The Double-Barreled Silver Issue

I have a lot of stories today. The first two are about the same thing. It's now official, Ron Paul is Head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee. I'm sure 'Helicopter' Ben is not amused. The first story on this is a zerohedge.com piece containing a Fox News video clip that was sent to me by Australian reader Wesley Legrand. The Ron Paul interview starts about 3:25 into the clip... and it's well worth watching. The link is here.

The second story is a Bloomberg piece imbedded in a GATA release that Chris Powell headlined With the right questions now, Paul really might 'End the Fed'. This is a far more in-depth analysis of this event than is provided in the Fox News video... and the link to that story is here.

Today's next offering comes courtesy of reader Scott Pluschau. It's another Bloomberg story, this one headlined "U.S. Home Values Poised to Lose $1.7 Trillion in 2010". That's on top of the $7.3 trillion real estate losses since the 2006 peak. The link is here.

Washington state reader S.A. was kind enough to share the next story with us, which is also a Bloomberg offering. It's an op-ed piece by Bloomberg journalist Jonathan Weil... and he tees up the Justice Department's "Operation Broken Trust"... and drives it down the fairway. The piece is headlined "Wall Street's Worst at Least Know Math"... and the link is here. You can't make this stuff up!

Here's another offering from reader S.A. This is a graph that he stole from agorafinancial.com that is entitled "Food Stamp Nation". No further comments are needed, as the graph says it all.

Wesley Legrand has another little something for us today. It's a piece he stole from chief economist David Rosenberg over at the Toronto firm of Gluskin Sheff. In a piece headlined "Is the Credit Contraction Over?"... Dave had this to say... "What do you know! Outstanding U.S. consumer credit expanded $3.3 billion in October after eking out a $1.3 billion increase in September. This is the first back-to-back gain since just before Hank Paulson took out his bazooka in the summer of 2008. Does this mean the credit contraction is over? Hell no.

First, the raw not seasonally adjusted data show a $700 million decline. Once again, it was federally-supported credit (i.e.. student-backed loans) that accounted for all the increase last month ― a record $31.8 billion expansion. Commercial banks, securitized pools and finance companies posted huge declines ― to the point where excluding federal loans, consumer credit plunged $32.5 billion, to the lowest level since November 2004 (not to mention down a record 9% YoY). Over the past three months consumer credit outstanding net of federal student assisted loans has collapsed $76 billion — this degree of contraction is without precedent. [Highlighting is mine. - Ed]

Here's a WikiLeaks story that's courtesy of Swiss reader B.G. It's over at the huffingtonpost.com website... and is headlined "Columbia Alumnus Rebukes School for 'Shocking' Anti-WikiLeaks Advice". I'm sure glad that America has people such as this are still willing to stand up to the 'thought police'... and the link to the story is here.

What would this column be like without a contribution from reader Roy Stephens. This is another shocker... and it's posted in Wednesday edition of The Guardian in London. The headline reads "Allied Irish Banks to pay €40m bonuses despite bailout". More piggies at the trough, while Ireland's taxpayers suffer. The link is here.

While over in the 'old country'... as my grandfather used to say... this next Roy Stephens offering is from yesterday's edition of The Telegraph... and reads "Tuition fees protesters attack car carrying Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall". In the photo that goes along with the article, both of them look horrified as the 'great unwashed' over run their Rolls Royce. The link is here.

Along with that raft of stories above, I also have a fair number of precious metals-related stories as well. The first is a GATA release of a King World News blog that Chris Powell has headlined "Morgan rigs bond, gold markets for a desperate Fed". Eric King headlines the story "KWN Source: Gold Will Move $150 Higher Within 5 weeks". This is worth the read... and the link is here.

Here's another GATA release headlined "Despite central banks and jewelers, gold has re-monetized itself". The release contains a Financial Times story that's printed in the clear. The headline of the article itself reads "Gold Jewellery Loses Glister as Prices Surge". This, too, is well worth the read... and the link is here.

Florida reader Donna Badach was kind enough to send the following kitco.com story that's headlined "U.S. Mint To Re-Launch Silver Bullion Coins On Friday, Warns Of Price Gouging". I mentioned in this column yesterday, that these 5-ounce silver coins would not only be difficult to find... but hugely expensive as well. This story confirms that... and it's well worth your time. The link is here.

Here's a CBNC video from yesterday that was just sent to me by Russian reader Alex Lvov. Investors should buy silver because it's the new gold, says John Stephenson, First Asset Investment Management. The clip is titled "Call of the Day: Silver to $50?"... and the link is here.

At the CFTC meeting yesterday, the subject of position limits didn't come up... but will in the public meeting that's scheduled for next Thursday, December 16th. And, for the second day in a row, CFTC commissioner Bart Chilton made that comment that "Even earlier this year, one trader held over 40 percent of the silver market." Well, golly gee!!!... I wonder who that might be??? Reader Donna Badach sent me the CFTC press release on yesterday's meeting... and the upcoming position limits meeting next Thursday. The longish headline reads "CFTC to Hold Open Meeting on Eighth Series of Proposed Rules under the Dodd-Frank Act". It's a very short read... and worth your while. The link is here.

Here's a really interesting story that was posted over at globeinvestor.com yesterday. It's contained in another GATA release... this one headlined "Eight years after repudiating Embry, Royal Bank loves gold". The Royal Bank report on gold... and Chris Powell's introduction... are both must reads... and the link is here.

Lastly, is your big read of the day... but, considering the subject material, you should be up to it. It's Sprott Asset Management's latest Markets at a Glance Commentary... written by Eric Sprott and David Franklin. It's really two silver commentaries posted back to back. I knew back in June that Sprott was forced to sit on the first story because of their pending silver ETF application to the SEC. So, six months later... here it is. The headline reads "The Double-Barreled Silver Issue"... and, as you can see, silver analyst Ted Butler's 25-year body of work figures prominently in this essay. This is, of course, a must read... and the link is here. I hope the link works, because I was having trouble with it earlier... and it's still not posted over at sprott.com yet, although it might be by the time this arrives in your in-box.