jul 22 2005 09:57
trotsky (siempre, 6:06) ID#248269:
Copyright © 2002 trotsky/Kitco Inc. All rights reserved
i actually think Mr. Schiff is busy exaggerating the hell out of a non-event. had they repegged the Yuan 20% higher it may have been of consequence, but the action at this point was of consequence mostly to speculators in the Yen.
i happen to think that all the t-bond bears that are coming out of the woodwork hailing the supposed beginning of the long hoped-for bear market in USG debt paper as a result of Yuan repeg are going to be sorely disappointed again, as usual. the influence of foreign CB buying on bond pricing has to be one of the most overrated 'truisms' in the marketplace.
not that we haven't already ample proof for this. ever since Japan stopped intervening in dollar/yen 15 months ago, the bond market has stubbornly refused to do its bearish thing as it was supposed to. a similar fate awaits the alleged Chinese influence on the market.
Date: Fri Jul 22 2005 09:47
trotsky (@GOOG) ID#248269:
Copyright © 2002 trotsky/Kitco Inc. All rights reserved
it actually disappointed, believe it or not ( on account of cautious guidance and even higher whisper numbers ) . but that hasn't kept brokers from lifting their already rich price targets to even crazier levels. interestingly, the bubble-head pointmen are Prudential this time, the guys who downgraded NEM to 'sell' at $16 and recently revised their price target on AU from $15 to $32 - with the stock trading at $35. their new target for the invincible search engine is $400. it also needs to be noted that post IPO, all of Wall Street was adamant the stock should be avoided at $100.
actually, ever since Wall Street has discovered its unyielding love for the stock, it has gone more or less nowhere, oscillating between 290 and 310. this is the price region in which the bulk of the 'must buy' upgrades have occurred.
so to get this straight: a stock that was considered 'avoid' at $100 goes to $300, where it is considered 'super duper buy, all of a sudden. then it goes nowhere. as you can see, Wall Street analysts truly are experts. it's just not certain what they are experts at.
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