Silver making a move

tfmetalsreport

So, what the heck is going on here? Silver is up over 30% year-to-date and it just plowed through what-should-have-been significant resistance without missing a beat. Why? How? Are we simply being set up for another takedown of epic proportions? On the flip side, is it safe to jump on board here? How much farther can this go?

I have a sense that we may be entering a completely new paradigm in silver. I'm not ready to make any bold proclamations...yet...but, by later this week, you may begin to get a sense as to why I am so optimistic. Could silver back off tomorrow or Thursday? Of course it could. Normally, you would expect it to. The $36 level is so important that, at any other time, I would be almost certain that a $36 test-as-support would be coming.

However, as we are seeing play out, this is not "any other time". If silver does pull back tomorrow or later this week, think if it as a gift. You should be buying all dips until further notice. Miners, etfs, phyzz...I don't care what you buy, just buy the dip (whenever there is one).

Update:

Last night Harvey Organ said: "This is the first time in quite a while that gold and silver rose big time a day before first day notice. The bankers try and influence our longs not to take delivery so they generally raid. Today was different." Well, Harvey spoke too soon; it really wasn't different. The metals rallied higher yesterday, and then were smacked down in a very calculated and violent bear raid today. I was expecting something like this, and here it is. These fellows have their backs to the wall in silver. I have seen reports that 225 million ounces of paper silver were dumped on the Comex in less than thirty minutes.

Jesse's Cafe quoting Harvey Organ

Stockton California update

City council meeting tonight

February 28, 2012 12:00 AM STOCKTON - The City Council will be asked tonight to go beyond a simple "yes" or "no" decision to a plan that could lead to municipal bankruptcy.

The council also will be asked to support sweeping, desperate strategies to save Stockton's finances by shifting millions of dollars away from special programs, suspending vacation and sick-leave cash-outs for departing employees and missing payments on outstanding debts.

Cities Borrow From New York Pension Fund

Cities borrow from pension instead of making contributions

[C]ities throughout the state, wealthy towns such as Southampton and East Hampton, counties like Nassau and Suffolk, and other public employers like the Westchester Medical Center and the New York Public Library are all managing their rising pension bills by borrowing from the very same $140 billion pension fund to which they owe money.

Across New York, state and local governments are borrowing $750 million this year to finance their contributions to the state pension system, and are likely to borrow at least $1 billion more over the next year. The number of municipalities and public institutions using this new borrowing mechanism to pay off their annual pension bills has tripled in a year.

This will end well /sarc.

"This sort of behavior ought to earn a long stay in prison

"How the actuaries and other financial watchdogs allow this is beyond me. This is a fraud upon the public, a fraud upon the pensioners, and a fraud upon the workers who are being promised those pensions. It is a scam; you cannot borrow from yourself and claim you have somehow improved your own lot, as you've done no such thing -- you have simply moved money from one bucket to another. When this sort of scam becomes commonplace you know that the end of the line is near -- this is such a blatant rip-off that nobody in their right mind would attempt it unless they were literally at the end of their rope. By borrowing from the very fund that you're allegedly funding you are, in each and every instance, destroying the already-accumulated surplus that is already pledged to pay other people!"

Silver is at its post-August 2011 high

Is Silver Winning The Battle? Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 10:27 am

London: OccupyLSX removal of protest camp live feed

Watch live streaming video from occupylsx at livestream.com

South Carolina: lawmaker advocates alternative currency

Inman, SC -- South Carolina State Representative Mike Pitts (R-Laurens) has proposed a bill that would allow people to use silver or gold coins as payment for good and services. If passed, you could use coins to buy anything as long as the retailer chooses to accept them. Todd Martin is excited by the idea of a shiny new currency. “It would help our economy a great deal.” Martin owns M & J Coins, in Inman. He says more people are acquiring precious metals as investments in case the value of the U.S. dollar collapses.

Wyoming: study into what to do in event of economic or political collapse in the United States

CHEYENNE — State representatives on Friday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States. House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government. The task force would look at the feasibility of Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed.

Stockton, California may stop bond payments

STOCKTON, Calif., Feb 24 (Reuters) - The city of Stockton, California, whose finances were hammered by the housing crisis, is considering halting payments on at least a portion of $341 million in debt as it seeks to avoid becoming the biggest U.S. city to declare bankruptcy. Stockton City Manager Bob Deis said on Friday that he recommended to the city council that bond payments be suspended as part of a broad restructuring of the city's finances. The city has a debt payment due March 1.

Japan: Pension fund manager investigated for large losses

AIJ Investment Advisors, a Japan investment firm probed over huge pension loss

TOKYO: Japan froze operations Friday at an investment firm accused of losing most of the $2.3 billion in pension funds it manages, as a report said it may have hidden losses for years in an Olympus-style scandal. The head of the Financial Services Agency (FSA), Shozaburo Jimi, suspended AIJ Investment Advisors until March 23 as it carries out a probe into one of the biggest cases of its kind in the country. "The FSA, together with the labour ministry, will take every possible step to prevent this kind of incident from happening again," he said, adding the agency would probe all 263 of Japan's investment management firms as soon as possible.

They also include a handful of big-name firms, including technology companies Advantest and Yaskawa Electric.

02/24/2012 | 04:25am Advantest Corp : Regarding Advantest Corporate Pension Funds Placed with AIJ Investment Advisors In an article in today's Nihon Keizai Shimbun, AIJ Investment Advisors Co., Ltd, a corporate pension fund advisor, was reported to have allegedly mishandled investors' funds. Advantest was listed as having placed corporate pension funds with AIJ. At present, Advantest is working swiftly to investigate the situation, but has not yet been able to verify the facts. As such, any losses or other effects this finding has caused are not yet clear. Advantest's corporate pension fund has placed approximately 1.7 billion yen with AIJ, representing about 8% of total fund assets. Further details will be announced as soon as available. link

Banks attempt to plunder Greece gold.

Zerohedge:

While hardly discussed broadly in the mainstream media, the top news of the past 24 hours without doubt is that in addition to losing its fiscal sovereignty, and numerous other things, the Greek population is about to lose its gold in a perfectly legitimate fashion, following amendments to the country's constitution by unelected banker technocrats, who will make it legal for Greek creditors - read insolvent European banks - to plunder the Greek gold which at last check amounts to 111.6 tonnes according to the WGC. And so we come full circle to what the ultimate goal of banker intervention in the European periphery is - nothing short of full gold confiscation. So just how much gold will be pillaged by the banker oligarchy (it is amusing how many websites believe said gold is sacrosanct by regional national banks, and thus the EUR is such a stronger currency as it has all this 'gold backing' - hint: it doesn't, as all the gold is about to be transferred to non-extradition countries)? As the World Gold Council shows in its latest update, between all the PIIGS, who will with 100% certainty suffer the same fate as Greece (which has shown that unlike during World War 2, it is perfectly willing to turn over and do nothing) there is 3234 tonnes of gold to be plundered. And likely more as further constitutional amendments will likely make the confiscation of private gold the next big step. how much does this amount to? At today's prices this is just shy of $185 billion. Of course by the time the market grasps what is going on the spot price of the yellow metal will be far, far higher. Or, potentially far, far lower and totally fixed as the open gold market is eventually done away with entirely in a reversion to FDR gold confiscation and price fixing days.

Bahrain: F1 say race is still on

Bringing this blog full-circle one year, I again report on the Bahrain Grand Prix:

F1 insists [sic] Bahrain GP will go on, despite unrest

Formula One's commercial-rights holder Bernie Ecclestone , responding to this week's violence that marked the anniversary of Bahrain's "Day of Rage", told me: "There were a lot of kids having a go at the police. I don't think it's anything serious at all."

US entitlements exceed tax revenue in 2011

Oil prices

Nymex Crude Future 103.24 0.93 0.91% 17:15

Dated Brent Spot 121.21 -0.40 -0.33% 17:34

WTI Cushing Spot 103.24 0.93 0.91% 16:05

OIL (¢/gal)

China and Russia have reduced their net Treasury holdings

Zerohedge asks the question:

just what are China and Russia buying (ahem stockpiling) with all the dollars that are not recycled back into Treasurys?

Is higher gasoline prices despite lower consumption a sign of the US dollar's decreasing wealth?

Gasoline and other petroleum product consumption is decreasing...

...but January gasoline prices were at all-time average high

German riot police deployed in Greece? [unconfirmed]

translated from Italian

Greece protest live streaming

Watch live streaming video from stopcarteltvgr at livestream.com

>>>>>>>>>Another live cam

Greek parliament live feed

Syria: Foreign contingents have set up operations

First foreign troops in Syria back Homs rebels. Damascus and Moscow at odds

British and Qatari special operations units are operating with rebel forces under cover in the Syrian city of Homs just 162 kilometers from Damascus, according to DEBKAfile’s exclusive military and intelligence sources. The foreign troops are not engaged in direct combat with the Syrian forces bombarding different parts of Syria's third largest city of 1.2 million. They are tactical advisers, manage rebel communications lines and relay their requests for arms, ammo, fighters and logistical aid to outside suppliers, mostly in Turkey.

This site is the first to report the presence of foreign military forces in any of the Syrian uprising's embattled areas.

Our sources report the two foreign contingents have set up four centers of operation - in the northern Homs district of Khaldiya, Bab Amro in the east, and Bab Derib and Rastan in the north. Each district is home to about a quarter of a million people.

Greeks increasing protests against imposed austerity

kathimerini

[Translation of Greek] Great participation in the strike of GSEE and ADEDY. Intensity and mikroepeisodia rally in Syntagma Square With a large turnout today was the nationwide general strike of GSEE and ADEDY. According to data from the GSEE, participation in refineries, shipyards, and transport ships, reached 100%, banks, PPC, OTE and EYDAP, 80%, ports and construction 70% while 60% moved to participate in metal workers. About 15,000 workers and members of leftist organizations took part in the strike gathering held at 11 am in Syntagma Square. Despite the constant rain, the protesters staged a symbolic encirclement of Parliament until late afternoon.

John Chiang says California's cash will dry up if officials don't act

Controller John Chiang said state leaders must find $3.3 billion to ensure California has enough cash to pay for priority programs between Feb. 29 and April 13.