By Kevin Brekke, Casey Research A new polysyllabic term has entered the Wall Street lexicon and is sweeping through the investing world like a brush fire through a dry canyon: “hypothecation.” With its connection to the MF Global bankruptcy and aftermath, it engenders the kind of fear a homeowner might feel while monitoring the approaching flames. The rise of hypothecation as the lead Read More...

Willem Weytjens www.profitimes.com   I guess a lot of people wet their pants last night, as gold was down over 4% at some point. The chart incurred technical damage over the short term, and if current support fails to hold, gold could be headed for about $1,440 (or the equivalent of $140 GLD), as we will discuss later on. Let’s first have a look at an article I wrote in August 2011 when I Read More...

by The Mad Hedge Fund Trader I am throwing in the towel on the (TBT) ETF, my 200% leveraged bet that Treasury bonds will fall. I am doing this partly to clear out the dogs from my portfolio so I can start the New Year with a 100% cash position. But I am also bailing because the short term fundamentals point to continued weakness in the economy, a flight to safety, deflation, and falling interest Read More...

Well, you knew this wasn’t going to last forever and, as a few shrewd analysts have boldly proclaimed in recent days, it seems clear that the decade-long bull market in gold is now finally over. A big price run-up to almost unthinkable new highs in a relatively short period of time and then panic selling when investors realize that there are no more buyers brings to a tidy conclusion another Read More...

by Karl Denninger We of course hear all the time that the government has to “help” the economy, or “prime the pump.” The problem is that it’s a lie — not due to intentions, but due to what has to happen for it to work as claimed and intended. Let’s first define “Stimulus” and “Work”: “Stimulus”: A deficit spending bil Read More...

It’s that time of year again and I’m not talking about the holiday season… What I am talking about is another major market correction which has been starting to unfold over the past couple weeks. I have a much different outlook on the markets than everyone else and likely you as well. However, before you stop reading what I have to say hear me out. My outlook and opinion is based strictly on Read More...

By Elliott Wave International Did European Union leaders make the sovereign debt crisis “go away” last week? Not even close. What they did agree on is tougher budget rules: “…17 countries of the euro zone…agreed to run only minimal budget deficits in the future and allowed the European Court of Justice the right to strike down national laws that don’t enforce Read More...

Tim Iacono Former Kansas governor Mark Parkinson appeared on CNBC yesterday and made the point that you don’t hear too much anymore these days with European credit markets being such a mess – that the U.S. will someday have a similar crisis. Unfortunately, with the election season now well underway, officials in Washington are not likely to take any action to make the looming U.S. debt crisis Read More...

By Jeff Clark, Casey Research We’ve been saying since September that gold producers are undervalued, and here are some data that show just how extreme the undervaluation is. The following chart measures the stock prices of major and intermediate gold producers against their Net Asset Value, based on the daily price of gold. In the simplest terms, a company should be worth more as the produc Read More...

Tim Iacono More evidence that economists in general and dismal scientists at the Federal Reserve in particular are hopelessly and dangerously detached from reality (i.e., guided by the mistaken belief that, if something doesn’t exist in their models, neither does it exist in the real world) comes via this Associated Press story about a new study by the central bank detailing how wild speculati Read More...

Submitted by Tyler Durden And update from Bloomberg: HORMUZ STRAIT IS NOT SHUT: IRAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN – Bloomberg Ealier: Iran has closed the Straits of Hormuz for military training as was expected yesterday, according to RanSquawk. Oil, and all other commodities, are outtahere. And entire commodity complex: And for those curious about more, RanSquawk speculates that the sou Read More...

Hello fellow traders everywhere!  Adam Hewison here, co-founder of MarketClub with your 1 P.M. market update for Monday, the 12th of December. ———— Risk on – Risk off, what will tomorrow be? The Collapse of Gold Today, we want to take a close look at the gold market. We will see if the big move to the upside is over, and how far this move to the downside is likely to go.  Plus, what in Read More...

By Eric McWhinnie Despite having a rather stable performance last week, gold and silver are declining sharply Monday.  Gold fell below a key support level at $1,680, while silver dipped below $31.  There are several global factors contributing to the decline in precious metals today. A European summit deal to tighten fiscal rules in the eurozone failed to restore financial market confidence aft Read More...

Submitted by Tyler Durden Following the auction of the latest $32 billion in 3 year bonds, the market is expected to relax as based on the optic the auction was a stunning success, with a High Yield of 0.352%, higher than just the 0.334% hit in September when the market was collapsing. Yet the Bid To Cover of 3.624 was the highest ever in the series of the bond. Now the bad news: Primary Dealers Read More...

Submitted by Tyler Durden On Friday, following the announcement from Goldman that the firm’s had just turned more bullish on European financials raising banks from Underweight to Neutral, we said: “Goldman has just started selling European bank stocks to its clients, whom it is telling to buy European bank stocks. Said otherwise, the Stolpering of clients gullible enough to do wh Read More...