"The major thrust in the demand for gold is not for jewelry. It's not for anything other than an escape from what is perceived to be a fiat money system – paper money – that seems to be deteriorating."
- Alan Greenspan

As I watched CNBC blather on about the end of the gold trade, I knew what I was going to write about today. But Aaron, gold is down $150 in 3 days. Yeah it's back to where it was 9 days ago. I don't think that's a popped bubble. It's called a correction. Mostly a correction created by people manipulating the market. And I'm sure a bit of profit taking by short term traders. I will explain those statements in a minute. Some of the EU leaders are asking to be paid in gold.
The world, especially Europe, is still in turmoil. European credit default swaps (default insurance) hit an all-time high. Greek two-year paper now yields more than 40%.
On the subject of Greece… German Chancellor Merkel's ally, Ursula von der Leyen, called for bailed out European nations to post gold as collateral for funds. Merkel rejected the idea, saying it's "not the right way." However, top European Union leaders are still considering taking gold for payment.

Some of you may have seen that Hugo Chavez is repatriating his countries gold. He realized that the banks that are holding it, probably don't have enough to go around. Chavez is crazy but this was a smart move.

I suggest investors consider what the options for the world central banking cartel are, and how many of them do not include diluting paper. I'm eager to hear the alternatives.

So, back to manipulating the gold market. Remember earlier this year when silver ran up to $50 then cam crashing back down to $30. A huge portion of that was caused by margin hikes on silver trading by the CRIMEX. Last I checked silver is back to $40, so it caused a short term drop. Well the CRIMEX and Shanghai Gold Exchange are at it again.

And There's Your Perfectly Leaked Explanation: CME Hikes Gold Margins, Again, This Time By 27%
Two weeks after the CME hiked gold margins by 22%, and two days after the Shanghai Gold Exchange sent them higher by 26%, here comes the CME, as we expected, with another 26% gold margin hike (previously: "Should we expect 3 more SGE margin hikes in the next 2 weeks? Or will the CME rightfully accept the baton and do everything in its power to dent the parabolic rise in the alternative reserve currency? We are cautiously looking at what the CME will do today and will advise readers."). And now we know that this particular margin hike was leaked well in advance, and explains the entire $100 plunge in gold today. And as a reminder, the August 1 CME margin hike worked... for about 30 minutes.

From Mike Krieger:
And for those not in the markets PPT is the plunge protection teams used by the U.S. government to manipulate markets…see below. Rothschild attempting to preserve the neo feudalism they worked so hard to achieve.

Société Générale SA, whose shares have come under severe pressure in recent weeks, said Tuesday that it had signed a liquidity contract with Rothschild & Cie to prevent excessive volatility in its stock price. Société Générale, France’s second-largest listed bank, has set aside €170 million for Rothschild to buy and sell shares in the market to prevent swings in prices. “The idea is not to keep the stock price high but rather to keep it steady,” a spokesperson for Société Générale
said.” —Neil Azous, Navigate Advisors LLC, 23 August 2011.

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Now for the biggest news of the day. Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO of Apple. I'm interested to see what it does to the stock price. I know he orchestrated one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of business, but I'm sure he has trained his people well. Plus, the dominance of the iPhone and iPad is astounding. I think Apple will be just fine.

Apple's Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO, Named Chairman

Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple on Wednesday and passed the reins to his right-hand man Tim Cook, saying he could no longer fulfill the duties in a stunning announcement that raised fears his health has deteriorated further.

Getty Images

Jobs, who fought and survived a rare form of pancreatic cancer and revolutionized the technology arena with the iPhone and the iPad in the past four years, is deemed the heart and soul of a company that recently briefly became the most valuable in America.

"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come," Jobs, who becomes chairman, said in a brief letter announcing his resignation. (Read the text of the letter)

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So I don't listen to much country music, and I'm sure many of you have heard of Eric Church. I hadn't heard of him until a couple weeks ago. I'm completely hooked on his newest album, Chief. I like almost every song, but here is my favorite song.