My Dear Extended Family,
On this first business day of the 2012 New Year, let us keep our eye on the ball of gold fundamentals.
Nothing yet has occurred that would reverse the Formula given to you years ago. Government spending, call it monetary stimulation or entitlements, continues to grow.
Business struggles to perform as people drop off the jobless count, still without jobs. Governments have gambled all on business improvements to offset the loss of revenue versus spending. They have lost.
Nothing has changed and nothing is changing. The best economic figures are bottom bouncing or provided by the problem itself, large lending to those with weak credit, such as in autos.
The din of gold voices is at best confused. The hedge funds have won a battle, but will surely lose the war.
Stay focused, hunker down and stay the course. This is hardcore stuff.
Just like Conrad Colman, the 28 year old sailor who raced around the world in sailboats since he was 16, won his around the world leg into port in his home country of New Zealand, persistence when you have the right stuff brings home first place. We will persist through the mindless algorithms and evil plans of the winderkun master of the universe, the hedgies.
Alf is right. Gold will make new highs.
Each 1,000,000 ounces a gold company has will be worth not millions, but rather billions. The fact that gold is honest money will overcome all the MOPE fiat manufacturers can produce. Conrad Colman never took his eye off the ball regardless of multiple challenges along his life course.
Forty days of battle without seeing land and just skirting the icy dangers of the South Oceans, the youngest crew in the race were always challenged by professional boatmen and wild seas. They never gave in to self doubt and won.
So will we.
Respectfully,
Jim
Foreign Central Banks Cut Treasury Holdings by Record
Published: Friday, 30 Dec 2011 | 9:57 PM ET
By: Michael Mackenzie in New York
Holdings of U.S. Treasurys by foreign central banks has fallen by a record amount over the past four weeks according to the latest Federal Reserve data.
The net $69 billion drop in Treasury holdings registered at the Fed by foreign official institutions comes as benchmark yields ended 2011 near record low levels and when the U.S. central bank is conducting Operation Twist, its $400 billion program to sell shorter-lived Treasury bonds and buy those with longer maturities.
The decline in foreign holdings of Treasurys in recent weeks has not resulted in higher yields and lower prices because other investors have sought the safety of US debt.
“Given where the 10-year Treasury is ending the year, it’s difficult to say the flows are a bearish move,” said Ian Lyngen, strategist at CRT Capital.
The yield on 10-year notes was set to end 2011 below 1.90 percent on Friday and the Barclays Capital index of long-dated Treasurys has rallied nearly 30 percent this year, its best annual performance since 1995.
“While other buyers have willingly taken up the torch up to this point, it seems clear that this [foreign official flows] source of demand has waned since Operation Twist took yields to these levels and this investor base has little interest in sub-2 percent 10-year yields,” said John Briggs, strategist at RBS Securities.