Baltic Dry Index. 4074 -04
LIR Gold Target by 2019: $3,000.
“We’re sorry for the massive disruption it’s caused their lives. There’s no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.”
Tony Hayward. CEO BP Plc.
More on BP’s CEO’s unwise words later. My guess is that most Americans would like their life back too, before BP turned the Gulf of Mexico into the Gulf of Death.
We open today on the edge of a full scale financial and political crisis. In the Middle East, an unwise move to challenge Israel’s shameful Gaza blockade, was met with an equally unwise reckless military challenge by Israel, with the result that we now have a vital NATO member going eye to eye with Israel, and another peacenik blockade runner on its way. Some reports say that this time it will be escorted by Turkish naval vessels. One can only hope that an increasingly irrelevant US President still has some influence left with both parties. Wiser heads must prevail. 8 years on from “shock and awe,” and the region is in worse shape than ever.
In the Far East, Japan’s Prime Minister has just resigned, after a U-turn on Okinawa bases for US troops. A weak Japanese government continues to get weaker as the economy stalls. 120 miles away across the Korea Strait, the two Koreas face off against each other just shy of resuming the unsettled 1950s war. Both sides plus America are looking to rising China to prevent a new horrific war.
In Europe, Club Med continues its slow motion crash that will end the Euro as we know it. Austerity is on the edge of generating social disobedience and disorder. Only the imminent start of the World Cup in South Africa looks likely to delay a coming clash between the banksters and the masses.
In America, State and city bankruptcies loom, in a continent transfixed with the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and living beyond its means. The great vampire squids have been replaced as ogre by BP America, not that that will save the wealth of UK pensioners’ trapped in BP Plc.
Below a very challenging article on our continuing collapse of the fiat currencies. I have some reservations but Mr. Bruno raises some very real concerns. Stay long precious metals. The really bad news is that the elitist, secretive Bilderbergers are meeting again in Barcelona. So do they want the euro, the Pound, the dollar or the Yen, to collapse first?
"Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the 'hidden' confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights."
Alan Greenspan. 1966.
Warning Signs Of Full Spectrum Collapse Are Everywhere
By Giordano Bruno Neithercorp Press – 05/31/2010
The sovereign debt crisis in Greece and many other European nations has, at least for the moment, opened a gap in the wash of financial disinformation that has prevailed in the mainstream media for the past year. The average American is now more aware of the terrible costs of living in an artificially driven and widely manipulated “global economy”, and has also been exposed (at least for the moment) to the very real frailties in our own markets, which have been hidden or downplayed by the government as well as disingenuous establishment economists. Events in the EU, however, are only a glimpse of the greater and more imminent threats we face in the near future. In this article we will look at some of the latest and most disturbing moves by governments and financial institutions, as well as tell-tale signs in our own local cities, which signal that a full-spectrum collapse of world markets and possibly our own currency is not only in progress, but nearing completion.
World Market Signals
All eyes have been focused on the Greek situation for the past month, but we cannot let this one storm of the financial crisis distract us from the other threats that lie just beyond the horizon. There are many far more pressing concerns than insolvency in Southern Europe, though we’ve been drowning in “Greek Contagion” rhetoric 24/7 and it is difficult to think of much else. The idea that instability in Greece is somehow responsible for instability in the rest of the EU is simply unfounded. Most nations in the EU were on the verge of bankruptcy long before the sovereign debt crisis in Greece began. Spain, for instance, has just lost its AAA credit grade with Fitch Ratings due to its massive deficits:
Italy, Ireland, and the UK are likely not far behind. The UK posted record deficits in April
This is the same double-think the globalists have been using everywhere; “Weakness is strength”.
Regardless of what talking-head financial analysts tell us in the next six moths, we must never forget that the collapse was not caused by a single nation, but the actions of all governments in collusion with international banks over a period of decades.
Second, we will be hearing a lot in the news over the coming year about the credit grades of rating companies such as Fitch or Moodys. However, these credit grades are a purely psychological affair. If they were based on concrete fundamentals, Spain would have lost its AAA credit rating long before now, not to mention the UK or the U.S. The fact that they are finally willing to begin downgrading the debt value of certain countries only shows that circumstances have become so untenable that rating agencies know they will look foolish if they do not do otherwise. Now that they have begun, watch for rating downgrades to accelerate in the coming year, especially in the EU, punishing the markets with repetitive stock plunges.
The biggest news, though, the news that no one is paying much attention to, is the activity in Asia. In the midst of all the chaos across the Atlantic, we have forgotten to take note of the activities of the great elephant in the room just across the Pacific.
China has been busy, and the speed at which they are shifting their economic system is even startling. In past articles we covered the Chinese dumping of U.S. Treasury Bonds in response to our ever rising national debt and dangerous liquidity measures by the private Federal Reserve. All this, we believed, was in preparation for a valuation of the Yuan and a decoupling of the traditional trade relationship between China and America.
Back in 2008, rumor spread in some investment circles that China was planning to issue its own T-bonds; called “Panda Bonds” or “Yuan Bonds”:
As it turns out, Yuan Bonds are no longer a rumor. Issued late last year with little fanfare, and considered by some investors as a novelty, Chinese Treasuries are now growing far beyond expectations:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90859/6986357.html
Even more intriguing, China has opened its index futures to foreign investors, revealing a desire to take a more central role in world economic activity:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90862/002046.html
China has had trillions of dollars in currency reserves which help create the trade deficit that allows their industrial based export economy to thrive. Why would they want to issue bonds in their own currency, increasing the value of the Yuan and ending their trade advantage? Because China’s goal is to convert its billion citizen society into an import and consumption hub while making the RMB, or the Yuan, a reserve currency to rival the Euro and the Dollar.
More.
http://neithercorp.us/npress/?p=512
In BP news, the sky continues to fall. If it wasn’t for bad news BP wouldn’t have any news at all. With the oil now washing ashore in Alabama and Mississippi, and less than 10 miles off Florida’s Gulf coast, this disaster is about to turn into a calamity. Probably only severe tropical storm or a new hurricane could make matters much worse in the Gulf. Ashore, a political hurricane is now about to hit BP. With the key mid-term elections looming in November, America’s worst ecological disaster in history has gone political, and BP has become football in the game of politics under media hysteria. We open with the WSJ on yesterday’s Washington developments. With 11 people dead, what took them so long? This should have been done at least a month ago.
Below the Journal, the latest news from the GOM. According to the CNN article, some people are still unwisely swimming off affected beaches! Drill in haste, repent at leisure.
“The oil is on the surface. There aren’t any plumes.”
Tony Hayward. CEO BP Plc.
JUNE 2, 2010
Spill Draws Criminal Probe
The U.S. has launched criminal and civil investigations into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill—the latest move by the Obama administration to show it is taking aggressive action amid bipartisan criticism of its response to the disaster.
"We have what we think is a sufficient basis for us to have begun a criminal investigation," said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Tuesday after meeting in New Orleans with state attorneys general and federal prosecutors from the region. Mr. Holder noted that 11 people died in the April 20 rig accident that precipitated the spill
In a press conference, Mr. Holder said there is "a wide range of possible violations." He declined to specify the target of the investigation because he said authorities aren't "clear on who should ultimately be held liable" and didn't want to "cast aspersions."
The Justice Department is looking for violations of some of the same environmental laws that Exxon was charged with breaching during its 1989 Valdez spill in Alaska, among other criminal laws.
The government's move turned up the heat on BP Plc as the British oil giant's shares came under pressure over its mounting woes, plunging 13% in trading.
A BP spokesman said Tuesday the company "will cooperate with any inquiries that the Department of Justice undertakes, just as we are doing in response to the other inquiries that are already ongoing."
Transocean Ltd., the BP contractor that owned the doomed rig, said in a statement that it is continuing to cooperate with all relevant authorities, adding: "We have not been named in any criminal investigation and we will not speculate on actions the Justice Department may or may not take."
The Dept. of Justice is walking a fine line since potential parties under investigation are crucial in the cleanup efforts. Mr. Holder said that he believes parties that might be probed such as BP, however, have an incentive to redouble their cleanup efforts since they would likely want to "mitigate whatever damages they have caused."
Mr. Holder's Tuesday statement is the latest move by the Obama administration to challenge BP, even as it relies on the oil giant for the technology to stop the spill. The White House has come under fire from Democrats and Republicans for its response to the disaster, and for relying too heavily on BP to control information about the spill and the technology to fight it.
The government's talk of a criminal investigation ups the ante in its high-stakes clash with BP. After days of mounting pressure from residents of the region and political figures, Mr. Obama has been taking increasingly public steps to counter his critics. The administration can't plug the leaking well any time soon. Instead, Mr. Obama has called for tougher regulation of the oil industry, new laws to allow tougher punishments for future lapses, and aggressive investigation of those implicated in the past crisis—a pattern he has followed in responding to the Wall Street meltdown and the Massey coal mine disaster.
Oil hits Alabama, Mississippi barrier islands
By The CNN Wire Staff June 1, 2010 -- Updated 2357 GMT (0757 HKT)
(CNN) -- Rust-colored oil washed ashore on barrier islands off Alabama and Mississippi on Tuesday, while more patches of crude offshore appeared to be moving toward those states' coasts, authorities reported.
Researchers scrambled to clean up tar balls and puddles of oil from the beaches of Alabama's Dauphin Island, while a strip of oil about two miles long and three feet wide stretched along Petit Bois Island, about five miles away off Mississippi, Gov. Haley Barbour's office reported.
It marked the first time oil has hit Mississippi's shores since the largest oil spill in U.S. history erupted in late April. And while tar balls associated with the Gulf spill had hit Dauphin Island, about 35 miles south of Mobile, in early May, residents said that Tuesday was the first time they had seen oil hitting the beach.
Only part of the island's beaches have been lined with protective booms, with much of those barriers lined up near a protected wildlife area on the west end of the island.
Annette Engel, a Louisiana State University researcher on Dauphin Island, said the oil is believed to be from BP's ruptured well off Louisiana. She predicted much more would be hitting the coast in coming days -- but vacationers remained on the beach, and some were still swimming in the blue-green waters as the cleanup continued.
And researchers from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab spotted large patches of the reddish-brown "weathered" oil during a water-sampling expedition offshore Tuesday, said John Dindo, the laboratory's associate director. Dindo said the oil spots on the water ranged from the size of a half-dollar coin to 30 to 40 feet.
----The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration had warned earlier this week that the spreading slick from an undersea BP oil well was heading toward the Alabama and Mississippi coasts. Dindo said tides in the area are running east and winds have been out of the southwest, driving the oil toward beach towns on the eastern side of Mobile Bay.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/06/01/oil.spill.alabama/index.html?hpt=T2
Oil could hit Florida Panhandle by Wednesday
By MELISSA NELSON
The Associated Press Updated: 10:38 p.m. Tuesday, June 1, 2010
PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. — A Florida beach might get hit with oil from the Deepwater Horizon accident for the first time Wednesday as sheen likely caused by the accident was reported less than 10 miles off Pensacola Beach.
A charter boat captain reported the oil Tuesday afternoon and state and local environmental officials confirmed that it was about 9.5 miles offshore. Winds are forecast to blow from the south and west, pushing the outer edges of massive slick from the spill closer to western Panhandle beaches.
Emergency crews began Tuesday scouring the beaches for oil and shoring up miles of boom. Escambia County will use it to block oil from reaching inland waterways, but plans to leave beaches unprotected because they are too difficult to protect and easier to clean up.
The spill's arrival coincides with the beginning of the Panhandle's summer tourism season, which normally brings millions of dollars to the region.
----- Pensacola Beach officials said their request for about $150,000 from BP to buy sifting machines and a tractor to help remove oil from the beach's famous white sands has lingered unanswered for more than three weeks. BP has promised it will pay any expenses, but Panhandle officials say the bureaucracy has been slow. Some think the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be running the cleanup operation, not BP.
----- Lee said BP has spent money on public relations, but not on preparations for beach cleanup. The company has provided the sate with $25 million to promote tourism. Escambia approved $700,000 in emergency funding for tourism promotion Tuesday, with another $700,000 to be allocated in 45 days.
Lee said the bureaucratic process set up at the federal staging centers in Alabama and Louisiana have also made it difficult to get information about his pending request.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/oil-could-hit-florida-panhandle-by-wednesday-720986.html
“Our way of life is over. It’s the end, the apocalypse and no one outside of these few parishes really cares. They say they do, but they don’t do nothing but talk…Where’s the person who says these are real people, real people with families, and they are hurting.”
Tom Young, a fisherman from Plaquemines parish in Louisiana
At the Comex silver depositories Tuesday, final figures were: Registered 51.91 Moz, Eligible 67.53 Moz, Total 119.45 Moz.
Day 24 of Hitler’s attack in the west that almost brought down western civilization. Dunkirk evacuation day 7.
Dunkirk & the Battle of France – Day by day 70 years on.
http://londonirvinereport.blogspot.com/p/dunkirk-battle-of-france.html
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Hero’s Corner.
No Crooks and Scoundrels Corner today. Today for one day only, Hero’s Corner, an uplifting story of a forgotten American hero, forgotten no more. The story brings great credit on Belgium, unlike the EU’s Caesar van Rompuy. More on that tomorrow. Today in our ever so small way, we are proud to help assist Sergeant Sorensen’s story rightly reach a wider audience, especially in America. For a fuller account of his bravery click on the link in the article.
Sorensen was posthumously decorated with five Belgian military honours.
In Belgium, A Ceremony For An American Hero
by Teri Schultz May 31, 2010
America's Memorial Day is an occasion for large ceremonies in Belgium, a country twice liberated by U.S. soldiers. But in one small town, a ceremony will celebrate the memory of Gerald Sorensen, a U.S. airman who was shot down — and joined the resistance.
Sorensen, an Air Force gunner from Pocatello, Idaho, evaded capture by the Nazis after his plane crashed, and was hidden by a local Belgian family. He was later killed along with the family's eldest son, who was a resistance fighter.
It was 66 years ago that Sorensen was aboard a B-17 that had just been disabled by German fire after bombing railway lines. The 10-person crew was told to bail out over Belgium.
Sorensen, who was 24 at the time, survived that challenge and more, becoming a hero to many along the way. But his story of bravery was lost to a generation of Americans, even as it remained very much alive in the heart of one Belgian woman.
Sitting at a desk in the home where she's lived all her 80 years, Jenny Abeels turns the yellowed pages of her photo album with a mixture of pride and pain. In this world, 1944, she is 14 and her adored brother Roger is 20. They are laughing in their backyard with two handsome friends.
"I was so happy to have the three of them together. Yes, that was the best," Abeels says.
What isn't obvious from the faded snapshots is that it's World War II in Nazi-occupied Belgium. Roger is a member of the underground Belgian resistance, the "Secret Army" fighting against the Germans.
The other two men are downed American aviators, Bernard "Mac" McManaman of Michigan and Gerald "Jerry" Sorensen of Idaho. They were being hidden in the Brussels suburb of Ganshoren by the Abeels family — who were risking their own lives.
Shrugging, Jenny says, "We knew it ... we knew if we were caught we would be killed."
The Germans never came to the house, but what did arrive was the third summons in a row for Roger to go to a German work camp. He, McManaman and Sorensen escaped to another town, where they helped in the resistance movement.
On Sept. 3, Brussels was freed by Allied troops. Mac arrived at the Abeels family home that night; he said Roger and Jerry were on their way. But two days later, a messenger brought devastating news.
As Abeels remembers, "I heard a terrible cry, and I ran in and said what happened? And my mother said Roger and Jerry are dead. I always say, this time I won't cry. I loved them so much."
They had been killed by departing German soldiers.
The men's bodies were brought to Ganshoren and interred in the small cemetery there. The U.S. government wanted to move Sorensen's remains, but his family succeeded in convincing authorities that he would have wanted to be buried in Ganshoren.
Just a few blocks from where Abeels and Sorensen lie next to each other in the Ganshoren cemetery, the community named two streets after the friends: Sgt Sorensenstraat and Roger Abeels straat.
But then the Sorensen story gradually faded to black — except for Jenny Abeels, who spent all her free time at the gravesite.
"When other girls were going to dances, I was going to the cemetery," she says.
Jerry Sheridan, a professor and part-time historian active in the American Overseas Memorial Day Association, had heard of "isolated graves" of U.S. servicemen. He discovered that there are eight in Belgium, including Sorensen's.
"When we first started this project, nobody at the embassy knew about him, nobody in the military knew about him," Sheridan says. "As long as AOMDA exists, it will never happen again. We will never forget."
On Monday, Sheridan led the first formal Memorial Day ceremony in 63 years at tiny Ganshoren cemetery, with Jenny Abeels as the guest of honor.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127295673
"The gold standard makes the money's purchasing power independent of the changing, ambitions and doctrines of political parties and pressure groups. This is not a defect of the gold standard; it is its main excellence."
Ludwig von Mises
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished May:
DJIA: +276 UP. NASDAQ: +499 UP. SP500: +304 UP. The great Bull market goes on with the all three continuing higher in positive numbers, but is now under serious pressure.
Help the LIR fight Banksterism, the EU, and for sound money.
If you can, help the LIR stay around and make a difference. Please make a donation at the PayPal link on the website or better still become a sponsor for what looks like an exciting 2010. Capitalism not banksterism. Many thanks to all who have helped.
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Sunspots – A 22 year colder world? (From 2004?)
Spotless Days June 01
Current Stretch:0 days
2010 total: 33 days (22%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 802 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
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