Great posts today folks.

Chuck Cohen really does put it all in to perspective. Do we finally see capitulation here with a new speculative cycle in the JPMs forthcoming? He points out that the shrinking liquidity has affected the JPMs similar to 2003. ...that they are in the final panic selling stage spiking down and breaking support.

So, we are at the threshold of a new, ultra-speculative frenzy, a new ultra-inflation cycle. Will this one seek out the core of hard asset value, the ultimate inflation hedges of the PMs and their shares? I'll go along with that.

I hesitate to say that there are some other picky little indicators out there that support the above, however unscientific they may be. One is that I have noticed (at the microscopic level) that there is a new poster (plural) in town that has been very busy on some of the BBs I visit, one that is new and seems to be establishing a foundation for the coming upswing, as their employers set the stage for going long in the not-too-distant future....say within the next week or two. Hey, when there are no more sellers..... Of course that indicator which I imagine I see is nothing compared to the other figment of my imagination.

Can you see those massive, hulking forms through the mist on the horizon? Some know them as Sovereign Wealth Funds. Since we know that there has been steady stealth buying of the PMs, growing in momentum, not transparent, for quite some time now...often referred to vaguely as "fund buying"..... we suspect that there will be some turning point that ignites to transparent buying in the hard asset PMs. Add the SWFs to all the other fundamental factors pushing up against synthetic gravity and you have the makings for a real party. I leave all that to your collective analysis and with the following news today:

Sovereign wealth funds to dwarf US economy

According to Global Insight, the US financial research organisation, the funds invested almost $80bn in US banks last year and are expected to provide even more capital in 2008 and 2009.Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk, said: "Sovereign wealth funds are the new financial power brokers, replacing the combined financial muscle of hedge funds and private equity, and usurping central banks as the international capital providers of last resort.

· More from the banking and financial services sector "There has been a shift of financial weight from West to East, particularly to China, Asia, the Middle East and other energy countries," he said. "Riding the energy and commodities boom, together with the wilting dollar, sovereign wealth funds will continue to be the key players in the changing financial landscape of the global economy thrown into flux by the credit crunch."The research company said that in January 2008 alone, worldwide acquisitions by the funds totalled $20.6bn, or nearly one-third of the total $60bn the funds made in mergers and acquisitions for 2007.

The funds accounted for 35pc of world M&A activity in 2007, and 28pc of all M&A in the US during January 2008.The organisation said this shows that the funds are taking the place of private equity firms, where M&A activity has fallen as the credit crunch prevents them from raising the same amount of debt.The funds have attracted controversy, especially in the US - often due to the security threats posed by the countries they are run by - but have been welcomed in the UK, where they have snapped up a significant stake in BP, for example.