Weekly News Wrap-Up 4.13.12
This is **** Creek
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
The biggest story not in the news is the upcoming meeting, this weekend, in Turkey about Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S. is meeting with Iran along with Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China. It is nothing short of an attempt to avoid World War III. Sanctions from the West against Iran are ratcheting up, while Iran retaliates by cutting off oil to Europe. I cannot see an amicable end to this gathering of world powers. I hope I am totally wrong. There is a cease-fire in Syria in its yearlong uprising; many do not expect it to last. More than 9,000 have been killed in the fighting. North Korea has reportedly launched another ballistic missile which failed shortly after lift-off. This part of the Axis of Evil is alive and well and will surely try again.
The GOP presidential race lost another candidate. This time it was Rick Santorum that ran out of steam. That leaves Gingrich, Paul and frontrunner Romney. Paul has vowed to last up until the Republican convention. It is doubtful Gingrich will have enough money to go that far. The European debt crisis is getting worse. The IMF is asking for another $400 billion to shore up the crisis. Greece is in riot mode, and Spain looks like it will be the next to fall. Unemployment is rocketing in the EU while the economy is plunging. Analyst Graham Summers thinks Europe crashes by June.
Finally, is there any wonder why gold rallied this week? Many experts say it will hit $2,000 per ounce this year. If Europe implodes, that estimate could be a little low. Greg Hunter brings you these stories and his analysis in the latest Weekly News Wrap-Up.
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About the Author
Greg Hunter
Greg is the producer and creator of USAWatchdog.com. The site’s slogan is “analyzing the news to give you a clear picture of what’s really going on.” The site will keep an eye on the government, your financial interests and cut through the media spin. USAWatchdog.com is neither Democrat nor Republican, Liberal or Conservative. Before creating and producing the site, Greg spent nearly 9 years as a network and investigative correspondent. He worked for ABC News and Good Morning America for nearly 6 years. Most recently, Greg worked for CNN for shows such as Paula Zahn Now, American Morning and various CNN business shows.
If Europe implodes I expect that we actually will see the price of gold collapse for a short time as liquidity and speculative money floods into the US Dollar/Treasury markets and pure cash positions. Although it is foolish to believe it, the US Dollar is still considered a safe haven. Funds will also likely flow to the Yen and any remaining gold in the vaults of European banks will be sold to raise capital, putting more downward pressure on the price action. This collapse in the price of gold will be the last great buying opportunity in gold.
Why do I think the European endgame will play out in this fashion? Simply because 99% of those in the western trading and banking establishment have been taught for decades that gold (and silver, for that matter) are investments. As investments, precious metals earn no yield and earning zero yield is unacceptable. People lose their jobs not earning yield. Financial professionals earn a commission to MAKE a profit, they will therefore look for any conduit within the system for investing the funds in their care. The real rise in gold will come after the collapse of the US Dollar, as that is the most liquid market in the world. It is at that point that a majority of people will turn to seeking to PRESERVE what they have, not necessarily earn a profit. This is where gold comes in as gold is all about preservation of wealth.
The wild card in all of this is the coming establishment of a physical metal based exchange coming in summer 2012. This exchange is in the works and will create an actual price discovery mechanism based on the fundamentals of supply and demand. So, I see the gold and silver price rising gradually (and in fits and starts due to banker paper manipulation) throughout 2012, until the collapse of Spain or Italy, at which point it will fall considerably. At that point it will be time to back up the truck and load up on whatever physical you can get your hands on, because soon after Europe falls it will be the US’ turn.
If your theory was correct, then the world’s central banks would not be stock piling gold
Thank you so much for the video Greg! I read this morning that Spain is outlawing transactions over $2500. Italy has outlawed transactions over $1300. Sweden is going cashless. Geitner has announced changes in physical currency including cashless transactions between the banks. All these are steps to a cashless economy so they can tax and control all transactions. Revelation 13:16-18 (and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark). I think they want the economy to implode. Obama can exercise that EO he recently updated and seize control of everything. Outlaw physical money so they can track all transactions. People will be so hungry they will agree to anything in order to get their food ration.
Barry,
Sad man. What happend to America?
Greg
Greg, Crooked Congress deals, insider trading, Wall Street Bankers, political favors, and, last but clearly not least, special interest government is what happened to America.
Amen Art!
Greg
I just can’t understand how this administration believes people don’t see right through the antics of propaganda being spoon feed to them by O & the MSM. It seems sports stars are more important than Greece, Spain & what is going down in the ME & Europe. Your quest writer, Jim Willie reports more news in one letter than the MSM does in a month.
There is a lot of info you will find at http://www.kingworldnews.com today, Jim Sinclair and others have took time to report their views & report on what is really going on around the world, it’s a wonder that the powers Obama has been abusing has not attacked this site & others like it who tells it like it really is!
It is time to get to work, my son inlaw is building a chicken house for me out of a old storage shed I was about to have torn down. Why waste any thing these days, fresh eggs & growing our own chickens for food. A few pointers for those who planning to raise your own eggs. You can put moth balls dowm to keeps snakes away & if you add a turkey in with the chickens, no wild birds will mess with them. To keep dogs away, you can buy coyate’s urine on ebay, spread it around the shed & no cats or dogs will come near your chicken shed!
Thanks for all you do Greg & enjoy your week end.
Thank you M Smith.
Greg
Hi Greg
I just posted this on my Facebook and look forward to reading comments. Do you see anything I got wrong.
I just heard an interesting comment on USA watchdog. Instead of implementing the Buffett rule (Raising taxes on the rich) which will increase the government pocket book by about 200 Billion or less than this past Februaries’ national budget deficit, Let’s stop the Buffett bailout. I’m talking about the bailout of the companies that Mr. Buffett owns like GE, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sacs through AIG, and Bank of America. All too large to fail companies. These are all holdings in his Berkshire Hathaway funds. No wonder he’s so willing to offer up his money for tax purposes, he’s just recycling the money. If we continue to lynch the job creators, the job creators will just stop and move away. No poor man ever gave someone a job and kept him employed. I believe in social responsibility which many of the wealthy lack, but beating the horse you’re betting on in the race is not the answer.
NC,
I don’t think we should lynch the job creators, but we should not continually bail them out either. That is not capitalism that is fascism. Buffett and his shareholders should have taken the hit not taxpayers.
Greg
I agree. The free market works if left alone to do it’s job. Government intervention has ruined it all. Time to let the citizens pick the winners and losers.
Nice Summary, Greg. Thank you.
Regarding the meeting on Iran, the most cynical people might suspect that the meeting is to coordinate WWIII rather than to prevent it. I doubt that’s the case but nothing surprises me anymore.
To understand the bigger picture, we need to understand the long term policy objectives of the private finance organizations that are moving us towards an interdependent global economic system. In the Middle East, Central Asia, and Northern Africa, the economic objective is to integrate all of the nation states into a regional economy that is referred to as MEFTA – the Middle East Free Trade Area. Targeted member nations are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel (and through Israel, the Palestinian Authority), Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. As a side note, MEFTA was initiated by the United States, so now you understand why the US will not support a separate Palestinian state. No matter how often we are told by media that this is a religious or cultural issue, it’s not. It’s economic and is driven by planned policy.
Participants at the meeting – the U.S, Iran, Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China are all pursuing an economic path to regional and global Free Trade Agreements (FTA’s) that are government under various international bodies (IMF, WTO, UN etc) and standards that we might call “supra-national” because they are presided over by non-elected appointees who establish policy that is driven down to the individual nation states who have signed on as members and/or participants.
So to back up for a moment, while we are showered with media stories about an Iranian nuclear threat, behind the scenes we have an ongoing effort and drive to integrate the Middle East – including Iran – into a regional economic system that aligns to standards established by the same unelected international governing bodies that the EU, NAFTA, ASEAN and other regional FTA pacts have aligned with in other parts of the world. The point is that while mainstream media and even alternative media will paint many of the meeting participants as opposed to each other, if you were to back way up to the 50,000 foot level and draw a relational diagram to international economic policy, with the exception of Iran you would find that the economic policy goals of each meeting participant are very similar, as though each are following a map towards a shared objective.
The question that people would have to ask themselves is “If these nations all share similar economic objectives, why do they need to go to war to achieve them?” I work in a field that utilizes risk management strategies and various brainstorming and relational techniques to understand challenges and mitigate them before they become a problem during what we refer to as implementation. I see a huge risk for global economic governance in practically all of the target countries in the MEFTA plan. Each and every nation on the list, with the exception of Israel (in the geographic center at the Africa/Eurasian crossroad), is comprised of a strong and faithful Islamic population. Right or wrong, whenever possible they select religious leadership who will protect and preserve their belief systems through a strong integration of religion and government. In many cases, this includes a strong economic component where the charging of interest is considered usury and is rejected by the governments.
With that in mind, you can begin to understand the challenges that the policy makers who are seeking MEFTA are facing. By aligning with the core pre-requisites for acceptance into MEFTA, member states must agree to financial policies that are established by the IMF, World Bank, and others that are in direct conflict with religious-based economic policies. That is your biggest risk in forming a regional FTA in that part of the world that is aligned with the FTA’s that the remainder of the world is implementing. That means there is a requirement to develop a long-term, multi-faceted, and comprehensive mitigation plan to deal with the issues within each individual country by finding a means to replace each leadership, and bring the people of the region along with you.
I could write a book on the topic and detail how this has been accomplished at many levels over the last few decades, but hopefully I’ve given you enough detail to stir your thinking a little bit and see that there’s much more to this picture than a nuclear Iran and opposing energy/security policies between the west and Russia/China. It’s deeper than that, it’s a shared challenge by all, and there is a bigger long-term goal than nuclear security or energy security – which are both huge in themselves. The bigger goal is never mentioned in mainstream media and is hardly ever referenced or hinted at in alternative media in any depth, even though all of the details can be found in policy documents and other forms at government and other internet websites.
As a final comment in this post, some interesting considerations in that regard are that Iranian President Ahmadinejad has been communicating privately with invite-only members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on trips to NYC to address the UN, The current Iranian regime was placed in power by the White House in 1979 under President Carter (CFR member) under the direction of NSA Zbigniew Brzezinski (CFR member). The CFR is the largest proponent of FTA’s and is also the organization who started the UN, the IMF, the WTO, and the World Bank, which the U.S, Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China are all heavily aligned to.
Sean,
Really good analysis! Thank you for taking the time to post this.
Greg
Gregg, Do you agree with Graham Summers assertion that Europe will collapse this June? I think he is guessing myself however I wouldn’t be surprised if this collapse occurs. He has been wrong in the past. Now, for us PM holders do you believe that silver and gold will also collapse in price? I was planning to get rid of some of my high priced silver and wait for the collapse to happen and then try and buy some at the lower prices. My fear is that after this collapse happens the cheap metal will be very difficult to actually find and buy. Especially in Latin America where I currently live.
Thanx.
Glen,
I am not sure about the timing but I think it implodes this year or we light the inflation fires in a big way. Either or the beginning of the end (Not the end) is this year.
Greg
I think for starters anyone should read” It Can”t Happen Here”. Very interseting book. Next be aware of the foundation being laid for Socialism and The Suggestion of “The New World Order”. It is all falling into place. A verry troubling time is had for all.
If a corp. is to big to fail they should automatically have to have a people elected ceo! they have some much power over the system and all its people in an econony. If we bail them out we own them!!
Greg –
A rather worrisome development here in Canada – The Royal Canadian Mint is proposing a purely digital currency dubbed as the Mint-Chip. Initially for small purchases only (under $10.00) I can see this gradually expanding to ever higher amounts and eventually replacing paper currency. Won’t happen anytime soon, but a diabolically clever way for the government to foil the underground economy. Which, by the way they created to begin with by imposing usurious taxes on any legitimate business transaction.
The boiling frog analogy comes to mind.
Paul,
Thank you for the real world reporting from Canada.
Greg
Do French Elections Matter On This Side Of The Pond?
Just about a month ago in the wake of the latest Greek bailout both French President Sarkozy and former French Finance Minister and now IMF head Christine LaGrande were declaring in lockstep, that “the problem is solved” and “economic spring is in the air.”
Well here we are a month on and the Spanish stock market is all but collapsed, the Italian’s are but a step behind with trading in Italian banking stocks having to be halted on a daily basis lest they fall to zero on any given day. Credit Default Swaps (CDS) on Spanish debt are spiking dramatically as yields rise to the dreaded 7% level. Look soon for shorting of European banks to be banned once again.
Both Sarkozy and LaGrande it would seem are betting heavily on successful Spanish and Italian bond auctions this coming Thursday. If the bid to cover ratio comes in at something resembling Bear Sterns final attempt to stay afloat (30% of bond face value) all bets are off for a peaceful summer in the Euro zone.
While LaGrande’s tenure at the IMF may be resting on the auction’s outcome, for all intents and purposes, successful or not Sarkozy’s goose seems to be already cooked. All that is left is for the actual ballots to be counted before the fork is stuck in and the declaration of “its done” to be pronounced.
So why should we care that the French, not know for their political acumen, are about to elect a far left wing Socialist in the person of one Francois Hollande? Hollande is taking the all to predictable socialist path, while paying lip service to deficit reduction he campaigns on expanding government spending and subsidizing hundreds of thousands of new government jobs, all financed of course by massive increases in taxation. With his ever-increasing lead in the polls, little wonder that over here, Obama is on the same track.
This brings us of course to the realm of unintended consequences. Up to this point the technocrats in Brussels have managed to forestall the looming disaster only through the close alliance between France’s Sarkozy and Germany’s Chancellor Merkel. Sarkozy’s passing from the political stage all but guarantees the end of this Franco-German alliance. Hollande has made no secret of his contempt for Merkel and Germany’s resistance to the issuance of so called Euro Bonds to finance the ongoing deterioration of the PIIGS.
The EU has already rised dithering until the last moment before reaching so-called solutions to an art form. Any break in Franco-German cooperation may well make any further agreements, particularly in regards to Spain, all but impossible.
The triggering of CDS over the latest Greek bailout and 70% haircuts for the bond holders is a far from settled issue as most of the outstanding bonds are covered under British law not Greek, and as such don’t allow for such losses of principal without triggering the CDS. The issue is already in the courts. If a similar credit event occurs in Spain or Italy it will be disastrous not only for European banks but for US banks as well. Particularly for Bank of America, which has underwritten the vast majority of Europe’s CDS. They don’t have the capital to pay off on all those insurance policies and quite frankly they never did. Such an event would of course bring to the fore that most toxic of political questions in the run up to our own elections. Is Bank of America To Big To Fail? If it fails the cascade into the rest of the US financial structure may be catastrophic, if it is, and the Administration, the Congress and the FED return to the well one more time with another, even more massive round of bailing out the banks and quantitative easing and its incipient inflation, how will the American voters react?
Obama and company are of course hoping that any such event can be held off until after the election. If they loose that bet Obama will join Sarkozy in the cooking pot before November gets here. Even if they win that very risky bet, I doubt that Obama’s or any administration could survive the political backlash of either a deflationary implosion of a massive bank failure or an inflationary explosion brought on by the US taxpayer being put on the hook for Europe’s failure by bailing out the To Big To Fail once again.
But then the creation of new and dreadful wars has always been the political elite’s one size fits all solution to financial crisis.
Good stuff Davis. Thank you for posting it here.
Greg
Thanks Greg. It seems the more things become as plain as the nose on your face the more effort is made to ignore them at worst or are simply dismissed as the “rantings of the lunatic fringe.” Normalcy bias reins supreme! Everything is fine …. until it isn’t. Then the story becomes “We never saw it coming,” or “no one could predict.”
Nice analysis.
I expect them to play hot potato with the CDS (and other) issues until after the elections. Sarkozy and Obama are both making excellent progress on behalf of their globalist task masters, so unless the voters take their angst to the streets and drive a perceived change (at this point there are no more real changes – it’s always about managing perception), I don’t see any reason for either of them to be replaced.
Thank you Sean and Charles.
Greg
Greg, I have friends abroad who have developed a turn key solution to expatriating your cash.
May I send you the information?
All these commenters have anxiety over their positions and this service can alleviate the security issues WHILE delivering interest on the balance.
I am not a sales person or involved, but reading this site’s insightful comments and posts makes me confidant that you would enjoy the presentation.
Please consider it and thank you, Mike
Mike,
Please post it on the latest article which will be out soon (Wednesday) and I will approve.
Greg