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ARCHIVED DISCUSSION FROM 12/20/2006 All times are U.S. Mountain Time (Yesterday's Discussion.) RAP (12/20/06; 20:46:33MT - usagold.com msg#: 150385) Coincidence or preparing? http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3342489%2C00.html Bush says bigger military size is necessaryhttp://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-12/21/content_5513646.htmAhmadinejad: Iran now nuclear power Chris Powell (12/20/06; 19:48:47MT - usagold.com msg#: 150384) James Turk: Three strikes against the dollar http://goldmoney.com/ 9:45p ET Wednesday, December 20, 2006Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:James Turk, founder of GoldMoney, editor of the Freemarket Gold and Money Report, and consultant to GATA, has just called a third strike against the U.S. dollar. The first strike, Turk writes, was Iran's conversion from dollars to euros. The second was the U.S. government's proclamation of a ban on melting one-cent and five-cent coins now that their metal value exceeds their currency value. And the third -- a strike against not only the dollar but also the euro and the yen -- is an expansion of government control over economies, including the prospect of capital controls such as Thailand briefly experimented with this week.Turk's new analysis is titled "Three Strikes Against the Dollar" and you can find it in the "Founder's Commentary" box at the top left of the GoldMoney home page here:http://goldmoney.com/CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/TreasurerGold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc. Chris Powell (12/20/06; 19:36:26MT - usagold.com msg#: 150383) Reg Howe: Gold derivatives -- elephant in the boardroom http://www.goldensextant.com/commentary33.html 9:25p ET Wednesday, December 20, 2006Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:Reginald H. Howe, plaintiff and litigator in the first federal gold price-fixing lawsuit and consultant to GATA, has studied the latest figures on derivatives in gold, silver, and commodities, as compiled by the Bank for International Settlements. He concludes that the Western central banks and their agents are using fewer forwards and swaps and more options to restrain prices. Maybe this is because the real goods are running out, leaving only paper to deceive the markets with.Howe also raises the question raised in GATA's dispatches recently as to whether the bull market in commodities is a matter not only of growth in the developing world but also the monetization of commodities there and in the developed world -- the onset of what von Mises called "the crack-up boom," when people begin to realize that there will be no restraint on the money supply and that holding anything real is infinitely preferable to holding ordinary currency sure to depreciate quickly. Howe concludes:"The scourge of unlimited paper money is an addiction, operating on society much as alcohol or drug addiction does on an individual, and just as hard to shake. Derivatives are more like a malignant cancer. In scarcely more than a decade, they have rapidly metastasized to exert a controlling influence on the fundamentals of world finance, particularly interest rates. An international financial system beset by both afflictions cannot have a bright future."Dreams of four- or even five-digit gold prices are thus in the cards. But when this house of cards collapses, even gold bugs are unlikely to enjoy the world that follows, proving once more the wisdom of the old adage: 'Be careful what you wish for; you may receive it.'"Howe's essay is titled "Gold Derivatives: Elephant in the Boardroom," and you can find it at the GoldenSextant Internet site here:http://www.goldensextant.com/commentary33.htmlIt is probably the best and best-documented description of what is happening in the financial world at the moment. Of course GATA is working on averting the disaster whose outlines are becoming plain, but, just in case, you might want to check the classifieds for condos on Mars -- or in Tibet anyway.CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/TreasurerGold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc. TownCrier (12/20/06; 18:24:45MT - usagold.com msg#: 150382) More news on price-discovery, markets, and bilateral trade negotiation... http://www.mineweb.net/whats_new/527968.htm HEADLINE: China to create second global commodity market20-DEC-06, JOHANNESBURG (Mineweb.com) --China might create a second global commodity market in the next 15 to 20 years in order to exercise more control over commodity prices that are currently being determined in Paris, New York and London. Sanu Sha Naidu, research fellow at the Chinese Centre of the University of Stellenbosch, says that Chinese concern over prices determined in markets that they have no control over, may give rise to a second market joined by emerging players and Asian drivers of commodity demand. Naidu said the Chinese were asking themselves why they would pay a steep price for commodities such as iron ore if they could bilaterally negotiate a more competitive price. "They feel that commodities are unfairly priced and that they are paying too much. The view is that countries that are sourcing the resources, or those that supply it, do not determine the price. "This creates a problem and raises the question of do we disengage and create our own, second commodities market." ...Naidu said the argument made is similar to the argument around the pricing of coffee beans that was raised in the 1980s. "The coffee beans were produced on the African continent, while prices were determined and depressed by markets elsewhere.^---(from url)---^In that final bit, the lesson comes when you substitute the word "gold" in place of "coffee", and the reference to 'markets elsewhere' could easily be taken as the derivative-based COMEX gold trading pits in New York or the paper-gold intensive LBMA affairs in London.Participants in the REAL economy are increasingly heard to say, "Enough (paper) is enough already!"R. TownCrier (12/20/06; 18:13:29MT - usagold.com msg#: 150381) Thai official calls for global action on the dollar -- Central banker asks global regulators to help http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/20/business/baht.php December 20, 2006, BANGKOK: ...the governor of the Thai central bank, Tarisa Watanagase, Wednesday ... portrayed Thailand as a victim of the large imbalances in trade and savings that send trillions of dollars sloshing in and out of developing countries."This is not a problem unique to Thailand," Tarisa said during an interview. "I'm sure that if this sort of problem is not cured in a cooperative manner, we could see similar measures elsewhere."By imposing capital controls on Monday, Thailand sought to slow inflows of foreign money because it had resulted in a double-digit appreciation of its currency against the dollar since the start of the year. Tarisa urged the International Monetary Fund or the Asian Development Bank to find a solution to the problem. Otherwise, she said, "The smaller, open economies will have to take the issue into their own hands."Tarisa and other top Thai finance officials have come under strong criticism here after the sharp drop in the market was followed by the reversal on the capital controls....Tarisa said the biggest failing was a lack of communication with investors when the new rules were announced Monday. "There was not enough communication in English in terms of the details of the regulation," she said. "That was the major problem."The bank had been battling to contain a surge of short-term investments into the baht, she said, particularly into the country's market for corporate bonds and commercial paper. On Dec. 4, the bank issued restrictions on foreign investment in the bond market, but the measures failed to have any impact.The bank then decided to issue blanket measures on all foreign investment ... But the response in the market was more than the bank had anticipated, Tarisa said. "Investors overreacted well beyond our expectations," she said."We know very well that we cannot go against the market," she said.^---(from url)---^Two points come to mind in the growing role of gold in both the public and private sector.First, with regard to tangible ownership of the metal as property rather than as a derivative contract, a "failure of communication", in English or otherwise, is largely a non-issue.Second, for many coalescing reasons, gold holds the market's eye, has done so for centuries, and as Tarisa says, there's no going against it, depsite recently-failed reserve experiments to the contrary.R. mikal (12/20/06; 18:05:33MT - usagold.com msg#: 150380) "Monetary policy screwup" to be official trigger? http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_gilbert&sid=ady1Bv15X8zM Bonds, Stocks, Gold Can't All Subsist in Nirvana: Mark Gilbert By Mark GilbertDec. 21 (Bloomberg) --Excerpts: "Financial markets have achieved something akin to Nirvana in the past six months. The U.S. bond futures contract has climbed 6 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index has surged 14 percent. Gold has gained 8 percent. In the argot of traders, securities are priced for perfection. They also look poised to dichotomize. Investors typically buy bonds when slowing growth curbs consumer-price gains and central banks cut interest rates. Equities are in vogue when economic growth is fast enough to bolster earnings. Rising gold prices are usually evidence of people seeking an inflation haven."Mikal-- A short, unique frame of reference on the U.S. economy comparing bonds, equities and gold.Despite ignoring many U.S. and world markets, global debt, trade imbalances & competitive currency devaluation, pension shortfalls, market manipulation etc, much insight is given on establishment thinking.Now read the final, gold segment of this opinion piece for entertainment and sublime edification as an ironic endorsement of gold. You'll see how trivializing and misrepresenting gold's past, present and future roles isactually fun if you end with "it's hard to see why gold will glitter unless central banks screw up on monetary policy."!Also, note that more than ONE(U.S.)"central banks" suddenly coming into the picture in a big way, by implication, undeniably:"Can Gold Still Glitter When Inflation Looks Dormant? ``Some have argued that globalization and the move toward more competitive markets have reduced inflationary pressures, thus making inflation targets easier to reach,'' Swiss National Bank President Jean-Pierre Roth said last week. ``As long as this continues, and central banks succeed in keeping inflation under control, the appeal of the gold standard will remain limited.'' Prices in the inflation-linked government-bond markets suggest rising consumer prices aren't a concern to investors. In the U.S., yields indicate an average inflation rate of just 2.3 percent in the coming decade, while in Europe the figure is about 2.2 percent. Switzerland has sold about half of its gold since May 2000, leaving it with about 1,290 tonnes, according to the World Gold Council. Total gold reserves held by the world's central banks have dropped by more than 8 percent in the past six years, according to data compiled by the International Monetary Fund. Gold is still an important store of wealth for individuals in Asia. As growth explodes in China, India and their neighbors, gold will still find a bid from wealthy entrepreneurs with a mistrust of banks or a disinclination to pay taxes. At the risk of offending the gold bugs, who are numerous and apt to hurl abuse at commentators who opine on their precious metal, it's hard to see why gold will glitter unless central banks screw up on monetary policy." Federal_Reserves (12/20/06; 18:00:41MT - usagold.com msg#: 150379) The world's largest armies * People's Republic of China: 2,225,000 troops* United States: 1,426,713* India: 1,325,000* North Korea: 1,106,000* Russia: 1,037,000* South Korea: 687,000* Pakistan: 619,000* Turkey: 514,850* Vietnam: 484,000* Egypt: 450,000 Thoreauly (12/20/06; 17:47:40MT - usagold.com msg#: 150378) @ melda laure re: SPP Myth vs. Fact Yes, and speakng of the income tax, let's not forget that when it was instituted in 1913, it only affected the richest 1% of Americans, with a top rate of 7%, which it was never to have exceeded, only to soon rise above 90% and affect all but the poorest Americans.Myth vs. Fact? You decide. melda laure (12/20/06; 17:08:31MT - usagold.com msg#: 150377) SPP Myth vs. Fact.... vs "we're just talking" http://www.spp.gov/myths_vs_facts.asp SNIP:Myth vs. FactMyth: The SPP was an agreement signed by Presidents Bush and his Mexican and Canadian counterparts in Waco, TX, on March 23, 2005. Fact: The SPP is a dialogue to increase security and enhance prosperity among the three countries. The SPP is not an agreement nor is it a treaty. In fact, no agreement was ever signed. Myth: The SPP is a movement to merge the United States, Mexico, and Canada into a North American Union and establish a common currency. Fact: The cooperative efforts under the SPP, which can be found in detail at www.spp.gov, seek to make the United States, Canada and Mexico open to legitimate trade and closed to terrorism and crime. It does not change our courts or legislative processes and respects the sovereignty of the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The SPP in no way, shape or form considers the creation of a European Union-like structure or a common currency. The SPP does not attempt to modify our sovereignty or currency or change the American system of government designed by our Founding Fathers. Myth: The SPP is being undertaken without the knowledge of the U.S. Congress.Fact: U.S. agencies involved with SPP regularly update and consult with members of Congress on our efforts and plans. Myth: The SPP infringes on the sovereignty of the United States.Fact: The SPP respects and leaves the unique cultural and legal framework of each of the three countries intact. Nothing in the SPP undermines the U.S. Constitution. In no way does the SPP infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States. Myth: The SPP is illegal and violates the Constitution.Fact: The SPP is legal and in no way violates the Constitution or affects the legal authorities of the participating executive agencies. Indeed, the SPP is an opportunity for the governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico to discuss common goals and identify ways to enhance each nation's security and prosperity. If an action is identified, U.S. federal agencies can only operate within U.S. law to address these issues. The Departments of Commerce and Homeland Security coordinate the efforts of the agencies responsible for the various initiatives under the prosperity and security pillars of the SPP. If an agency were to decide a regulatory change is desirable through the cooperative efforts of SPP, that agency is required to conform to all existing U.S. laws and administrative procedures, including an opportunity to comment. Myth: The SPP will cost U.S. taxpayers ...END SNIP...Daro! Yerch! Gaaaa! It's not an agreement, not a treaty, we're just shootin' the breeze and playing horseshoes down on the ol' ranch.I see, it is "just dialog" in the same way that the income tax is "voluntary" - that is to say "for suitably worded definitions of voluntary"And gold is "only metal" for suitable definitions of "only". The customer can have any color as long as it's black, and the condemed may have any choice of activities as long as he chooses a noose.On the bright side, once congress is eliminated, we can have an old fashioned rebellion and finish the "war against Washington's Aggression" properly. Maybe we can get rid of Ottowa and the DF (mexican federal district) while we're at it.I hear Gaelic is a popular language in Scotland these days. USAGOLD Daily Market Report (12/20/06; 16:29:02MT - usagold.com msg#: 150376) Page Update! http://www.usagold.com/DailyQuotes.htmlThe Daily Gold Market Report has been updated.If you are considering investments in gold we invite you to request our free introductory information packet detailing the products and services offered by USAGOLD ~ Centennial Precious Metals. We welcome your inquiry and look forward to working with you.WEDNESDAY Market ExcerptsDecember 20 (from MarketWatch, Reuters) -- Gold futures fell Wednesday to close under $625 an ounce following a more than $7 gain in the previous session, while rising supplies pushed copper prices to their lowest level in six months. "Increased volatility due to the holiday season will keep the metal vulnerable to sharp downward movements," said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London.February gold contracts closed down $1.10 at $624.30 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract closed up more than $7 an ounce, marking its first winning session in four."Gold recovered well before the euro did against the dollar because of a fundamental tide of favorable factors outweighing the recent fund selling," said Julian Phillips, an analyst at GoldForecaster.com.Gold started higher in early business when the dollar continued to show weakness against the euro and the yen. The euro climbed to a fresh record high against the yen and gained on the dollar after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet warned of higher inflation next year."With some more consolidation expected before the next direction is clear, what is clear is gold's attractiveness to investment demand in this area of consolidation, whereas previously this demand was seen only when gold prices rose," said Phillips.Overall, "traders and investors appear to be ignoring the report that wholesale prices jumped in November by the largest amount in 32 years, led by increases in energy prices and new vehicles," said Kitco's Jon Nadler, an investment-products analyst."They also seem to be paying little attention to the unfolding Thai financial crisis although there surely must be significant gold buying going on internally in that country in the wake of a 20% drop in the stock market," he said. Traders said they expect conditions to remain quiet for the rest of 2006."The liquidity is quite a bit reduced now going into Christmas. So I don't think we're going to see a lot of things happening in the metals unless it happens right at the year end, like the last day or two," said one metals dealer.At this point, traders said they thought most precious metals participants were just waiting for 2006 to run out. One broker noted that this Friday will effectively be a half day with many players leaving early for the long holiday weekend, and London traders will already be leaving early for their holidays at the time New York opens.Noting that Monday is Christmas and Tuesday is Boxing Day in the U.K., he said, "London won't be back to establish any kind of market until Wednesday. At this point, the market is just waiting to turn the calendar page to January."---(see url for full news, 24-hr newswire)--- mikal (12/20/06; 14:10:08MT - usagold.com msg#: 150375) The "high-yield" emporer wears no clothes! http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3ebf8ce4-8fce-11db-9ba3-0000779e2340.html High-Yield Risk Looks Riskier By Richard Beales and Saskia Scholtes | Published: December 20 2006 02:00 | Last updated: December 20 2006 02:00 -- Excerpts:"The corporate high-yield bond market has been riding high this year. Investors enjoyed low volatility and healthy returns of about 11 per cent - more than any other category of fixed-income assets. Issuers and private equity groups have benefited from easy access to capital as high demand pushed risk premiums lower.This led to record issuance of $122.7bn of bonds in the US and $66.2bn in Europe, according to Dealogic. Leveraged loan volumes also spiked, with a record $629bn originated across the US and Europe, according to Standard & Poor's LCD, the information provider. "Every single milestone in high-yield has been exceeded this year," says Jim Casey, co-head of leveraged finance at JPMorgan.However, analysts say there are signs that the buoyancy of 2006 has left little headroom for further gains. Some warn that this year's ample liquidity has spawned increasingly aggressive leveraged buy-outs and looser lending standards that may have suppressed early symptoms of distress in the market."Mikal-- Heads up on more signs of the times. Like the replication of derivatives themselves, dark developments turn up in the media despite themselves."Thomas Haag, portfolio manager at Seneca Capital Management, says: "We are starting to have concerns about 2008 and beyond - with higher leverage and riskier debt, there is a chance that today's speculation and LBO activity will come back to haunt the market.""Mikal-- Time and time again they come back to feed on obligatory public offerings made acceptable and fresh.But gold is the only real protection against the sudden exposure to the rank and decayed core beneath the surface:"Analysts across the street say that low defaults appear to have reduced investors' risk aversion, as shown by low equity market volatility readings and the low cost of insuring against corporate defaults in the derivatives market.The problem is that investors may not be adequately pricing risk, since market liquidity has made it possible for risky companies to borrow on increasingly favourable terms, often using the proceeds to boost their share prices.As a result, leverage levels for high-yield bond deals have been creeping higher, with US companies issuing debt worth on average 4.4 times their earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.According to data from Standard & Poor's, the ratings mix of new deals in 2006 saw a steady deterioration. In the US market, a sizeable $39bn of debt, accounting for about 30 per cent of total issuance, was rated B- or lower.And while thus far there have been few signs of an abrupt reversal of fortune for high-yield in 2007, analysts say that the market may have priced in too much good news." Goldilox (12/20/06; 14:02:55MT - usagold.com msg#: 150374) Global systemic crisis in 2007 - Financial sector: « Another bubble » close to bursting http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-10-is-available!-Global-systemic-crisis-in-2007-Financial-sector-Another-bubble-close-to-bursting_a317.html snip:A large number of events - whose importance began to appear clearly at the end of 2006 - is about to thrust the world's financial sector into a process of deep crisis: depreciation of US dollar-denominated assets, monetisation of US debt, fast degradation of US banks' and of some EU banks' balance-sheets, low level of banks' reserves, fast depreciation of housing loans (2) and recession of the US economy. For example, the value of US dollar-denominated assets worldwide (3) compared to the composite basket of currencies of the US main trade partners, decreased by USD 2,000 billion only because of the US currency's loss in value. Another example, because of the same devaluation, the US debt fell by more than the US trade deficit's worth (forecast: USD 750 billion) or than the balance of payment deficit's worth (forecast: USD 900 billion) (4).The monetisation of the US debt (anticipated in February 2006 by LEAP/E2020 (5)) directly affects the balance sheets of the big international financial players, with some effects that should become more obvious in 2007. In the United States, a growing number of financial institutions is beginning to announce that the bursting of the real-estate bubble and the increasing amount of default on housing loan repayments has started to impact on banks' (6) and loaning institutions' results. For instance, due to the market's fast degradation, the US government non longer even tries to look into Fanny Mae's and Freddy Mac's accounts, the two giant quasi-government financial institutions who together weigh more than half of the US mortgage market (7). Thus Fanny Mae has not presented any quarterly or yearly report since 2004 and must ask for an exemption in order to remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange (8) and continue to increase its market share. Less than a month ago, Kevin M. Warsh, governor of the New York Federal Reserve, warned against risks of systemic crisis for the US loan mortgage market due to Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac accounting practices (9). Those risks are likely to cross US boarders since foreign investors, namely Asian, who walked away from US Treasury Bonds, have started a few months ago to buy Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac stocks. Moreover, for many years, the US authorities have allowed banks to diminish drastically their asset reserves while making massive bets on the derivatives market where the risks are high. The chart below shows how those Wall Street's giants (such as JPMorgan/Chase or CityBank or Bank of America, who were on top of all financial news in the past months), with counterparties close to none, are in fact doomed to bankruptcy in case a big crisis occurs. This provides a rather eloquent image of the frailty of the hedging sector banks invested in so massively.-GoldiloxSee the URL for some good charts and noted references. Topaz (12/20/06; 13:43:23MT - usagold.com msg#: 150373) Au:Ag. http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$GOLD:$SILVER&p=D&st=1990-01-01&en=2006-12-23&id=p44105871339 Rather than sitting around knitting beanies as we await the next Gold uptick, it might be a worthwhile exercise to track the ratio.When it updates today the line will be hard up on RSI 70, indicating the upper limit for Silver ...previous indications show a reversal in Aggies fortunes, as compared to Gold, is imminent.Lets watch! Thoreauly (12/20/06; 12:14:18MT - usagold.com msg#: 150372) Why banks love inflation http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/saxena/2006/1220.html As Puru Saxena writes (see link):"You must understand that banks are in the business of lending money and inflation benefits them immensely. The higher the rate of inflation (money-supply and credit growth), the bigger their profits from collecting interest on the issued loans. Moreover, inflation also keeps a segment of the public happy (at least those who have the ability to invest) as their assets continue to rise, thereby giving the illusion of prosperity. So, the hidden agenda of the central banks and politicians is to create and encourage inflation, whilst telling the public that they are in fact fighting inflation!"Simply put, since inflation is the sword banks live by, it is the sword they will die by.In Gold We Trust. Thoreauly (12/20/06; 11:26:06MT - usagold.com msg#: 150371) "Gold and Deflation" http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north497.html I'm an admirer of Garth North but confess I'm a bit surprised by his latest offering (see link), not because of his assessment of gold's performance over the last several decades) but of his agreement with Robert Anderson, his successor at the Foundation for Economic Education, who writes:"Perhaps you are more optimistic about the future direction of the world's economies than I am, but I simply cannot imagine central bankers in hampered market economies anytime soon engaging in hyper-inflation, followed by a return to gold as money. We live today in an age of fiat monies manipulated by government central bankers who know it would be an act of utter irrationality to destroy their fiat monies and, further, know a return to gold as money would destroy their monetary power."Well, who CAN imagine the banksters doing that, but that's not the point. The point is that because inflation is the name of the game in central banking, and because the banking cartel is nothing more than a den of thieves, with no honor among them, it's only a matter of time before one of them panics, not to return to a gold standard but simply to flee the dollar as it inevitably inflates itself out of existence. It's the nature of the game, after all, and thus not a question of how the game will end but when. And since central banks, among others, are already starting to diversify out of the dollar, surely "when" will be sooner rather than later.As for resorting to "direct controls," no doubt this will be attempted, but like all such controls -- for which the NAU and the amero will be no exception -- all they can do is postpone the inevitable and indeed make the return to Earth that much worse for postponing it.So while Anderson concludes by saying, "Of course gold as money will eventually evolve but, unfortunately, it will be in some far distant free society beyond our time," I say horse-hockey, simply because, for all their power, the central banks aren't omnipotent and that just because they've managed to perpetuate their fraud this long hardly means that they will be able to do so into the far distant future.Hell, it may end tomorrow morning. ge (12/20/06; 11:07:59MT - usagold.com msg#: 150370) Amero I guess the introduction of Amero would not affect the bull market in gold. I have a feeling that everyone is resigned to the fact that the gold bull cannot be stopped. The question appears to me, "who shall control the next fiat money expansion, after the gold bull is concluded?" If true, this would indicate that, an astronomical gold price should be preferred by everyone, so that the currency manipulators should be free from worrying about the gold price in the initial phases of next credit expansion; provided of course other people (asians, muslims, ufo's etc) can be blamed for what happened to the currency. Amero area appears to be well positioned for the next inflationary cycle, with Mexican demographics, Canadian resources and US management. Can one entity (amero, euro, yuan, ruble etc) govern the world as Pound did in the 19th century and Dollar did in the 20th? I guess not. May be Amero is just for survival in the post-crisis era. Thoreauly (12/20/06; 10:37:33MT - usagold.com msg#: 150369) It's only just begun http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1219-10.htm The precursor to the NAU, the Orwellian named Security and Prosperity Partnership (i.e., security and prosperity for whom) only came into existence last year -- http://www.spp.gov -- and so has so far received very little attention. But as it lays the necessary groundwork for both the NAU and the amero, developments both at home and abroad need to be watched closely amid the dollar's decline.Who knows what the tipping point will be, but again, as the American people would never vote the NAU into existence, it will have to come about via a government edict of some kind, which in turn will require additional government authority. My guess is that it will come in the form of martial law established amid a national emergency relating to the invasion of Iran that the theocons remain so hungry for and that the Bush-Cheney cabal may view as the only alternative to a legacy of unmitigated failure. After all, there's no way they can turn the fiasco in Iraq over to a successor, even a Republican one, without being savaged by history for what some have rightly called the greatest foreign policy disaster in the history of the country.What to do in the meantime?Follow the Mogambo Guru's advice, of course and "get silver and gold right (pause) freaking (pause) now, if not sooner." Minero (12/20/06; 08:49:14MT - usagold.com msg#: 150368) "Amero" North American Union, etc. http://www.amerocurrency.com/index.html It looks as though the White House has started a concerted effort to move us toward a "North American Union". I see this as another contention plan to be used only in the event of an economic crisis. Whenever the "Dollar Crisis" finally occurs, it will be quite convenient to invoke a totally new monetary unit with a new set of partners. This will facilitate our negating all "dollar" debt. Our "new union" can get off scott free. This may sound very outlandish, but the world is now in totally untested waters. Anything can occur, and anything now flies. Realistically, are we going to pay our debts? Thoreauly (12/20/06; 08:35:56MT - usagold.com msg#: 150367) The Mogambo Guru on the amero http://www.safehaven.com/article-6550.htm -- Susan asks "With the collapse of the dollar on the horizon and the 'Amero' lining up to take its place, how will this new currency affect our gold and silver?"For one thing, the Amero is supposedly a proposed new common currency for (at least) Canada, the U.S. and Mexico that will replace our individual moneys, including the dollar, and morph us all seamlessly into one big, happy, multi-lingual, multi-cultural family with vast income and wealth disparities, which is funny enough in itself that rational people would even contemplate such preposterous stupidity.But the economic mess that is engulfing us, precipitated by the dollar getting destroyed by the actions and inactions of the Federal Reserve and Congress for so many years, has to be resolved somehow! Why not the Amero? And if not the Amero, my Darling Mogambo Cherub (DMC), then what?And with a worthless dollar, soaring inflation and a grumpy electorate, what better solution than to (like most other countries in history have done in times of their own well-deserved economic crises caused exactly like ours) expropriate the resources and assets of some other countries, such as Canada and Mexico? Hahaha! America at its finest hour! We have evolved to the point where we Americans can now, literally, conquer other countries, and acquire their assets and resources to bail us out of the economic mess we created (which is the impetus for all wars), all without firing a shot! Or even threatening to! A miracle of modern politics and corruption!As to whether or not it is true, there surely are people who desperately want it to be true because they are all lining themselves up to make a big profit from it somehow.And for how it affects gold, it will have, at worst, no effect, as that is the beauty of gold; it is impervious to currencies and their depredations, and its buying-power value over the last 4,000 years is almost a constant, which is the whole point of how gold "preserves wealth"!In the best-case scenario, gold (and silver, and all commodities) will soar like they always have in the inevitable bust at the end of long booms, which are always financed by the massively excessive creation of money and credit, via the historically timeless and brainless expedient of a fiat currency, a reckless banking system and a complicit, intellectually-corrupt government.And with the absolute, 100% certainty of a bust happening again, just like it always has, without exception, for thousands of countries and thousands of currencies in the last thousands of years, gold will rise triumphant, just as gold has always risen triumphant! And that one fact, alone, explains why I am always strongly suggesting, in a very loud and irritating voice, for you to get silver and gold right (pause) freaking (pause) now, if not sooner. Lackluster (12/20/06; 06:55:53MT - usagold.com msg#: 150366) Thoreauly @ Amero ? Disclaimer: I know verty little about currencies, trading etc. I also have not been folowing the "Amero" rumors to sense how real they might be.Someone posting on another site suggested that if the Amero were to be introduced, it might first be used for international transactions, or transactions between the US, Mexico, and Canada, leaving the Dollars and Peso for domestic use. mikal (12/20/06; 00:26:49MT - usagold.com msg#: 150365) Deeper and deepa http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Commodities/Gold_could_hit_800_in_near_term_Paul_Walker/articleshow/856578.cms Gold could hit $800 in near term: Paul WalkerInterview by Deepa Krishnan | The Economic TimesWednesday, December 20, 2006Easily a pass over, skip over article rating a 2 out of 10 IMO. GFMS's Walker doesn't go much deeper than Deepa'squestions allow.But this gold organization big cheese does acknowledgea bull market,though little else. Walker makes some obvious, minor points as he works in misrepresentations and deprecations almost like Jessica Cross. And tries oh so hard to sound like a goldbug, which he may in real life be. But like ex-Chairman Greenspeal, his lecture is purely academic and rated for public consumption. ViewYesterday's Discussion.
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