CONFIDENCE – Always the Key to the Crash & Burn
The crisis in the Euro is leading to an extreme bubble in government bonds as central banks move to this crazy idea of negative interest rates. The attack on Denmark to abandon the peg to the Euro continues. Now we are seeing even Sweden is cutting its rates below zero. These central banks have no concept of what damage they are causing long-term.
Even the goldbugs are lost in their desperate attempt to keep up the good talk. They are lost in their domestic analysis of money supply and think gold is declining because there is some robust US economic recovery. They fail to grasp that theONLY reason gold will EVER rise is not due to inflation, but a collapse in confidence. That is a significant difference. They hate to listen but look, the national debt was $1 trillion in 1980 and it now is approach $18 trillion. Gold was $875 and it is trading at $1230. The Dow Jones Industrial were at 1,000 in 1980 and are trading at 18019. I think waiting for 35 years to make a profit is just crazy. These people keep fighting everything and the entire world is wrong – never them.
So all those who claim the World Gold Council numbers are wrong, so what? That will not make you right. Sorry, you haven’t been right. Only a fool fights the trend. To survive, it never matters what you BELIEVE, it only matters what the markets believe. BUY the RUMOR and SELL the news as they always say. This is about surviving and making money. It is not about donating to the banks and government. I have been getting emails saying I am wrong. As long as they keep coming, then the low is not in place.
Gold remains under pressure as the dollar rises. The US share market is not ready to collapse because as the world turns more nutso, the dollar remains the only game in town. This is never about money supply. It is about CONFIDENCE. As the ECM turns down, then you will see the US economy go with it andCONFIDENCE will crash and burn.
Stalin & Setting the Record Straight
We have a huge audience in Russia who now number nearly 50% of American readers. Germans often point out that Hitler came from Austria. Likewise, to be absolutely accurate, Stalin was not Russian. Stalin was born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili on the 18th of December 1878 in the town of Gori, Georgia.
As part of the Communist Revolution, Stalin first went after the rich. There was the New Economic Policy (NEP) in which Stalin went after the wealthiest soviet people (Nepmans and Kulaks) to rob them as an instant source of money and land to rebuild country to be ready for new war with Brit or Nazi.
Later Stalin simply killed people for fear of what they thought. In East Germany, there too the government instructed children the state was their savior and if their parents talked against the government then they should report them to the state.
The Russian people were suppressed, abused, and murdered by their own government. We all must be diligent to note that our differences are between governments. At the human level, the people are always the victims of their own government. In the Cycles of War, I point out that the American people were isolationists. Roosevelt had to go to Boston and pledge to the people their sons would never be sent to Europe to fight. For you see, the Europeans who fled here (including Russians) were fleeing from abusive governments for one reason or another. Boston was predominantly Irish who fled here from the British. In their mind, they would not go then fight to defend Britain.
The US government lied to start every war. It was interesting that Obama was so casual in assuming he could lie to invade Syria. He at last encountered Americans saying enough was enough with this bullshit.
The Star & Crescent Symbol Goes Back even Further
The Star & Crescent may have originated much further back in time. A reader sent this one in. Clearly the symbol appears on this stela of Ur-Nammu of Babylon from around 4000BC. Whether or not it meant a new golden age is questionable at that point in time. The passing of a Comet was considered the mark of a new age. The Star of Bethlehem was the mark of the birth of a king.
Here is a coin of Augustus (27BC-14AD) who legitimatized himself as the nephew of Julius Caesar displaying the legendary comet that appeared in the sky at the time of the death of Julius Caesar. The reverse depicts the comet and the legend states “DIVVS IVLIVS” meaning Divine Julius.
Therefore, the Star & Crescent may have begun as the symbol for a new era or the birth of a king that gradually evolved into the concept of a new golden era in general detached from the birth of a king or new era. Interesting speculation.
We had a party in New York and a girl from the London office came over with two guys from there. The last night in town the two guys stayed up all night and ran around the city taking pictures. In the lobby of the Plaza when she heard they did that, she said rather loudly – “Why didn’t the two of you come knock me up? I would have loved to have done that!” Well the Americans looked at her and she felt rather strange. I had to explain not to say that one in the States for it meant that she wanted both of them to get her pregnant. She thought I was joking. In Britain, if I am to pick you up the saying is I will come knock you up at say 7PM meaning I will come knock on your door. It seems in the States getting a girl pregnant must have evolved something like, well I went and knocked her up (picked her up) and you know what happened. So meaning of the same words do change with time and region.
There is Nothing New under the Sun – It all Repeats
The swastika has an broad history that extends back at least 5,000 years before Adolf Hitler designed the Nazi flag. The word swastika comes from the Sanskrit svastika, which means“good fortune” or “well-being.” The motif even appears to have first been used in Neolithic Eurasia, perhaps representing the movement of the sun through the sky. Even currently, the swastika remains as a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Odinism. It is a common sight on temples or houses in India or Indonesia.
Swastikas also have an ancient history in Europe, appearing on ancient Greek coins as far back as the 6th century BC as demonstrated by the Corinthian state pictured above. We find it used in India and Pakistan. So as history repeats, so do the symbols used over time. Illustrate the swastika today and people wrongly attribute it to the Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler who just adopted it, he did not create it,
The Gold Age Symbol from Ancient Times Today
QUESTION: Nobody seems to know why Islam used the Crescent and Star as its symbol. I even asked a couple of Muslim friends but got different answers What is the real connection there? Wikipedia says its is only a 20th century addition yet it appeared on state flags of the Ottoman Empire.
ANSWER: Interesting. I looked at Wikipedia and they seem clueless. Here is a Roman silver denarius coin of Hadrian (117-128AD) with this classic symbol. This is a seven-rayed star within a crescent moon, Hadrian creates an iconographic connection to the return of a Golden Age, first represented in coins by Augustus in 19 BC. This symbol traditionally was representative of eternity. Hadrian used this motif to remind people of his accomplishments, in turn making Hadrian himself timeless. This design dates back to the 4th century BC, and was continuously used throughout history until its present status as a symbol of Islam. They may have adopted it solelu because it appeared as a symbol on state flags of the Ottoman Empire. The meaning seems to have been lost. It had nothing to do with religion. It was simply the concept of creating a Golden Age..
The Bubble-Gum Economy
COMMENT: Marty, your bubble-gum analogy is brilliant. You are correct, They cannot manage anything.
REPLY: Most politicians are lawyers who know only how to write laws. They are incapable of managing an economy. They are way too corrupt to run it properly always available to the highest bidder as the repeal of Dodd-Frank just illustrated, and way too arrogant for anyone who disagrees with them is a traitor since they presume they are the sovereign nation not the people.
They would spend all the revenue from the sales of their bubble-gum, and then be dead broke unable to restock it. They then will write a law to justify robbing someone else so they can spend all over again. Just totally hopeless. This is why NO government has ever survived its politicians. You cannot write the laws and be in charge of money. That is like putting an alcoholic as the bartender. Come on!
Most politicians are about as incapable of comprehending the economy as these automatic correction algorithms trying to anticipate what you are writing. I am getting use to typing it is a“good buy” and it changes it to “goodbye”. But I typed in“Athens” and it changed it to “at he’s” Now that is just total gibberish. What happened to “his”?