Monday, January 31, 2011

Mrs. Boyer




On July 4th, 1974, Louise Auchincloss Boyer's dead body was found beneath the window of her 10th floor apartment. Three days prior, a newspaper published a story in which legal counsel for the American Gold Association accused the Rockefellers of looting Fort Knox of most or all of its gold. The anonymous source of the story had been Mrs. Boyer, executive assistant to Nelson Rockefeller.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Selling the family cow for a few magic beans


The swap rate is the difference between the forward price and spot price. The inverse of the swap rate is sometimes called basis. Spot price is sometimes called the cash price. When the swap rate is less than the cost of carry, then a market may turn from contango to backwardation. Cost of carry is basically the cost of holding a position. A market may begin to experience backwardation when no arbitrage can be made from delivery due to supply shortages or risk of a delivery failure. Contango occurs when the forward price is higher than the spot price, i.e., when the forward price is at a premium. Backwardation occurs when the forward price is lower than the spot price, i.e., when the forward price is at a discount. When there is a supply shortage, delivery arbitrage disappears because no supply is available.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Update


Silver

For all of silver's virtues, which are many and profound, the general populace is less inclined towards silver than the ruling class is inclined against it.

View from the top



New Orleans slaves were the Brent Crude of early 19th Century America.

U.S. Savings Rates

Monday, January 24, 2011

Valence of Value



Gold is an excellent conductor of heat, electricity, and value.
Wealth can easily flow through gold–––and without tarnish or corrosion.
Output is comparable to input.

Debt-money is an insulator.
Wealth can flow through it–––but only with effort and loss.
Output is less than input.

Wealth preservation versus wealth destruction.

Insulators have valid and necessary functions as much as conductors do, but should one's lifetime of labor be measured by currency units borrowed into existence?

Again


Which one would J.P. Morgan hire, the Miser or the Monkey?

Beware...

...the Ichimoku storm clouds forming in the distance.