Tyhee will be stuck in the .145 to .16 range until the not for profit seller has extinguised his holdings. We will need to ride this out. Something does not seem right here. Who am I to say?

On another note, I have completed a new informal survey of people I meet on the hill. This is the first time that I am hearing that the cost of "things" are rising and it is cutting into their lifestyle. The pensioners are an obvious group as their COLA does not keep up with the true cost of living increase for the past few years. The middle wage earners are really feeling the pinch as well for the first time that I can tell. Energy and food are the culprits. Spending is being curtailed. My big surprise was that about one third were aware of the importance of gold and silver in these times. Only problem was that most could not afford to save to invest. I am not including the Aussies as the ones we see here are quite astute and investment savvy so they would throw off the results. When asked how they came to that conclusion, most had friends who were into mining stocks. Big change from last year! We are definitely entering the public phase of this bull mkt.

Currently, the Western world is experiencing a demographic challange to the pension funds. Fewer contributing each year compared to those receiving benefits. Any Actuary out there will tell you that we have a problem. Low returns for years, bad paper (derivatives) and more payouts. This is only now hitting the news. It has been known for years!

About five years ago, I skied with some ski bums who had left JPMorgan and Goldman. They were set for life by age 40 and had left the rat race for a quieter life in VT. We had many discussions on the chairlift about the probable sequence of events and their effect as they hit. Everyone of them has come to pass. Presently, the failure of the pension funds will cause a lot of social unrest. More derivatives than we care to admit have been sold to the pension funds. Most insurance compamies are the walking dead. Most national banks are holding worthless assets. It is truly a game of extend and pretend. Yes, we are collectively playing a giant game of musical chairs. The next event we discussed was the collapse of various currencies and the loss of world reserve status for the USD. I believe that the loss of confidence in currencies in this "con" game will lead us into the collapse. The final stage was a major distraction aimed at the population so that they would rally around the flag once again. No one can predict what that will be. I can only imagine the result.

Physical gold and silver coins as well as good Precious Metal mining companies should protect one from the currency collapses. We are all intertwined. I do not know how well Tyhee will do, so it should only be a small portion at this time.

I hope things hold together until we all put in place our own contingency plans that are within our comfort zone. "It can't happen here" is not the answer. Look at Argentina and Germany. They were both prosperous nations at one time this past century and suffered dearly at the hands of a currency collapse.