This is my personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here are only mine. This is my way of showing everyone the events and topics you won't see on CNBC or other Mainstream Media.
Warning: If you are allergic to AWESOME, don't read this blog.
Disclaimer
The information contained in this communication is provided for informational purposes only and has been obtained or derived from sources believed to be reliable. No representation or warranty is being made, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of such information, nor is it recommended that such information serve as the basis of any investment decision. This report contains forward-looking statements that are subject to change. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and the predictions, forecasts, projections and other outcomes described herein may not occur. A number of important factors could cause results to differ materially from the views and opinions expressed herein and there are no guarantees of return. This material is not an offer to sell or a solicitation to purchase securities of any kind. Before making an investment of any kind, readers should carefully consider their financial position and risk tolerance to determine if such investment is appropriate. Mr. Jurgensmeyer may allocate assets to positions described herein and reserves the right to enter, modify or exit any such positions without notice.
This story from Bloomberg is one of the most gold bullish items I have read in the last 12 months. While many pundits like to get on their soapboxes and spout about how gold is in a “bubble” merely due to the fact that it has soared so much and they are bitter they didn’t see it coming, this article demonstrates quite clearly that gold is in the opposite of a bubble. Let’s take a few quotes from the article:
Paulo Oliveira and his wife sold their wedding rings to pay the rent after he lost his job as a builder last month. They were the couple’s last pieces of jewelry.
“We have no more gold to save us from being kicked out this month,” the 46-year-old said as he stood in the area of downtown Lisbon popular with cash-for-gold stores. “Everyone I know is struggling, even the gold stores are empty because nobody has any more gold left to sell.”
“Business has gone from great to terrible in a matter of months,” Luis Almeida, whose family has owned a gold store near Lisbon’s Rossio Square for more than 40 years, said in an interview. “The sad truth is that most of my clients have already sold all of their gold rings.”
Portugal’s gold exports increased by more than five times to 519.4 million euros last year from 102.1 million euros in 2009, according to data published on the Lisbon-based National Statistics Institute’s website.
Oliveira said he now makes as little as 15 euros a day polishing shoes on a wooden stool in Lisbon’s central Barros Queiroz street, where gold traders complain competition is eating profit.
This all very much reminds me of an article I posted several months ago about how pawn shops in the U.S. were running out of gold. Seems the U.S. serfs got fleeced a couple months earlier. Good thing we have EBT cards and disability checks though!
The big macro point here is obvious. Despite a depression and euro weakness, the Portuguese are not only unable to buy gold as protection, they are being forced to sell what little real wealth they have just to survive. It is all going straight out the back door to China and others. This is just a massive transfer of wealth away from Europe and once the metal dries up (which appears to be happening now), the gold price will resume its march toward much higher levels. I believe this march is beginning now and will be very powerful over the next 3-6 months.
A few days ago I received a call from a man I recently met named
George. He was a bit flustered, and soon informed me that his young son
was sick with a chest condition. He pleaded with me to send him $1,000
to cover the medical bills. Since George was at the hospital I asked
him to let me speak to a nurse, and she confirmed that George’s son was
indeed ill. So I agreed to send George the money through Western Union.
He was profusely grateful. But before I hung up I asked George, “Why
are you coming to me?” He said, “I have no one else to ask.” Then he
said something that astounded me, “Dinesh, you are like a brother to
me.”
Actually, George has a real life brother who just happens to be the
president of the United States. (George Obama is the youngest of eight
children sired by Barack Obama Sr.) George’s brother is a
multimillionaire and the most powerful man in the world. Moreover,
George’s brother has framed his re-election campaign around the “fair
share” theme that we owe obligations to those who are less fortunate.
One of Obama’s favorite phrases comes right out of the Bible: “We are
our brother’s keeper.” Yet he has not contributed a penny to help his
own brother. And evidently George does not believe, even in times of
emergency, that he can turn to his brother in the White House for help.
So much for spreading the wealth around.
Obama’s refusal to help George is especially surprising because
George doesn’t just live in American-style poverty but rather in Third
World poverty. He lives in a shanty in the Huruma slum in Nairobi. He
gets by on a few dollars a month. Obama also has an aunt named Hawa
Auma, his father’s sister, who ekes out a living selling coal on the
streets of a small village in Kenya. She says she would like to have
her teeth fixed, but she cannot afford it. Obama hasn’t offered to help
her either.
What’s going on here? Why is President Obama so hesitant to help family members in need?
A couple of years ago, George teamed up with a British journalist
Damien Lewis and the two of them published George’s story in a book
called "Homeland." Yet according to Lewis, shortly before the book’s
publication in America, the publisher Simon & Schuster decided to
shred the entire print run, more than 20,000 copies. Lewis tried
unsuccessfully to get an explanation from Simon & Schuster but to no
avail. He now suspects that the White House convinced Simon &
Schuster that George’s story might prove embarrassing to the president.
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (CBS) - Officials were spraying to
kill mosquitos in Skokie on Wednesday, as part of a continuing effort to
contain the spread of the West Nile Virus.
CBS 2’s Marissa Bailey reports August is prime time for mosquitos,
and if you’re sitting home thinking that you haven’t seen many mosquitos
around, experts say they’re out there and you should take precautions.
In north suburban Skokie, where two people have been put into nursing
homes after being becoming ill from the West Nile Virus, local leaders
are saying close up your screen doors and windows to keep mosquitos out.
Throughout the past three weeks, the North Shore Mosquito Abatement
District has seen 90 percent of the mosquito samples its collected test
positive for West Nile Virus.
So far this year, there have been at least 12 confirmed human cases of West Nile, including two cases in Skokie.
“Our main point is to remind people that it’s still out there, and
that they should not let their guard down,” said Skokie Public Health
Director Dr. Catherine Counard.
Dusk and dawn are prime time for mosquito activity. Experts say you
should check your own back yard for possible breeding sources for
mosquitos.
The bloodsuckers thrive in stagnant water, so you should eliminate
any standing water in pet dishes, bird baths, children’s toys, buckets,
empty tires, or other places where water can pool and grow stagnant.
Officials said, if you leave your garbage can lid flipped upside down
for a few days, it can become a breeding ground for mosquitos. So turn
it over, clean it out, and close it up.
Meantime, Lake County reported its first confirmed human case of West Nile since 2010.
A 68-year-old Buffalo Grove man tested positive for West Nile
encephalitis, according to the Lake County Health Department. He was
hospitalized, but has since been released.
It takes about 3 to 14 days for symptoms of West Nile Virus to
develop. When going outdoors, people should use insect repellant,
especially around dawn and dusk when West Nile mosquitos are most
active. Officials also advise wearing long sleeves and pants to avoid
mosquito bites.
I'm not sure why the summer is always like this, but the news is constant rehashing. I found a few things of interest for today, however. The first is a piece about what employers intend to do when Obamacare kicks in.
Supporters of President Obama’s health care law celebrate June 28, 2012 outside
About
one in 10 employers plan to drop health coverage when key provisions of
the new health care law kick in less than two years from now, according
to a survey to be released Tuesday by the consulting company Deloitte.
Nine
percent of companies said they expect to stop offering coverage to
their workers in the next one to three years, the Wall Street Journal
reported. Around 81 percent said they would continue providing benefits
and 10 percent said they weren't sure.
The companies, though, said
a lot will depend on how future provisions of the law unfold, since
most of the key parts are scheduled to take effect in 2014. One in three
respondents said they could stop offering coverage if the law requires
them to provide more generous benefits than they do now, if a tax on
high-cost plans takes effect in 2018 as scheduled or if they decide it
would be cheaper for them to pay the penalty for not providing
insurance.
While small business don't face fines for failing to
offer coverage, companies with 50 or more full time employees face a
penalty starting at $2,000 per worker.
Deloitte conducted the
study between February and April — before the Supreme Court upheld most
of the law — and surveyed corporate and human-resources executives from
560 companies currently offering benefits.
In contrast, the
Congressional Budget Office has estimated that around seven percent of
workers could lose coverage under the law by 2019.
A
raffle will determine which civil servants in a small Argentine town
will receive their pay first, due to insufficient funds, its mayor
announced Monday.
"We will draw lots to decide the (order) of payment," said mayor of
Bialet Masse, Gustavo Pueyo, in a broadcast from Buenos Aires private
radio station Radio Mitre.
Pueyo said the raffle was approved by national mayoral authorities
and the first draw took place Friday, with 23 of the town's 92 employees
receiving their pay. A second raffle is slated for Monday.
Home to 5,000 inhabitants, Bialet Masse is a tourist destination in
Cordoba Province, 750 kilometers (466 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires.
Pueyo attributed the city's insufficient funds to a drop in the funding usually received from the provincial government.
Several Argentine provinces have faced economic difficulties due to the nation's slowed economic growth.
Growth slowed by half of one percent in May compared with the same
period last year, marking the first downturn since 2009, according to
official figures.
Argentina's GDP has grown by an average eight percent per year since
2003, but analysts expect the economy will grow by less than half that
in 2012.
Some of you have probably seen this, but it is so astounding I had to post it. This clown we have in office has done nothing but run this country into the ground. He has got to go.
More workers joined the federal government's disability program in June than got new jobs, according to two new government reports, a clear indicator of how bleak the nation's jobs picture is after three full years of economic recovery.
The economy created just 80,000 jobs in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. But that same month, 85,000 workers left the workforce entirely to enroll in the Social Security Disability Insurance program, according to the Social Security Administration.
The disability ranks have outpaced job growth throughout President Obama's recovery. While the economy has created 2.6 million jobs since June 2009, fully 3.1 million workers signed up for disability benefits.
In other words, the number of new disability enrollees has climbed 19% faster than the number of jobs created during the sluggish recovery. (Even after accounting for people who left the disability program because they died or aged into retirement, disability ranks have climbed more than 1.1 million in the past three years.)
And the disability ranks will continue to swell. In just the last month, almost 275,000 put in applications for disability benefits. Experts say that more people try to get on disability when jobs are scarce, and changes to eligibility rules enacted back in 1984 have made it far easier to qualify.
In addition, while hiring has been very weak during the recovery, the number of people who have dropped out of the labor force entirely has exploded by 7.3 million since June 2009, an IBD analysis of BLS data show. Some aged into retirement, but most either signed up for disability, stayed in school, moved back in with parents, or just quit looking for a job.
As a result, the "labor force participation rate" — the number of people who have jobs or are actively looking for one compared with the entire working-age population — is now 63.8%, down from 65.7% in June 2009. This participation rate is at the lowest levels in 30 years. In previous recoveries, the participation rate has almost always risen, not fallen.
Other indicators show that the three-year-old economic recovery isn't producing jobs in adequate numbers:
The unemployment rate has been above 8% for 41 consecutive months. In the previous 60 years, the jobless topped 8% in a total of only 39 months.
The number of people with jobs is still nearly 5 million below its pre-recession peak.
The number of long-term unemployed — those out of work 27 weeks or more — is still 5.4 million — almost 1 million higher than when the recovery began, and almost twice the level it ever reached prior to Obama's recovery.
I got this from a guy in my office. I thought we might need a laugh after what you just read.
Due to the popularity of the "Survivor" shows, Arkansas is planning to do one entitled: "Survivor, Arkansas-Style!"
The 8 contestants will all start in Bentonville, then drive to Ft. Smith, Harrison, Jonesboro. Then down to Stuttgart and over to Texarkana. They will proceed up to Dequeen, Mena, Waldron, Mansfield, Greenwood and Booneville. From there they will go on to Charleston and Bloomer. Finally back to Bentonville.
Each will be driving a pink Prius with bumper stickers that read:
1 "I'm a Liberal" 2 "Amnesty for Illegals" 3 "I love the Dixie Chicks" 4 "Boycott Beef" 5 "I Voted for Obama" 6 "George Jones Sucks" 7 "Re-elect Obama in 2012" And... 8 "I'm here to confiscate your guns"
The first one to make it back to Bentonville alive wins.
The Vatican scandal over shady bank accounts and millions in suspect transfers began shortly before sunrise on June 5 on Via Giuseppe Verdi, a picturesque street in the old part of Piacenza, a town in northeastern Italy. An elderly gentleman in a tailor-made suit had just left his house with a leather briefcase dangling from his right hand. He was on his way to his car.
It was to be an important day for Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who had recently been fired as the head of the Vatican bank -- even if it turned out differently than he'd expected. Tedeschi was planning to go to the Vatican on that morning, but he never got there. The 67-year-old banker missed the high-speed train to Rome, meaning he couldn't, as he had planned, get into a taxi at the Italian capital's central station for the short journey across the Tiber River to the Vatican. There, he had hoped to take the documents out of his briefcase and hand them over to a confidant of the pope. Instead, Gotti Tedeschi found four men waiting for him in the street -- not a hit squad as he feared at first, but investigators with the Carabinieri, Italy's national military police force. Even before he reached his car, they presented him with a search warrant and escorted him back to his house. For several hours, they searched through his sparsely furnished, cloister-like home office. At the same time, other officers were searching through Gotti Tedeschi's office in Milan. Among the objects they confiscated were two computers, two cabinets' full of binders, a planner and his briefcase.
The investigators were pleased. While they made but little headway in their corruption investigation involving a client of a company Gotti Tedeschi had once headed, an Italian subsidiary of the Spanish banking giant Santander, they stumbled upon something else in there search which proved to be spectacular.
The documents confiscated from Gotti Tadeschi, a former confidant of the pope, provided Italian law-enforcement officials insight into the innermost workings of the Vatican bank. The secret dossier includes references to anonymous numbered accounts and questionable transactions as well as written and electronic communications reportedly showing how Church banking officials circumvented European regulations aimed at combating money-laundering.
I'm finishing off the day with some videos. The first one is serious. It is a clear explanation of the tax changes we face if Obama has his way.
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You all know I like Remy and his youtube videos. I came across this one and it reminded me of my sister, Carla and Palmer playing Mario Kart in Destin.
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I don't know what to say about this last video. It scares me that this is an actual award.
I hope everyone had a great weekend. The LPGA event went well except for the lack of spectators. That's what happens when it's over 100 degrees every day. Mike Krieger had a busy weekend, so I'm posting most of his stuff.
Posted on June 28, 2012
Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
Common sense is not so common.
I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: “O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.” And God granted it.
In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another.
The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice.
All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.
- All Quotes by Voltaire
Where Food Stamps Go to Die
We all know the economy sucks. We all know we are headed in the wrong direction. We all know our leaders are corrupt, immoral, greedy and violent. You don’t need me to tell you that. One thing that I have noticed recently while watching the financial markets is that despite the fact most stocks charts I pull up look awful, the major indices continue to hang in or grind higher. While it is not new news that a few large cap stocks are holding the major averages up, I want to focus on one in particular. Wal-Mart. Yes we all know Wal-Mart. Everyone has an opinion; whether you love it or hate it. In this instance, I’m not so much interested in the company itself, the stores or disturbing images of some of the people seen shopping there. No, in this case I want to take a look at the stock and ponder what it tell us about the state of affairs in both the U.S. and the global economy as a whole.
Wal-Mart’s stock is up 14% YTD, which is triple the return of the S&P 500. The stock also packs a dividend yield of 2.3%, so the total return is even better. In the last month or so the stock has become a real powerhouse as you can see in the chart below. Crushing any and all shorts under the weight of its rapid appreciation.
Wal-Mart Three Year Chart
I think the above chart, in particular the move in the past month or so, speaks volumes to what is happening on a macro level. First, from a purely flow of capital perspective, the U.S. economy was the last one to hit recession (most money managers still have no idea). With Europe in a situation where monetary and political chaos appears likely here and now (and inevitable ultimately) and the BRICs in total free-fall, we have seen a rush into perceived safe havens. We all know about treasuries and bunds, but at some point people don’t want to continue to funnel money to instruments yielding negative real returns. So what has apparently happened is global money managers have been allocating more dollars to very large cap U.S. shares as an alternative to treasuries and bunds.
There’s more to it of course. Nothing exemplifies the ghetto status of the U.S. economy more than the success of Wal-Mart in the face of the ongoing destruction of what was once a vibrant and strong middle class. In case you missed it, Marion Nestle, Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at NYU, came out with some interesting tidbits regarding the food stamp program. One of them… Read more here http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/
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I saw this picture on a different site right after reading the above piece. I couldn't stop laughing.
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Thoughts on Obamacare from a Surgeon and Friend
Posted on June 30, 2012
Over the past six months, I have had the distinct pleasure to become acquainted with Dr. Dave Janda, orthopedic surgeon and the Director and founder of the Institute of Preventative Sports Medicine based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Shortly after recording my first radio interview with him, he sent me his book, The Awakening of a Surgeon, which has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show. This book was a real eye opener for me since it demonstrated clearly how all of the corruption and unethical behavior I witness every day in the financial services sector is just as rampant in the healthcare industry. I don’t do things like this lightly, but I suggest everyone go out and read this book. It is well worth your time and will really enlighten people in finance that do not get healthcare and how truly screwed up the system really is.
I haven’t talked that much about Obamacare and I don’t plan to in the future. The main reason is that it is not my area of expertise and we already have enough blowhards out there spewing garbage on topics they know nothing about. That said, I do know that this bill was written by and for the insurance companies. The analysis I have done on it, from activists on both sides of the political spectrum makes this perfectly clear. Anyway, without further ado, here is what Dr. Dave Janda recently penned to his email list.
Mike
Friends,
The Supreme Court has spoken….. it should have never come to this. Was i surprised…. yes and no. I have learned to NEVER trust the judicial system when it comes to common sense and the rule of law….. so a 5-4 decision didn’t surprise me. What did surprise me was a supposedly “strict Constitutionalist”, Roberts, decided to invent a legal argument that Obama’s lawyers did not and were not able to make during the hearing.
Both parties are to blame for this mess. In truth we have only one party, The Republicrats. I have been involved in health care reform since the late summer of 1988 when Ronald Reagan became aware of my work in Prevention and health care cost containment. An approach which Empowered patients by putting the decisions back in the hands of patients and their treating physicians and NOT government bureaucrats, HMO’s or insurance executives. The approach Reagan embraced, that I advocated, was also based on the implementation of Health Savings Accounts, which puts the finances back in the hands of the people as well as a focus on Wellness and Prevention.
As I have mentioned a number of times on my radio show, Reagan’s embrace of my approach was subsequently shunned by Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2 and of course Obama. If Romney becomes President…. it will also be shunned by him.
If what I have advocated, and Reagan embraced, is such a great plan why have these “giants of freedom” rejected the approach ? They reject the approach because they ALL are owned and operated by the insurance, HMO, pharmaceutical and international banking industries. This fact has been “conveyed” to me by a number of “advisors” in the past 4 administrations. With the exception of Reagan, health care reform has been about control and political contributions, it has NOT been about more affordable, more available or more quality oriented care. All you need to do to confirm this fact is to read Hillarycare, Obamacare and Romneycare…. it becomes very apparent.
Of further note, I had the opportunity to help dissect Hillarycare back in the ’90′s and present the information to Senator Dole and his staff. When Hillarycare was defeated, I was told that health care reform based on a “Big government takeover was done forever.” I told members of Congress and their staffs that this was a small battle victory and if they did not advance meaningful health care reform a more virulent and oppressive version would come to the battlefield. I was shown the door by those in The White House and Congress.
Needless to say, they did not listen and the American public was then carpet bombed with Obamacare. A plan, which from the outset, stripped more Freedom and Liberty from every American than any other legislation in our country’s history . In February 2009, with the passage of The Stimulus Bill which contained the rationing and enforcement boards, I voiced my concerns and opposition. There were very few docs who supported me on my analysis. My analysis lead to threats against my life, my career, my family and our safety. Unfortunately, I had endured this same response with my dissection of Hillarycare and my work in Prevention.
My opposition continued with the “second part” of Obamacare…. the passage of the health care bill in March 2010. My opposition was not based on the mandate…. it was based on the heart of Obamacare….. the rationing and denying of care as a means to cut costs. A formula that is the most inhumane and unethical means of cutting costs. Again, I was met with the same threats and lack of support by the medical community. In fact, I presented the case to the public on Glenn Beck’s TV Show 6 months before passage of the Health Care Bill.( http://video.foxnews.com/v/3943915/ )
My “bag” is Prevention…. this entire ” health care war” could have been prevented. If only the past four Presidents and the past 20 Congresses would have taken the time and effort that Reagan put forth. Our country would currently have a health care system that is more affordable, more available, more quality oriented and billions of dollars would have been saved and used to help Americans in a meaningful manner.
The only “losers” with the approach I advocated, and Reagan embraced, would have been the HMO’s, insurance, pharmaceutical and international banking companies…… and of course their puppets : Bush 1, The Clintons, Bush 2, Obama and the corporate global elite’s ”new model” Romney.
History is about to repeat itself…. the headlines will read : “Obamacare has won “ Many will cry, few will cheer. My take is the same as it was in the ’90′s after Hillarycare’s demise….. Obama and his handelers, the global elite international banking criminals, won a battle today in an ongoing war. Until a program emerges that Empowers people and their treating physician about the care Americans receive and a program that puts the finances back in the hands of the people this war will NOT end.
It is NOT time to cry or to celebrate….. it is time to finally do the right thing.
It seems to have taken forever for banks to realize that gold is a good asset to hold. Finally...
Breaking News: Regulators to Classify Gold as Zero-Risk Asset BY JOHN BUTLER06/25/2012
In this Edition
In what might be the most underreported financial story of the year, US banking regulators recently circulated a memorandum for comment, including proposed adjustments to current regulatory capital risk-weightings for various assets. For the first time, unencumbered gold bullion is to be classified as zero risk, in line with dollar cash, US Treasuries and other explicitly government-guaranteed assets. If implemented, this will be an important step in the re-monetisation of gold and, other factors equal, should be strongly supportive of the gold price, both outright and relative to that for government bonds, the primary beneficiaries of the most recent flight to safety. Stay tuned.
Did Anyone Notice?
In an Amphora Report last month, The Canary in the Gold Mine, I made the case that a key reason why gold has not been acting like a safe-haven asset in recent months is because banks are so capital impaired that they are scrambling to reduce their holdings of risky assets in favour of so-called ‘zero-risk-weighted’ assets, against which they needn’t set aside any regulatory capital. As it stands, gold has a 50% risk-weighting. But some government bonds, including US Treasuries, German Bunds and British gilts, are zero-risk-weighted.
However, in the report, I speculated that perhaps that would change in future, and that:
“…if it happens, it will be an important step toward the re-monetisation of gold. Gold would be able to compete on a level playing field with government bonds. While the playing field could be levelled in this way, there would be a gross mismatch on the pitch. On the one hand, you have unbacked government bonds, issued by overindebted governments, yielding less than zero in inflation-adjusted terms. On the other, you have gold, the historical preserver of purchasing power par excellence.”[1] Well, on 4th June the Federal Reserve, OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) and FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) collectively circulated a memo asking for comment on their proposed changes to the regulatory capital risk-weighting framework. Section 11, ‘Other Assets’, specifies that a “zero risk weight” is to be applied to “gold bullion held in the banking organization’s own vaults, or held in another depository institution’s vaults on an allocated basis…”.[2]
Whoa. There you have it. As it stands now it would appear that, in the near future, banks will not have their regulatory capital ratios penalised for holding gold instead of government bonds as a safe-haven, zero-risk asset.
While the fundamental backdrop for gold is highly favourable and has been for some years, as the supply of money, credit and government bonds has grown dramatically, this technical aspect of the gold market is also clearly bullish. Indeed, as I wrote in The Canary in the Gold Mine, if gold is re-classified as a zero-risk-weighted asset, “the price is likely to soar to a new, all-time high.” I stand by that statement. In about six months we will know whether I am right, or whether I have misread this one.
Given the potential importance for gold, I’m surprised that this announcement has not been widely reported in the financial press, alternative or even mainstream. Perhaps this is due to the fact that, at this point, the re-classification of gold has only been proposed, not implemented. The change is not due to take effect until 1st January 2013.
With interest rates near zero, however, the opportunity cost of sitting on a non-interest-bearing gold position for six months is close to zero. Yes, gold may appear to be in a downtrend and, yes, it might have been unusually volatile of late, but unless the regulators backtrack, I see this as clearly bullish for gold, enabling much catch-up to Treasuries.
It remains to say something about why, perhaps, US regulators are poised to change bank regulatory risk weightings in favour of gold in this way. I do have some ideas about that. However, those will have to wait for a future Amphora Report.
