The Ides of March came and went, with the Fed’s “dovish hike” once and for all proving it cares nothing about the economy, and everything about the stock market, and its Wall Street masters. The following, damning chart of who has benefited from a decade of post-financial crisis Central bank largesse; not including, of course, the vast amount of covert market support – and likely, inside information dissemination – to the Fed’s partners-in-crime, the “too big to fail” banks; whose joint goal is, at all costs, prolonging history’s largest, most destructive fiat Ponzi scheme.
There’s no way to sugar coat the fact that the Trump Administration is following in the footsteps of prior Wall Street-owned administrations; from Clinton, to Bush and Obama. My good friend Mike Krieger wrote of this yesterday; as did I, in my must listen Audioblog, where I espoused the following.
“…little has changed in government, no matter that the ‘great disruptor’; and ‘ultimate outsider,’ Donald Trump, has been elected. As amidst yesterday’s three-ring “Ides of March” circus, few saw that Trump’s nomination to work with former Goldman Sachs banker, and current Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin as Deputy Treasury Secretary, is former Goldman Sachs banker James Donovan. Who, when officially appointed, will work with Mnuchin; former Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn – Trump’s National Economic Advisor; former Goldman Sachs banker Steve Bannon – Trump’s White House Chief Strategist; former Goldman Sachs banker Dina Powell – Trump’s ‘Senior Counselor to the President for Economic Initiatives’; and, for the cherry on the cake, former Goldman Sachs lawyer Jay Clayton, who will oversee America’s historically rigged markets when his appointment as SEC Chairman is finalized. In other words, if anyone believes Washington is working for the ‘99%’ that elected it; let alone, with a billionaire President surrounded by a billionaire cabinet and a virtual Goldman Sachs C-suite; I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.”
Trust me, it’s no coincidence that less than 24 hours after said “dovish hike” – after which, Precious Metals, which for the third straight time had been smashed beforehand; to quell burgeoning PM sentiment, and promulgate the lie that rate hikes are “bad” for gold; none other than Goldman Sachs’ Chief Economist, “Hapless Hatzius” himself, was writing of how the Street “got it wrong” by assuming the Fed’s actions were so dovish. In other words, as always, warning of future “hawkish” comments; which in turn, the Cartel can utilize as “cover” to attack Precious Metal prices anew. Which again, I don’t believe will work – as in my view, the “200 day moving average war” will in this case, be “won.” That said, I’m bringing this up to point out how desperate the powers that be’s’ efforts currently are; particularly in light of just how tight – per Andrew Maguire’s recent, vehement prognostications – the physical gold market is.
In other words, I don’t “fear” Goldman Sachs – as simple math proves this historically destructive Ponzi scheme will collapse of its own weight. Which, on many measures – particularly in the 180+ nations not fortunate enough to use the “reserve currency” dollar – it already has. And frankly, such blatantly anti-populist appointments – from a man who ran on a platform of “draining the swamp” – will only fuel the fires of dissension; particularly when it becomes widely evident – due to no fault of Trump, I might add – that his key campaign promises can’t be met. To wit, his initial budget proposal, submitted yesterday (which Democrats and Republicans alike deemed “dead on arrival”); in which, neither tax reform nor fiscal stimulus programs were even proposed. Presumably, because clarity is first required on the “repealing and replacing” of Obamacare; which, if the heinous “Ryan-care” bill is indeed its proposed replacement, will be “dead on arrival” as well.
And then there’s that nasty little thing known as the debt ceiling, which was frozen into place yesterday at $19.846 trillion – which only remained below $20 trillion because the Treasury spent essentially all its remaining cash in the past two months; leaving only “extraordinary measures” – like “borrowing” from Federal pensions – to keep the government open for another two months or so. And oh yeah, a maniacal Federal Reserve; which, despite Trump’s plea that the “too strong” dollar is “killing” us, suddenly insists on raising rates, despite the weakest hard economic data in years – including its own estimate that first quarter GDP growth will be just 0.9%; and as I write, “weaker than expected” February industrial production growth of ZERO. A GDP estimate, I might add, that via prototypical Fed overestimating, was 3.4% just six weeks ago. Throw in the prospect of next month’s French election having a “BrExit times 100” impact on financial markets; the deleterious impact of the higher interest rates the Fed’s sudden policy “U-Turn” has catalyzed; and who knows what other black and “grey” swans might arrive amidst today’s historically unstable political, economic, and monetary environment; and it becomes patently obvious how high the odds are, of the “most overdue financial crisis in history” shortly arriving.
That said, today’s principal focus is on the bullion industry, where I want to follow up my “why Precious Metal bullion dealers are not commodities” article of a year ago with some additional comments. The catalyst for this discussion, amongst others, is several emails I’ve received lately, from staunch Miles Franklin Blog followers who have purchased or stored their metals from competing dealers. Which they are entirely entitled to do, particularly if their due diligence process reveals competing offers to be superior.
However, given how much Miles Franklin offers, for free, to the investing public, we of course would appreciate the opportunity to earn your business; particularly because we believe our product and service offerings offer value relative to most competitors – such as, for instance, our Brink’s Canada segregated storage and Private Safe Deposit Box programs. Not to mention, the fact that we guarantee the best buyback prices in the industry – particularly to Miles Franklin clients; which I assure you, most dealers selling bullion barely above spot prices do not. In other words, for the minor benefit of fractions of a percent on your buy price, you will likely sacrifice far more on the “back end,” should you decide – or perhaps, be forced – to sell.
Moreover, given that the bullion industry is unregulated – except, ironically, in the State of Minnesota where Miles Franklin is headquartered (thus, subjecting it to onerous financial disclosures, employee background checks, and surety bond requirements; utilizing lesser known, or vetted, firms can be hazardous to your financial health. Which was clearly learned in the past three years by clients of the three biggest price discounters we came across – Tulving, Bullion Direct, and the Northwest Territorial Mint; all of which, went bankrupt holding millions of client funds. To that end, look at the Better Business Bureau’s ratings of our major competitors, and compare them to Miles Franklin’s. I.e., an A+ rating, with not a single registered complaint in 28 years of operation.
The reason I bring this up today, is that due to the current, Fed-fostered equity bubble; and “surging dollar,” as the vast majority of global currencies have plunged; U.S. bullion demand has significantly declined since the Cartel-orchestrated, post-election Precious Metal raids. This, despite all of the ominous political, economic, and monetary events surrounding us, even as bullion prices have recovered most of their post-election losses. Heck, they actually recovered all of said losses two weeks ago; when “coincidentally,” within hours, the Federal Reserve commenced it’s lunatic “we’re raising rates in March” campaign.
Many of our competitors have in recent weeks been offering what we don’t think, but know to be at or below cost. As well, in the storage business – where one reader told me of how he has access to free storage, after buying bullion for just 0.5% over spot. He wasn’t sure if his bullion was segregated or allocated, I might add – which in my view, is the most important aspect of any storage program. And irrespective, it should serve as a major, major alarm bell if a firm is offering such discounts, given the experience of Tulving, Bullion Direct, and the Northwest Territorial Mint; who, I might add, were arguably our three largest competitors.
Remember, the Miles Franklin Blog – which has been operated continually, for at least the past 15 years – is not published for free; and in my “humble” view, provides the best quality and quantity of economic and Precious Metal-related information in the bullion industry; if not the alternative media at large. To that end, Co-Founders Andy and David Schectman; myself; and the rest of the Miles Franklin team – who on average, have more than 25 years of industry experience; simply ask that, if you are considering the purchase, sale, or storage of Precious Metal, you “give us a chance” to earn your business, by registering at milesfranklin.com for online purchasing, or calling at 800-822-8080.
