Casey Research is partnering with Sprott Inc. for this year’s Summit to tackle the most pressing investment related topics in the current financial markets. Agenda items include sessions that will provide stock recommendations with a strong likelihood of appreciation versus highly speculative investments that offer the possibility of life-changing gains and valuable insights on the metals market, the global debt crisis and perspectives on resource stocks.

As part of Casey’s Gold and Resource Stock Roundup, analysts will grill resource company representatives about their latest plans and then provide investment strategies for junior resource companies.

There will also be a special session with James Turk, Director of GoldMoney Foundation, who will be interviewing Adam Fergusson, best-selling Author of When Money Dies, from London about the similarities between the hyperinflation of the Weimar Republic and today’s global economic crisis.

Speakers for the three-day summit include Rick Rule, Found of Global Resource Investments Ltd.; James Turk, Director of GoldMoney Foundation; Lew Rockwell, Founder of LewRockwell.com; Eric Sprott, CEO of Sprott Asset Management; Louis James, Casey’s Chief Investment Strategist Metals; Marin Katusa, Casey’s Chief Investment Strategist Energy; and Casey Research Founder Doug Casey.

Casey Research has made this sold out Summit available in a complete audio collection. When Money Dies will be available in a comprehensive audio set for an early bird price of $295 until October 3rd. The recordings will be jam-packed with critical information investors need to protect and grow their wealth. Presentations will feature straight talk about:

•     Gold from precious metals expert John Hathaway, CFA of Tocqueville Asset Management, LP;
•     The best energy investments today, from Casey Research Chief Investment Strategist Energy, Marin Katusa;
•     Why the smart money is investing in geothermal energy, from seasoned resource investor Rick Rule;
•     The best way to invest in junior miners, from Casey Research’s Chief Investment Strategist Metals, Louis James; and,
•     Doug Casey whose talks on the economy and the folly of government financial policies always prove to be highly informative and entertaining.

Once the summit concludes the audio set will be available at the regular price of $395. For more information on the full list of speakers and how to purchase the audio set go to: http://www.caseyresearch.com/cm/cd-summit-fall2011

About Casey Research
Casey Research is a leading independent provider of investment research with over three decades of heritage. With specialized expertise in energy, metals & mining, commodities and technology, Casey Research provides clients with in-depth analysis of investment opportunities in high-growth areas. Founded by legendary investor Doug Casey, the company carries on his tradition of unbiased research, hands-on analysis, deep industry expertise, and a talent for uncovering uniquely profitable investment opportunities. Casey Research’s team of seasoned investors, economists, geologists, and analysts are dedicated to uncovering important market trends and providing the guidance and recommendations to profit from them. Find out more at http://www.caseyresearch.com.

Yesterday in “Fear the Fed” Bill Kristol published a message from a businessman and investor for whose judgment he has the highest regard, commenting on the Fed’s announcement that it plans to keep rates exceptionally low until the middle of 2013. Here is the message from Bill’s businessman correspondent:

It is impossible to overstate the danger posed to the long-term stability of our country by current Fed policy, which has reached what one can only hope is the apogee of misplaced confidence in their ability to fine-tune the world. Fed policy, consisting of ZIRP (zero percent interest rates, which are now promised to be maintained for at least the next two years) and gigantic purchases of medium and long-term bonds (so-called QE, or quantitative easing), is unprecedented in monetary history.

Despite the marked lack of success of such policies in generating growth and employment gains, despite having being followed for almost three years (although they claim success because the economy did not collapse, and because there is a purported ‘profit,’ despite the profit have come from ZIRP as well as the fact that their buying of $2.6 trillion of bonds has driven up the prices of the debt!!), the Fed is now powering ahead with more of the same.

These policies (ZIRP and QE) cheat savers out of a fair return on their capital, and virtually promise an explosion of price inflation at some unpredictable point in the future. It is devilishly hard to preserve the value of paper money even when authorities are determined to protect it. The Bernanke Fed, in contrast, is willing to risk everything on its utterly unproven conviction that inflation is not and will not be a problem, and that its supereasy policies will not debase the value of money and cause a run on the dollar against one or more of the following: gold, other currencies, or commodities. Or a massive fall in long-term bond prices. Or a ferocious rise in consumer prices.

At the same time as the Fed is assuming the role of the principle supporter of the economy, without acknowledging that it might already have done enough (or more than enough), the Obama administration is still promising to raise job providers’ taxes at the earliest opportunity, and is still railing against any real attempt to rein in the unpayable entitlements which make America insolvent.

It is scarcely a surprise that gold has gone from high to high, as the only widely accepted real money and alternative to infinitely producible paper money. As people digest the latest Fed statement, reproduced below, and contemplate the wildness of Fed policy and the possibility of the deployment of the ‘range of policy tools’ available to the Fed, I predict that many people will (and should) become very afraid that the value of their money and dollar denominated assets may go, just about literally, to hell. Interest rates are zero, and the government is creating fake demand for long-term bonds by its buying (QE). What except pure money printing could they possibly have in mind for additional policy tools???

Poor policy and incompetent policymakers created these problems (financial crash, recession, and persistent high unemployment and sluggish growth), and better leaders can solve this. A crucial platform element in the next elections must be sound money, and our leaders and potential leaders should be determined to remove “employment” from the mandate of the Fed (it is obviously hard enough for them to focus on even one goal—the protection of the value of money). And our leaders should say, loudly and clearly, that among the things they will do when they achieve the power to actually do such things is to fire Bernanke, normalize interest rates, stop the QE policy, and pursue pro-growth fiscal, tax, and regulatory policies.

I wish to associate myself with every word in this message and publicize it far and wide.

Forbes: U.S. Default a Given
Written by Charles Scaliger
Tuesday, 26 July 2011

According to no less a source than Forbes magazine, a U.S. default is no longer a question of if. It’s when. In a July 23 article, Forbes’ Addison Wiggin warned readers not to get caught holding U.S. dollars when the United States government defaults — again.

Daring to challenge the oft-repeated claim that any U.S. default would be a historic first, Wiggin points out that the United States has in fact defaulted several times in the past, such as when the federal government failed to redeem dollars for gold during the Civil War and the Great Depression. The latter default, when FDR took the United States off the gold standard rather than honor in full debts incurred during World War I and the Roaring Twenties, resulted in the U.S. dollar’s losing about 40 percent of its purchasing power. That default occurred in the context of a worldwide flight from the gold standard (technically, the gold-exchange standard in Europe; England and most of the rest of Europe had abandoned a full gold standard before the war, and never returned to it, substituting for circulating gold coinage the dubious promise to investors and foreign states to redeem currency in gold). And Wiggin might also have mentioned Nixon’s closing of the gold window — the final end to the U.S. gold standard — as a result of our inability to fully service debts incurred to fight the Vietnam War. That little parlor trick turned into roughly a dozen years of recession and stagflation, and is the real starting point of the bubble that led to the ongoing economic collapse.

We are now in the final stages of what economist Ludwig von Mises termed the “crack-up boom,” with the Fed (and other central banks abroad) printing money frantically to try to stave off the inevitable collapse and hyperinflation. We have been warning about this outcome for several years now, and it is indicative of how dire circumstances have become that the likes of Forbes magazine — not a purveyor of Austrian economics by a long shot — is now frankly acknowledging it.

As for specifics, Wiggins suggests that the U.S. debt situation may actually be worse than Greece’s, because our federal government is so artful at concealing and understating debt:

Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio is 143%. America’s is officially 97%. But the $14.3 trillion national debt, stacked up against a $14.7 trillion economy, doesn’t tell the whole story. Look at these numbers:

• $14.3 trillion: “official” national debt

• $5 trillion: Amount Uncle Sam is on the hook for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

• $62 trillion: Total liabilities and unfunded obligations for Social Security and Medicare

That doesn’t count the black box of bailouts.

We know how much the Federal Reserve doled out in emergency loans: $16.1 trillion between December 1, 2007, and July 21, 2010. We know that because yesterday the Government Accountability Office completed its first-ever audit of the Fed, made possible largely through the persistence of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) making that audit, however incomplete, the law.

What we don’t know is how much of that has been paid back. “We have literally injected about $5.3 trillion,” said Dr. Paul earlier this month during his questioning of Fed chief Ben Bernanke, “and I don’t think we got very much for it. The national debt went up $5.1 trillion.”

Leaving aside the sheer wonder of Ron Paul given credence by Forbes, the figures are sobering if not alarming. We are obviously in debt tens of trillions more than the Federal government is willing to admit (after all, if those “unfunded liabilities” such as Social Security are not part of the debt, why is President Obama threatening not to issue Social Security checks without a higher debt ceiling?).

Read the full article here.

Historic Collapse In Philly Fed Which Prints At -7.7 On Expectations Of 7.0, Weakest Since July Of 2009, Biggest 3 Month Drop Ever

06/16/2011 10:12

As we predicted following yesterday’s disastrous New York Fed, we get the second confirmation that the economy is now contracting, courtesy of the Philly Fed, which just printed at negative 7.7 on expectations of 7.0%. This is the lowest number since July of 2009, and is the biggest three month collapse in the history of the series, plunging from 43.4 in March to -7.7 in June, or an over 50 point drop in three months. As expected, the Fed is telegraphing that the economy is collapsing and that stocks needs to plunge another 20% before Operation Twist (QE3) is given a green light. And make no mistake: the downside 3 month momentum in the series at -51.10 is the worst ever: all those buying stocks in advance of more easing are completely forgetting that they will take major losses before the market is low enough to allow actual easing to proceed.

From the report:

The survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, decreased from 3.9 in May to ?7.7, its first negative reading since last September (see Chart). The demand for manufactured goods, as measured by the current new orders index, showed a similar decline: The index fell 13 points and recorded its first negative reading since last October. The current shipments index fell just 3 points but remained slightly positive. Firms reported declines in inventories and unfilled orders, and shorter delivery times.

Firms’ responses suggested little overall improvement in the labor market this month. The current employment index remained positive for the ninth consecutive month, but only 14 percent of the firms reported an increase in employment, while 10 percent reported a decline. Only  slightly more firms reported a longer workweek (14 percent) than reported a shorter one (12 percent) and the workweek index was down only slightly from May.

There is good news: margins may finally improve:

Indexes for prices paid and prices received declined from May and continue a trend of moderating price pressures in recent months. The prices paid index declined sharply, by 22 points this month. Still, 37 percent of the firms reported higher prices for inputs this month, and 10 percent reported a decline. On balance, firms reported a slight rise in prices for manufactured goods: 17 percent reported higher prices for their own goods this month; 12 percent reported price reductions. The prices received index decreased 12 points, its second consecutive monthly decline.

Alas, the Hope is now extinguished:

The future general activity index decreased 14 points this month and has now dropped 61 points over the last three months (see Chart). The indexes for future new orders and shipments also declined, decreasing 9 and 14 points, respectively. The index for future employment fell 17  points and has declined 32 points in the last two months. Still, slightly more firms expect to increase employment over the next six months  (21 percent) than expect to decrease employment (16 percent).

And visually:

Next Zero Hedge prediction about to come true: Goldman will cut its H2 GDP forecast to sub 2% momentarily.

“The latest action shows gold holding well ABOVE its 150-day MA and consolidating. Frankly, I thought gold was in for another test of its 150-day MA, but I may have been too pessimistic. Gold does not seem to want to test its MA (so far) this time, and that’s a bullish factor. As I write this morning June gold is up over 19 points, and there seems to be urgent buying in gold.

We now know that there has been a dramatic reversal in world central bank thinking, and instead of selling gold as they have been doing, world central banks, on balance, are buying gold. We know that China, Russian and many Asian countries are urgently increasing their gold-to-reserves ratio.

Rising gold is also putting pressure on the silver shorts. I’ve heard that there is now more silver shorted on the COMEX than is available in physical silver.

A few weeks ago, shorting silver was considered a “no-brainer.” In this business, if you run with the crowd, you’re liable to get trampled to death.

An increasingly large percentage of America’s population is approaching “retirement age.”…As I’ve said before, the Federal Reserve was created secretly by bankers. The Fed is owned by bankers, and it was created for banks and bankers. Bonuses at the big banks are currently larger than ever as are dividends. In the meantime, Americans of retirement age have run head first into the brick wall of zero returns.

…So from now on, you can expect a veritable avalanche of “good times talk” out of Washington. The employment figures will be skewed to the administration’s advantage, the inflation figures will be a lie, the benefit that the government has bestowed upon us will be exaggerated. And the Bin Laden victory will be touted to the high heavens. Hey, “at last we’re safe.”

But more powerful than anything else will be the trend of the stock market. If the bull market dies here or even if it corrects severely, the pressure will fall heavily on the administration and the Congress.

For this reason, I expect the rest of the year 2011 to be “wild and wooly.” I expect government lies and propaganda to reach a crescendo. I’m bracing myself for a parade of surprises. Politicians love power and perks. But to keep those two, they must also keep their jobs. Therefore, coming up, I expect an extreme in dirty politics and internecine political battles. The year 2011 should wind up as a banner year for political and economic propaganda, all lies and bull-shit.”

Source: http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2011/5/20_Richard_Russell_-_Silver_Shorts_Liable_to_Get_Trampled.html

On the goldnews area of the Bullionvault web site we find a quick article pointing out that Jim Grant calls for a return to the GS. Here is a part of the article:

Jim Grant, publisher of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, the long-running finance journal, told a conference in Edinburgh that returning to a gold standard would “restore the price mechanism to its proper place.”

“Central bankers prefer the brute methods of command and control to the delicate simplicity of the price mechanism,” said Grant, adding that a “true gold standard…favors no one nation, but synchronizes the balance of payments between all.”

Source: http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/gold_standard_051120116

Forbes Predicts U.S. Gold Standard Within 5 Years – HUMAN EVENTS

A return to the gold standard by the United States within the next five years now seems likely, because that move would help the nation solve a variety of economic, fiscal, and monetary ills, Steve Forbes predicted during an exclusive interview this week with HUMAN EVENTS.

Read the full article here: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=43439