The following is an excerpt from the latest issue of Private Wealth Advisory. In it, we outline in stark detail the single biggest threat to investors’ wealth today. Over 99% of investors fail to grasp these issues. But the consequences for those who miss this, will be catastrophic, possibly a 30%+ loss of portfolio.

Not subscribers. We made money during 2008 and throughout the Euro Crisis. And this next implosion will make us money to. To join us… Click Here Now!

The Fed’s let the inflation genie out of the box. It’s not going to show up in the CPI because US Government changes the CPI regularly to underplay the threat of inflation. However, if you look at what’s happening in the real economy with corporations, all of the warning signs area already there.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. higher food costs to dampen fourth-quarter earnings, despite continued strength in its underlying sales trends.

The Denver burrito chain, which has about 1,350 locations in the U.S., has been looking for ways to boost its customer traffic growth, which began tapering off last spring.

“While food costs driven by underlying inflation increased faster than expected in the fourth quarter, we’re optimistic that food inflation will level off in 2013,” said co-Chief Executive Monty Moran.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323468604578246201531551498.html

Xstrata plc, the Swiss mining company, which is subject of a $US33 billion ($A32.4 billion) takeover by Glencore International, said 2012 profit plunged 37 per cent on weaker commodity prices and higher costs.

Net income, excluding exceptional items, such as impairment charges, fell to $US3.65 billion from $US5.79 billion a year earlier, the company said. Sales at the world’s largest exporter of power-station coal slid 7 per cent to $US31.6 billion.

”The combined impact of falling commodity prices, ongoing inflationary pressure on operating costs and continued strong producer currencies relative to the US dollar put pressure on our margins,” chief executive officer Mick Davis said in the statement

http://www.theage.com.au/business/commodity-prices-and-rising-costs-push-xstrata-profits-down-37-per-cent-20130305-2fj3y.html

LOWER PROFIT: Fourth-quarter net income at Southwest Airlines Co. fell by nearly half, to $78 million. Adjusted profit still beat analysts’ expectations, however.

HIGHER COSTS: Earnings were pulled down by increases in the cost of labor, maintenance and fuel. Expenses rose faster than revenue.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/news-summary-costs-cut-southwests-4q-profit

The key point here is that inflation is already present in the financial system no matter what the Fed admits. This situation is only going to worsen. Indeed, you consider that costs are rising at the precise time that incomes are falling, you have a recipe for serious economic contraction similar to that of 2008:

U.S. incomes fell the most in two decades in January as higher tax rates kicked in, though American consumers opted to cut back on savings.

Personal incomes dropped 3.6% in January, the Commerce Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected a 2.5% decline.

The decline more than reversed big gains in December, when companies accelerated payouts of dividends and bonuses ahead of January tax increases. Many economists expect incomes to resume their slow growth after a bumpy couple of months.

Generally, if Americans have less money in their pockets they spend less on goods and services. But personal-consumption expenditures, which measure purchases ranging from cars and clothes to health care and travel, rose 0.2% in January, in line with economists’ expectations. Consumers cut back on big-ticket items but spent more on services.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323978104578333961864183212.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Indeed, Bernanke’s “wealth” effect for the markets has been totally negated by the fact that households are selling their retirement to make ends meet:

One in four Americans is raiding their meager retirement savings to pay their monthly bills, according to a new study.

When Amy Shankland’s husband, John, was laid off from his job, they tapped into their IRAs to get by. With credit card debt, big medical expenses, two young sons, the Shanklands had few options.

“We didn’t know what to do. It was either bankruptcy or cash in our IRAs,” Amy Shankland told NBC News.

The Shanklands are not alone. Americans are borrowing against their 401(k) to pay for non-retirement needs such as mortgages, credit card debt or college tuition, according to a new study from financial advisory firm HelloWallet. That amounts for more than $70 billion in annual withdrawals.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/more-americans-raiding-401-k-s-pay-bills-1B7989986

All of this indicates that we are heaving into another massive economic contraction. Against this backdrop, stocks have formed a bubble. We all know how this will end. But most investors are ignoring all of the warning signs and buying stocks like there’s no tomorrow

This is precisely the sort of action we saw going into the Tech top and the 2007 top. The Fed has managed to create a bubble in stocks and housing again… right as the US economy collapses (just like in 2000 and 2007).  We all know what came next.

This is precisely the sort of “unquantifiable” investment analysis we specialize in with our Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

With most of the markets dominated by computer programs and Wall Street sharks, the only way to make serious money is by focusing on the opportunities and risks that no computer or group-think Wall Streeter can come up with. If you can do this, you can still making a killing in the markets.

We’re speaking from experience here.

By focusing on investment ideas and portfolio risks that are “unquantifiable” we’ve shown a success rate of OVER 80% on our investments.

Put another way, we’ve made money on more than eight out of ten investments. This includes a 74 trade-winning streak (from July 2011-July 2012 we didn’t close a single losing trade).

And this is not some flash in the pan either.. Private Wealth Advisory has a history of beating the market and locking in serious gains when others are losing their shirts (we saw a 7% gain in 2008 when the markets fell over 30%)

Indeed, I’m so confident in this newsletter that it comes with a 30-day refund period. If you’re not totally satisfied with Private Wealth Advisory in the first month, simply drop us a line and we’ll refund every cent of your subscription.

You’ll have full access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives in that time. You’ll also receive two new hot off the press issues and very likely several trade signals (it’s getting close to time to close out our 7^th and 8^th  winners for the year).

To find out more about Private Wealth Advisory and how it can help you beat Wall Street and the market…

Click Here Now!!!

Phoenix Capital Research

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in 2011, I predicted that when push ultimately came to shove, Germany would leave the Euro before it picked up the full tab. The reasoning is simple: the Germany population will not stand for rampant monetization. They know how that ends (Weimar) and they will kick out any politician who seems to support the idea.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has walked a tightrope over the last few years of keeping the EU together without infuriating the German populace to the point of having to abandon ship.

To do this, Merkel has maintained a firm stance of “we’ll write the check provided conditions are met” much as a parent would give a child his or her allowance provided the child performed its chores satisfactorily. In the case of Germany, the “chores” are required conditions of austerity measures and budgetary requirements in exchange for bailout funds.

By doing this, Merkel is able to play hardball on an economic front (having failed to meet its German-required financial targets Greece had to wait an additional six months to receive another installment of its Second bailout) without appear too hard-nosed on a political front (she continually pushes to keep the Euro together, expressing a willingness to help other nations… as long as they meet her budgetary requirements).

The policy has thus far been a success with Merkel’s approval rating soaring to its highest level since 2009 (before her re-election bid). However, her political party has begun to realize that there will be consequences for defending the Euro no matter what the cost, suffering an unexpected defeat in January of this year.

Germany’s center-left opposition won a wafer-thin victory over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition in a major state election Sunday, dealing a setback as she seeks a third term at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy later this year.

The opposition Social Democrats and Greens won a single-seat majority in the state legislature in Lower Saxony, ousting the coalition of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union and the pro-market Free Democrats that has run the northwestern region for 10 years. The same parties form the national government.

The 58-year-old Merkel will seek another four-year term in a national parliamentary election expected in September. She and her party are riding high in national polls, but the opposition hoped the Lower Saxony vote would show she is vulnerable.

The outcome could boost what so far has been a sputtering campaign by Merkel’s Social Democratic challenger, Peer Steinbrueck.

“This evening gives us real tailwind for the national election,” said Katrin Goering-Eckardt, a leader of Steinbrueck’s allies, the Greens. “We can and will manage to replace the (center-right) coalition.”

However, the close outcome also underscores the possibility of a messy result in September, with no clear winner.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/merkel-risks-election-year-setback-state-vote

Merkel is up for re-election this year. So she will be more attentive to voter needs than usual. With that in mind, the following news story doesn’t bode well for her and her pro-Euro policies:

One in four Germans would be ready to vote in September’s federal election for a party that wants to quit the euro, according to an opinion poll published on Monday that highlights German unease over the costs of the euro zone crisis.

Germany’s mainstream parties remain solidly pro-euro despite grumbling over bailouts of countries such as Greece. A German taboo on nationalism, rooted in atonement for the crimes of the Nazi era, has helped to muffle eurosceptic voices.

But the poll conducted by TNS-Emnid for the weekly Focus magazine showed 26 percent of Germans would consider backing a party that wanted to take Germany out of the euro and as many as four in 10 Germans in the 40-49 age bracket would do so.

“This suggests there may be potential here for a new protest party,” Emnid chief Klaus Peter Schoeppner told Focus.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/11/us-germany-eurosceptics-idUSBRE92A07F20130311

This is a MAJOR trend to watch. If the German population begins to swing more in favor of leaving Euro, to the extent that it could cost Merkel her re-election, then my 2011 prediction could indeed begin to become a reality.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses… And I expect BIG GAINS in the coming months. The set up today is much like that in 2007/2008, when I warned of a major Crash… and we saw triple digit gains while everyone else lost their shirts.

However this time around the collapse will be even greater for the simple reason that the Central Banks have already spent 99% of their ammo propping the system up after 2008. So when things hit the fan this time around, they won’t have the tools to fix it. Which means… systemic collapse.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

 

 

Stocks hit a new high in the Dow yesterday. CNBC cheered and Fed economists everywhere patted each other on the back.

The unfortunate reality for this “success” is that it only works in nominal terms. A DOW at 14,296 vs. a DOW at 13,000 only means something if the rise in price occurs against low inflation. If inflation was 10% during the time period that this rise occurred, then you’ve not generated any actual wealth. At best you’ve maintained your purchasing power.

On that note, unfortunately for the Fed, real inflation in the US is nearly 10% today. Indeed, if you look at the economy the primary costs for consumers (food, energy, housing and healthcare) have been increasing dramatically.

FOOD-The severe drought that swept through much of the U.S. last year is continuing into 2013, threatening to cripple economic growth while forcing consumers to pay higher food prices.

“The drought will have a significant impact on prices, especially beef, pork and chicken,” said Ernie Gross, an economic professor at Creighton University and who studies farming issues.

“Forecasts are for a four percent (price) increase in food this year, but I think that’s on the low side if the drought continues,” Gross said. “Food prices will likely be going up much more than the forecast.”

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100372886/Drought_Still_Plagues_US_Food_Prices_039Going_Up039

ENERGY–After sending consumers into sticker shock the past month, how much more can gasoline prices climb?

Another 20 to 50 cents a gallon — a level that could propel the cost of gasoline, now $3.77 a gallon, to all-time highs, some experts say.

Gasoline prices typically climb from February to Memorial Day on expectations of rising consumption and costlier summer-blend gas. But so far this year, prices are surging sooner and faster than ever before — up 47 cents since mid-January.

Consumers in some metropolitan areas, such as Southern California, are already paying nearly $5.20 a gallon, up more than 75 cents since December lows.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation/2013/02/19/2013-gasoline-prices-could-flirt-with-all-time-highs/1930681/

HOUSING-Home prices closed out 2012 with the biggest annual gain in more than six years while sales of new homes spiked in January, the latest sign that the long-suffering housing market was on the mend, data showed on Tuesday.

American consumers, meanwhile, grew more optimistic in February even as payroll taxes rose and about $85 billion worth of government spending cuts were due to take effect on March 1.

“The numbers are all pretty strong. It’s a significant rise in confidence and a strong rise in new homes sales — there is not really much to argue in those numbers,” said David Sloan, an economist at 4Cast Ltd in New York.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/26/us-usa-economy-newhomes-idUSBRE91P0JF20130226

HEALTHCARE-Rapidly rising health insurance premiums and higher cost-sharing continue to strain the budgets of U.S. working families and employers. Analysis of state trends in private employer-based health insurance from 2003 to 2011 reveals that premiums for family coverage increased 62 percent across states—rising far faster than income for middle- and low-income families.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Issue-Briefs/2012/Dec/State-Trends-in-Premiums-and-Deductibles.aspx

A secondary issue to the rise in stock pries pertains to dividends. A little known fact is that dividends account for 60% of stocks gains historically… going back to 1900.

U.S. equities returned 6 percent a year on average since 1900, inflation-adjusted data compiled by the London Business School and Credit Suisse Group AG show. Take away dividends and the annual gain drops to 1.7 percent, compared with 2.1 percent for long-term Treasury bonds, according to the data.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a0lVup_0DDwI

Take away dividends, and stocks underperform even Treasuries. And inflation east away at dividends too. If a company pays you $1.00 last year, and then pays you $1.05 this year and inflation is over 5%, you’re not making more money. And if you use this new dividend to buy more overpriced stock which is rallying on the back of a falling Dollar… you’re not getting any richer… at all.

Checkmate, Fed. You’re spending over $100 million per day to create a grand illusion. Stocks are hitting new all time highs, but none of us are any richer for it.

This will end very badly. The Fed has set the stage for another Crash. And this time around its hands will be tied as it has used up all of its tools just creating this bubble. History has shown us time and again how money printing ends. It NEVER turns out well. There is not one example in history where it has.

So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from the economy taking a massive downturn, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into financial system right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

The US Government and the US Federal Reserve downplay the threat of inflation. There are two primary reasons for this:

1)   Acknowledging higher inflation would mean both revising GDP growth much lower (last quarter’s FDP growth would have been negative 1% if you accounted for the real increase in costs of living).

2)    One of the primary arguments the Fed uses for why it can print hundreds of billions of Dollars without hurting consumers it because inflation remains “contained” or “transitory.”

Because of this, you won’t see any real acknowledgement of inflation by the US Government or the Fed until it’s far too late. Remember, one of the central goals for these organizations is to maintain confidence in the system.

Indeed, while the mainstream financial media continues to trumpet the wonders of stocks closing in on all-time highs, larger, more sophisticated players are preparing for a financial meltdown in a much larger market: bonds.

The cause? Inflation…

Goldman Sachs and other large financial entities have begun to warn their clients about an implosion in the bond market.

Goldman Sachs strategists have issued a big warning to clients hiding out in bond funds: You’re about to lose your shirt.

The reason: interest rates began rising this week, and if they return to the historical average yield of 3 percent, prices for long-term bonds will plummet. (By their very nature, fixed income prices must fall if rates rise.)

“A reversion of risk premiums to historical averages of 6% nominal rates (3% real rates and 3% inflation) would suggest estimated losses in portfolios with bond durations of 5 years of 25% or more,” equity strategist Robert D. Boroujerdi said in a note.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100355153/Why_Goldman_Thinks_You_Should_Dump_Bonds_Now

Goldman is not the only group be warning of a bond market implosion courtesy of rising inflation.

Finra warned investors today that if interest rates rise – as most market pros expect – bond investors could be slammed by long duration.

In an investor alert, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. told investors that in the event of rising interest rates, “outstanding bonds, particularly those with a low interest rate and high duration may experience significant price drops.”

A bond fund with 10-year duration will decrease in value by 10% if rates rise one percentage point, the alert warns.

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20130214/FREE/130219947

We get additional signs of the rising threat of inflation from the wave of Gold purchases made by Central Banks:

Worldwide gold demand in 2012 was another record high of $236.4 billion in the World Gold Council’s latest report. This was up 6% in value terms in the fourth quarter to $66.2 billion, the highest fourth quarter on record. Global gold demand in the fourth quarter of 2012 was up 4% to 1,195.9 tonnes.

Central bank buying for 2012 rose by 17% over 2011 to some 534.6 tonnes. As far as central bank gold buying, this was the highest level since 1964. Central bank purchases stood at 145 tonnes in the fourth quarter. That is up 9% from the fourth quarter of 2011, and the eighth consecutive quarter in which central banks were net purchasers of gol

http://247wallst.com/2013/02/14/central-banks-buy-the-most-gold-since-1964/#ixzz2LMLOfBPK

Note… Central Banks, while talking down money printing and denying the presence of inflation, bought more Gold in 2012 that any year dating back to 1964. Indeed, However, since becoming net buyers of Gold in 2010, the Central Banks have been increasing their Gold purchases rapidly.

In 2010, Governments worldwide bought 77 tonnes of Gold. In 2011 it was 457 tonnes. And last year it was a whopping 535 tonnes. All told, they’ve accumulated  1,000 tonnes of Gold since 2Q09. At today’s price of $1600 per ounce, this stash is valued at over $56 billion.

The key issue here is not the amount ($56 billion in Gold purchases is nothing compared to the over $10 trillion in new money Central banks have printed since 2007), but the trend: Central Banks were net sellers of Gold for decades until 2010.

With that in mind, we’ve recently published a new Special Report outlining the dark secrets of inflation, which mainstream financial professionals never tell their clients.

It’s titled The Inflation Secrets Your Broker Won’t Tell You and it explains in horrifying detail three of the biggest secrets about inflation that result in 99% of investors LOSING MONEY by betting on some of the most popular inflation investments.

Ignore this information at your own peril! Inflation is a far more complicated issue that most investors realize. There’s a reason so few people got rich during the last wave of inflation in the ‘70s.

We are selling this report for $79.99 to the general public, but we are giving it away to ourPrivate Wealth Advisory subscribers FREE OF CHARGE.

Private Wealth Advisory is a bi-weekly investment newsletter that cuts through the financial media’s usual tripe and presents the REAL major developments in the global financial system.

Private Wealth Advisory called the 2008 Crash, the EU Crisis, the US Debt Ceiling collapse, the rise of inflation, and more. Private Wealth Advisory subscribers are not only warned of these issues months in advance, but are guided to investments that have helped them lock in MAJOR gains when these issues hit.

Case in point, our clients returned 7% in 2008. They saw a 34% gain as the EU Crisis began to spin out of control from July 2011-July 2012. And they’re currently positioned in six investment all designed to profit massively as inflation rises in the financial system.

To find out what they are, all you have to do is take out a subscription to Private Wealth Advisory. The minute you do so you’ll receive our Special Report The Inflation Secrets Your Broker Won’t Tell You.

You’ll also begin receiving our bi-weekly investment updates (the next one goes out this Wednesday) alerting you to the most critical developments in the global economy and financial system.

And you’ll also receive our real-time alerts telling you which investments to buy and when to sell them. All of this for just $299.99.

To begin your journey towards becoming a more informed and profitable investor…

Click Here Now!

Best Regards,
Graham Summers

As we’ve noted in recent articles, the US Federal Reserve has blown another bubble in stocks and facilitating the exact same risk-taking behavior that brought about the 2008.

The Fed realizing that it’s done this, which is why it’s now trying to manage down expectations of future stimulus (see the multiple suggestions from Fed officials that the Fed might reduce QE before hitting its unemployment target).

The Fed is not the only Central Bank to have shifted tone.

Chinese authorities took a step to ease potential inflationary pressures Tuesday by using a key mechanism for the first time in eight months.

The move by the central bank to withdraw cash from the banking system is a reversal after months of pumping cash in. That cash flood was meant to reduce borrowing costs for businesses as the economy slowed last year—but recent data has shown growth picking up, along with the main determinants of inflation: housing and food prices.

The People’s Bank of China used a liquidity-draining tool in the interbank market that enables the central bank to borrow money from commercial lenders. It withdrew 30 billion yuan ($4.81 billion) by offering 28-day repurchase agreements, alternatively known as repos. The PBOC hadn’t offered repos since June.

“The central bank is trying to send a message that it will not tolerate too-easy liquidity conditions,” Dariusz Kowalczyk, a senior economist at Crédit Agricole, ACA.FR +0.99% wrote in a research note.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323495104578313541983212134.html

Investors are ignoring this story for the most part. This doesn’t bode well for the economy as China was the alleged growth story that pulled the world out of recession in 2009. China did this via a massive stimulus program equal to nearly 20% of GDP (not to mention a massive expansion of its banking system).

So if China is curbing its stimulus, the rest of the world will soon feel the impact.

Another Central Bank that has failed to engage in more monetary stimulus is the Central Bank of Japan. Despite, recently re-elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been talking down the Yen and urging the Bank of Japan to act aggressively to raise the stock market and Japanese economy, the Bank of Japan didn’t announce any new QE or stimulus in its latest meeting.

The significance of this is tremendous. Besides the Fed, the Bank of Japan is one of the most profligate money printers in the globe. For the Bank of Japan to NOT announce any new QE despite extreme pressure from Japan’s prime minister is yet another warning that something major has changed in the financial system.

 

This will end very badly. The Fed and other Central banks have set the stage for another Crash. And this time around its hands will be tied as it has used up all of its tools just creating this bubble.

THIS is the reason Central Banks are beginning to shift their tones. They realize they’ve blown another bubble and that we’re likely headed for another Crash. And this time around the Fed will be totally out of ammo to stop it. Unlike 2008 which was just a warm-up, this will be the REAL CRISIS featuring full-scale systemic failure.

So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from the economy taking a massive downturn, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into financial system right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

 

 

The Fed has a HUGE problem on its hands.

Fed officials are well aware that stocks have become totally disconnected from reality. However, they cannot simply come out and discuss ending stimulus efforts outright because it would cause a market collapse. Remember, the single most important role for the Fed post-2008 is to maintain confidence in the system. So they cannot risk any explicit statement that they will be pulling the punchbowl.

Consequently, Fed officials have begun a careful process of managing down expectations regarding future stimulus.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard gave remarks Thursday on “U.S. Monetary Policy: Easier Than You Think It Is,” at a special banking forum sponsored by Mississippi State University’s Department of Finance and Economics.

Bullard discussed four considerations for QE3 going forward.  First, while substantial labor market improvement is a condition for ending the program, Bullard said that “the Committee could consider many different aspects of labor market performance when evaluating whether there has been ‘substantial improvement.’”  These include the unemployment rate, employment, hours worked, and Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data.

Second, “Without an end date, the Committee may have to alter the pace of purchases as news arrives concerning U.S. macroeconomic performance,” Bullard said, noting that “substantial labor market improvement” does not arrive suddenly.  “This suggests that as labor markets improve somewhat, the pace of asset purchases could be reduced somewhat, but not ended altogether,” he explained.  “This type of policy would send important signals to the private sector concerning the Committee’s judgment on the amount of progress made to that point.”

A third consideration for the QE program is inflation and inflation expectations, Bullard said.  Current readings on inflation are rather low, which he said may give the FOMC some leeway to continue asset purchases for longer than otherwise.  Although worries about rising inflation have so far been unfounded, “the lesson from QE2 is that inflation and inflation expectations did trend higher,” he said, adding that it is too early to know if that will happen with the current QE program.

Finally, he said, “The size of the balance sheet could inhibit the Committee’s ability to exit appropriately from the current very expansive monetary policy.”  He explained that when interest rates rise, asset values will fall, which could possibly complicate monetary policy decisions.

http://www.stlouisfed.org/newsroom/displayNews.cfm?article=1669

Note that Bullard, like the December Fed FOMC, mentions “inflation expectations.” The Fed cannot ever openly admit that inflation is a problem because doing so would inevitably lead to the realization that the Fed is in fact the primary cause of inflation in the financial system.

Consequently the Fed must use coded terms such as “inflation expectations” to discuss the presence of inflation (note that “inflation expectations” moves the blame for prices to investors who expect inflation as opposed to the Fed which has created inflation).

The fact that this phrase (inflation expectations) pops up in both Bullard’s speech and the Fed’s FOMC minutes indicates that the Fed is well aware that it is causing inflation to spiral out of control. This is a big reason why the Fed is beginning to manage down expectations of future stimulus.

Indeed, Bullard is not the only Fed official to be talking down QE.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto said the gains from the Fed’s $85 billion in monthly bond purchase may fade.

“Over time, the benefits of our asset purchases may be diminishing,” Pianalto said today in a speech at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida.

“Given how low interest rates currently are, it is possible that future asset purchases will not ease financial conditions by as much as they have in the past,” she said. “It is also possible that easier financial conditions, to the extent they do occur, may not provide the same boost to the economy as they have in the past.”

Fed officials are debating how long they should continue their bond buying, designed to foster economic growth and reduce 7.9 percent unemployment. The Federal Open Market Committee last month kept the monthly purchase pace unchanged at $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities and $45 billion in Treasury purchases.

The central bank has said the purchases will continue until the labor market improves “substantially.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-15/pianalto-says-benefits-of-fed-securities-purchases-may-wane.html

Inflation is on the rise in the financial system in a big way thanks to the Fed and other Central Banks’ money printing. However, the Fed has now realized that things are beginning to spiral out of control. As a result it is managing down expectations for further stimulus. This will not contain inflation in any real way. However, it will have a major impact on asset prices, particularly stocks which are now in a bubble, closing in on all-time highs despite earnings falling, the global economy rolling over, a banking crisis in Europe, a sovereign debt crisis in Europe, China slowing its liquidity injections and more.

This will end very badly. The Fed has set the stage for another Crash. And this time around its hands will be tied as it has used up all of its tools just creating this bubble.

THIS is the reason the Fed is beginning to shift its tone. It realizes it has blown another bubble and that we’re likely headed for another Crash. And this time around the Fed will be totally out of ammo to stop it. Unlike 2008 which was just a warm-up, this will be the REAL CRISIS featuring full-scale systemic failure.

So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from the economy taking a massive downturn, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into financial system right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

Having pumped the system with liquidity non-stop since the Crash of 2008, the Fed now realizes it’s in big trouble and needs to manage down expectations of further stimulus.

As we noted earlier this year, the Fed, while attempting to appear committed to endless money printing via its QE 3 and QE 4 programs, was in fact decidedly split on whether to commit to more as well as the risks inherent to additional QE. Indeed, the Fed FOMC minutes indicate that some Fed members were concerned about whether QE even worked as a monetary policy.

Below are the notes from the Fed’s December 2012 FOMC minutes (the meeting during which the Fed announced QE 4). I’ve added highlights to emphasize the shift in tone.

With regard to the possible costs and risks of purchases, a number of participants expressed the concern that additional purchases could complicate the Committee’s efforts to eventually withdraw monetary policy accommodation, for example, by potentially causing inflation expectations to rise or by impairing the future implementation of monetary policy.

Participants also discussed the implications of continued asset purchases for the size of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet. Depending on the path for the balance sheet and interest rates, the Federal Reserve’s net income and its remittances to the Treasury could be significantly affected during the period of policy normalization.

 Participants noted that the Committee would need to continue to assess whether large purchases were having adverse effects on market functioning and financial stability. They expressed a range of views on the appropriate pace of purchases, both now and as the outlook evolved. It was agreed that both the efficacy and the costs would need to be carefully monitored and taken into account in determining the size, pace, and composition of asset purchases.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomcminutes20121212.htm

There are three key implications here:

1)   The Fed acknowledged that QE causes inflation expectations to rise (red text)

2)   The Fed was divided on the efficacy of QE (green text)

3)   The Fed was not committed to employing QE forever despite its public declarations to that effect (blue text)

This shift in tone went largely unnoticed by the media. However, the implications are very serious. By way of explanation, let’s quickly review the Fed’s primary moves in the post-Crisis era.

In 2008 the Fed had its back against the wall in terms of saving the system. Since that time every new Fed intervention (verbal or monetary) has been aimed at propping up the Too Big To Fail Banks and pushing the stock market higher.

The first wave of this came via QE 1 and QE 2 in which the Fed collectively monetized nearly $2 trillion in assets. However, once QE 2 ended in 2011, we noted the Fed began to realize that it could get the “positive” effects of additional stimulus (higher asset prices) without actually having to engage in more stimulus, simply by issuing verbal interventions at critical moments.

Thus, between QE 2’s end (June 2011) and the start of QE 3 (September 2012), the Fed became increasingly reliant on verbal intervention as opposed to actual money printing.

During this period, any time the markets began to dip, a Fed official, usually an uber-Dove such as NY Fed President Bill Dudley or Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, would indicate that the Fed was ready to act aggressively if need be and VOOM the markets would take off again.

This changed in May 2012, when the entire financial system began to implode courtesy of Spain (see our issue The “C” Word for an explanation of this). At that time the Fed switched back into aggressive monetary policy mode, first promising to provide more QE before launching QE 3 in September 2012 and then QE 4 in December 2012.

Unlike previous QE programs, which had definitive timelines, QE 3 and QE 4 were open-ended, meaning that they can continue forever. This was the Great Global Rig we referred to earlier this year. And while it did push the stock market higher, it did next to nothing for the US economy.

Which brings us to today. The US economy is contracting sharply again (without the massaged data inflation, real GDP growth would have been -1% last quarter) right as stocks close in on new all-time highs (the S&P 500 and Dow) or have already broken to new highs (the Russell 2000).

This is happening at a time when earnings are falling (despite companies booking profits), the economy is slowing, and stocks are closing in on all-time highs.

In plain terms, the stock market has become totally detached from economic realities. There is a term for when asset prices become detached from fundamentals, it’s called “A BUBBLE.”

THIS is the reason the Fed is beginning to shift its tone. It realizes it has blown another bubble and that we’re likely headed for another Crash. And this time around the Fed will be totally out of ammo to stop it. Unlike 2008 which was just a warm-up, this will be the REAL CRISIS featuring full-scale systemic failure.

So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from the economy taking a massive downturn, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into financial system right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

 

 

 

 

Anyone who wants to get an inside look at both the European banking system and the politicians in charge of fixing it need to only look at Spain’s Bankia.

Bankia was formed in December 2010 by merging seven totally bankrupt Spanish cajas (regional banks that were unregulated). The bank was heralded as a success story and an indication that European Governments could manage the risks in their banking systems.

Indeed, in 2011, Bankia even reported a profit of €41 million. And in April 2012, it was proposing paying a dividend. Then, in the span of two weeks, the bank revised its 2011 profit to a €3.3 billion LOSS, requested a formal bailout from Spain, and had to be nationalized.

What’s striking about this sequence of events is that throughout it, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was claiming that Spain’s banks were in great shape. Indeed, on May 28 2012, (after Bankia had already requested a €19 billion bailout, the single largest bailout in Spanish history), Rajoy stated , “there will be no rescue of the Spanish banking sector.”

Bear in mind, Spain itself was just days away from requesting outside aid from the EU.

The timeline says it all:

• May 9^th: Bankia requests €4.5 billion loan, Spanish Government states that the bank is “solvent.”
• May 21^st: Spain meets Bankia’s request for loan and takes a 45% stake in the bank thereby instigating a partial nationalization.
• May 23^rd:  Bankia’s bailout needs grows to €11 billion/ Rajoy retorts to France’s Hollande, “Hollande does not know the state of Spanish banks.”
• May 24^th: Bankia’s bailout needs grow to €15 billion
• May 25^th: Bankia’s bailout needs are now €19 billion (2011 profits revised to €4 billion loss)… the Spanish Bailout Fund has just €5 billion in cash.
• May 28^th: Rajoy comments, “there will be no rescue of the Spanish banking sector.”
• Weekend of June 8-10^th: Rajoy texts to his finance minister: “Aguanta, we are the fourth European power. Spain is not Uganda… If they want to force the rescue of Spain, they need to start getting ready €500 billion and another €750 billion for Italy, which will have to be rescued afterwards.”/ Spain informally asks for €100 billion bailout/ EU Finance Ministers OK the bailout.
• Sunday June 10^th: Rajoy states that the bailout is a “victory” before commenting, “This year is going to be a bad one: Growth is going to be negative by 1.7 percent, and also unemployment is going to increase.”

Thus, in just one month’s time, Spain implements the largest bank nationalization in its history and requests €100 billion from the EU to recapitalize its banks. And yet, throughout this time, Spanish politicians maintain that Spain’s banking system is “solvent” or in great shape… right up until they get the €100 billion at which point the truth comes out: “This year is going to be a bad one.”

Also note that Rajoy sealed the deal and which he proclaimed a “triumph”  (along with the above statement about 2012 being a bad year) before hopping a plane to watch Spain’s soccer team play Poland.

Fast forward to December 2012, and Bankia is again in the news, this time with Spain revealing that despite receiving the largest bailout in Spanish history, the bank still had a NEGATIVE value.

Bankia’s shareholders have received a nasty new year’s surprise. They may lose most of their investments or even all of them says the Spanish bank rescue fund in its latest report.

According to FROB, the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring, Bankia has a negative value of 4.2 billion euros, and its parent group BFA is 10.4 bn in the red.

Valuation is key in the recapitalisation of Spain’s banking system, weighed down by massive bad loans accumulated in a property bubble that burst in 2008. Bankia/BFA is set to receive 18 bn euros of European aid, and become the country’s biggest bailout recipient.

http://www.euronews.com/2012/12/27/bankia-worthless-says-new-report/

At this point the following is obvious:

1)   Europe’s banks are in far far worse shape than anyone publicly admits

2)   The political class in Europe has no idea how to solve this mess

3)   No one has quantified the bank’s actual losses or their capital needs

4)   Everyone is lying about just about everything related to Europe’s financial system

You could honestly end the story here and know everything you need to about Europe. But then you’d be missing out on Bankia’s newest achievement: setting the record for corporate losses in Spanish history.

Nationalised Spanish lender Bankia is expected to reveal a €19bn loss next week, the largest in the country’s corporate history.

On Thursday Bankia will report full-year earnings, including a €12.6bn provision taken at the end of last year. The writedown is a result of the lender moving assets into Spain’s “bad bank” at heavy discounts.

Bankia, which is seen as a symbol of Spain’s financial woes, was created through the merger of seven smaller savings banks before being listed on Madrid’s stock exchange. When the company failed, hundreds of thousands of people who had been sold shares saw their savings wiped out. The collapse forced Spain to ask Europe for a bailout for its banking sector, which has meant the lender is subject to tight controls.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9887116/Bankia-to-reveal-largest-loss-in-Spanish-corporate-history.html

It’s a little known fact about the Spanish crisis is that when the Spanish Government merges troubled banks, it typically swaps out depositors’ savings for shares in the new bank.

So… when the newly formed bank goes bust, “poof” your savings are GONE. Not gone as in some Spanish version of the FDIC will eventually get you your money, but gone as in gone forever (see the above article for proof).

This is why Bankia’s collapse is so significant: in one move, former depositors at seven banks just lost virtually everything.

And this in a nutshell is Europe’s financial system today: a totally insolvent sewer of garbage debt, run by corrupt career politicians who have no clue how to fix it or their economies… and which results in a big fat ZERO for those who are nuts enough to invest in it.

Be warned. There are many many more Bankias coming to light in the coming months. So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from Europe’s banks imploding, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into EU banks right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses all of them have soared this week. And I expect BIG GAINS in the coming months.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the second half of 2012, the media, Federal Reserve, and various Governmental economic bean counters engaged in what we call Great Global Rigging of 2012 in an effort to make the US economy look better to help the Obama campaign re-election bid.

Now that the election is over, the ugly economic realities have begun to creep out from where they were swept under the rug. And while the official economic data is bad (a negative GDP in the fourth quarter of 2012), it’s nothing compared to what real-time indicators are showing:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) had the worst sales start to a month in seven years as payroll-tax increases hit shoppers already battling a slow economy, according to internal e-mails obtained by Bloomberg News.

“In case you haven’t seen a sales report these days, February MTD sales are a total disaster,” Jerry Murray, Wal- Mart’s vice president of finance and logistics, said in a Feb. 12 e-mail to other executives, referring to month-to-date sales. “The worst start to a month I have seen in my ~7 years with the company.”

Wal-Mart and discounters such as Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO). are bracing for a rise in the payroll tax to take a bigger bite from the paychecks of shoppers already dealing with elevated unemployment. The world’s largest retailer’s struggles come after executives expected a strong start to February because of the Super Bowl, milder weather and paycheck cycles, according to the minutes of a Feb. 1 officers meeting Bloomberg obtained.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-02-15/wal-mart-executives-sweat-slow-february-start-in-e-mails

Here’s Wal-Mart, the single largest retailer in the US, reporting that it just had the single worst start to any month in over seven years. Indeed, the company missed just revenues expectations as families adjust to a “reduced paycheck and increased gas prices.

The increased gas prices is most important. Inflation is already seeping into the system in a big way. Indeed, if you account for real inflation (not the Fed’s phony CPI measure), the US economy contracted by over 1% last quarter.

Make no mistake, we are heading into a stagflationary collapse. The time to prepare is NOW before stocks “get it.”

So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from the economy taking a massive downturn, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into financial system right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

 

At this point it is clear that Europe is totally finished. The house is burning. It’s just a matter of time before it collapses.

Indeed, we get a clear signal of this from Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who just announced the following: “It is not enough, there are no green shoots, there is no spring.”

To understand the significance of this statement, you need to know a bit more about Rajoy and European politics in general.

Rajoy is the same political leader who, throughout 2012, stated time and again that the Spanish banking system was in great shape. Indeed, he was still claiming, “there will be no rescue of the Spanish banking sector,” a mere week before Spain’s entire banking system collapsed.

Rajoy then demanded a €100 billion bailout from the EU (Spain’s entire banking market cap is just a little over this). It was only then that he admitted that 2012 would be a “bad year.” Of course, he also claimed that the bailout was a “triumph” and celebrated by hopping a plane to watch Spain’s soccer team play Poland, but that’s a story for another time.

Given that Rajoy has only admitted Spain is screwed at times when the entire system is going under, we have to ask ourselves… How BAD are things that he just admitted, “there are no green shoots, there is no spring”?

The short answer: HORRIFIC.

Spain only just squeaked through 2012 by using 90% of its social security fund to buy Spanish debt. The country now has over €200 billion in new debt to issue in 2013.

Where on earth Spain will get this money from remains to be seen, given that even Spanish banks became net sellers of Spanish debt last year as they sold assets to return money to fleeing depositors.

Indeed, the country now is attempting to find idiots, I mean investors, in the US, by offering a Dollar-denominated bond. After all, who wouldn’t want to invest in a country where the formal bailout fund is tapped dry, social security is tapped dry, and banks still have negative value?

At the end of the day, we all know how this mess will end: Spain will default which will suck several hundred billion Euros worth of collateral out of the system at which point we’ll experience a Lehman-type event times ten.

What happens between then and now is anyone’s guess. But the fact that Rajoy is admitting “there are no green shoots, there is no spring” indicates that things are likely about to get very ugly once again.

You can choose to ignore this and believe that Europe’s Crisis is fixed just as EU political leaders claim. But Europe in general is out of options in terms of solving its debt crisis. The only thing that held things together in 2012 was the promise of unlimited bond buying by ECB President Mario Draghi… but then again this “buying” would only come with a formal request for a bailout, rampant austerity measures, and a look at the books for any country requesting it

Trust me, Spain doesn’t want ANYONE taking a closer look at its books.

So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from Europe’s banks imploding, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into EU banks right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the primary focal points of our writing is the corruption that has become endemic to the political and financial elites of the world. When we refer to corruption we are referring to insider deals, cronyism, lies and fraud. Since the Great Crisis began in 2008, these have become the four pillars of the financial system replacing the pillars of trust, transparency, truth and reality that are the true foundation of capitalism and wealth generation.

As we regularly note, corruption only works as long as the benefits of being “on the take” outweigh the consequences of getting caught. As soon as the consequences become real (namely someone gets in major trouble), then everyone starts to talk.

This process has now begun in Spain.

MADRID — Spain’s governing Popular Party was drawn deeper into a web of corruption scandals this past week, after the Swiss authorities informed the Spanish judiciary that the party’s former treasurer had amassed as much as 22 million euros, or $29 million, in Swiss bank accounts.

The treasurer, Luis Bárcenas, resigned from his job in 2009, after being indicted in the early stages of an investigation, which is still ongoing, into a scheme of kickbacks and illegal payments allegedly involving other conservative party politicians…

Nonetheless, the revelations have brought a fast-growing list of corruption investigations, which have unspooled across Spain, to the doorstep of the conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has so far remained silent. About 300 Spanish politicians from across the party spectrum have been indicted or charged in corruption investigations since the start of the financial crisis. Few have been sentenced so far.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/19/world/europe/corruption-scandals-widen-in-spain.html?_r=0

Outside of Spain, corruption scandals have also erupted in Greece. There it was revealed that the very Greek political parties that were negotiated the Greek bailout had received over €200 million in loans from the Greek banks.

Greek prosecutors have ordered the two main ruling parties to testify in an investigation into more than 200 million euros in loans they received from banks, officials said on Friday.

The investigation – which is examining whether the loans are legal and whether any wrongdoing was involved – could embarrass the fragile conservative-led government, which relies on aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Last year a Reuters report revealed the conservative New Democracy and the Socialist PASOK parties were close to being overwhelmed by debts of more than 200 million euros as they face a slump in state funding because of falling public support.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/01/us-greece-parties-idUSBRE91010O20130201

Here again, we find that politicians were “on the take” via questionable if not illegal funds. The fact that this story is coming out now does not bode well for Greece, which is barely holding together as a country.

The consequences of this discovery will not be positive for the Greek political class:

Greece’s finance minister was sent a bullet and a death threat from a group protesting home foreclosures, police officials said on Monday, in the latest incident to raise fears of growing political violence.

The package was sent by a little-known group called “Cretan Revolution”, which warned the minister against any efforts to seize homes and evict homeowners, police sources said. The group sent similar letters to tax offices in Crete last week.

http://news.yahoo.com/greek-finance-minister-sent-bullet-mail-165717734.html

Italy is also facing a major scandal implicating key political figures including the biggest player for European financial system, ECB President Mario Draghi:

Back in mid-January, Bloomberg’s Elisa Martinuzzi and Nicholas Dunbar reported that Deutsche Bank helped Italy’s third-largest bank, Monte Paschi, cover up a 367 million euro loss at the end of 2008 with a shady derivative deal. That swap helped the bank look better than it really was just before taxpayers bailed it out—echoes of Goldman Sachs’s deal to hide Greece’s national debt.

The Italian papers followed Bloomberg’s scoop days later with news that Nomura had structured a derivative for Monte Paschi along similar lines. The Italian central bank then disclosed Monte Paschi executives had concealed documents on the trades from them. Reuters reported that JPMorgan also did a sketchy derivative for the bank.

But the scandal only continued to grow. So far, the bank may have lost a billion dollars on the deals, and it turns out that the Bank of Italy knew about the allegedly fraudulent deals back in 2010, when Mario Draghi was its chief. Draghi is now head of the European Central Bank, and has been critical in tamping down the euro crisis in the last several months.

Now, the scandal threatens to change the course of Italian national elections being held later this month, giving a leg up to Silvio Berlusconi…

http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/bloomberg_unearths_an_italian.php

The key item in the above story is Mario Draghi’s involvement. As head of the European Central Bank, Draghi is arguably the most powerful man in Europe. Indeed, it was his promise to provide unlimited bond buying that stopped the systemic implosion of Europe last summer.

In this sense, the entire EU has been held together by Draghi’s credibility as head of the ECB. The fact that we now have a major scandal indicating that he was not only  aware of fraudulent deals in 2010, but gave them a free pass will have major repercussions for the future of the Euro, the EU, and the EU banking system.

We hope by now that you see why we have remained bearish on Europe when 99% of analysts believe the Crisis is over. The only thing that has the EU together has been the credibility of politicians who we are now discovering are all either corrupt, inept or both.

To use a metaphor, if Europe were a single house, it would be rotten to its core with termites and mold. It should have been condemned years ago, but the one thing that has kept it “on the market” was the fact that its owners were all very powerful, connected individual. We are now finding out that the owners not only knew that the home should have been condemned but were in fact getting rich via insider deals while those who lived in the house were in grave danger.

As we stated at the beginning of this issue, corruption only works as long as the benefits of being “on the take” outweigh the consequences of getting caught. As soon as the consequences become real (in that someone gets in major trouble), then everyone starts to talk.

The above stories about Greece, Spain, Italy reveal that we have entered the stage at which people have begun to talk about Europe’s corruption.

013 is going to be a very interesting year for Europe.

So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from Europe’s banks imploding, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into EU banks right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

 

 

 

 

 

Those EU leaders who have yet to be implicated in scandals are not faring much better than their more corrupt counterparts. In France, socialist Prime Minister Francois Hollande, has proven yet again that socialism doesn’t work by chasing after the wealthy and trying to grow France’s public sector… when the public sector already accounts for 56% of French employment.

France was already suffering from a lack of competitiveness. Now that wealthy businesspeople are fleeing the country (meaning investment will dry up), the economy has begun to positively implode.

The first sign of this came actually came from Germany. As we noted a few months ago, Germany had prepared a working group to examine the impact of an economic collapse in France.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has asked a panel of advisers to look into reform proposals for France, concerned that weakness in the euro zone’s second largest economy could come back to haunt Germany and the broader currency bloc.

Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters this week that Schaeuble asked the council of economic advisers to the German government, known as the “wise men”, to consider drafting a report on what France should do…

“The biggest problem at the moment in the euro zone is no longer Greece, Spain or Italy, instead it is France, because it has not undertaken anything in order to truly re-establish its competitiveness, and is even heading in the opposite direction,” Feld said on Wednesday.

“France needs labour market reforms, it is the country among euro zone countries that works the least each year, so how do you expect any results from that? Things won’t work unless more efforts are made.”

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/09/uk-germany-france-economy-idUKBRE8A80MN20121109

This German concern has proven to be well founded, as the recent spate of French economic data has been truly horrific.

Auto sales for 2012 fell 13% from those of 2011. Sales of existing homes outside of Paris fell 20% year over year for the third quarter of 2012. New home sales fell 25%. Even the high-end real estate markets are collapsing with sales for apartments in Paris that cost over €2 million collapsing an incredible 42% in 2012.

Since the EU Crisis began in 2008, France and Germany have been the two key countries backstopping the implosion. The fact that France is now facing an economic implosion does not bode well for the future of the Euro or the EU.

The other sovereign backdrop for the EU, Germany, is also experiencing an economic slowdown.

The German economy was hit hard by the euro zone crisis in the final quarter of last year, shrinking more than at any point in nearly three years as traditionally strong exports and investment slowed, the Statistics Office said on Tuesday…

Gross domestic product shrank by 0.5 percent in the final three months of 2012, the worst quarterly performance since Germany fell into a recession during the global financial crisis in 2008/2009 and only the second contraction since it ended.

The parlous fourth quarter pushed overall growth for the year down to 0.7 percent, a sharp slowdown from the 3.0 percent registered in 2011 and a post-reunification record of 4.2 percent in 2010. The 2012 figure was a tad below a Reuters consensus forecast for growth of 0.8 percent.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/15/us-germany-gdp-idUSBRE90E09Q20130115

Thus, we find that Europe’s primary political market props (EU leaders including ECB head Mario Draghi) are coming unraveled at the precise time that EU banks are showing warning signs and the most important EU economies are heading sharply south.

2013 is going to be a very interesting year for Europe.

So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from Europe’s banks imploding, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into EU banks right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s play a little game.

The game is called “Name That Insolvent Banking System.”

The way you play the game is by trying to guess which the countries whose Bank Assets to GDP ratios are in the below chart. There are only seven countries and I’ll tell you that they’re all western economies in the developed world.

If you win this game, you win the knowledge of knowing which countries’ banking systems are leveraged beyond any credibility. You can then invest accordingly, sheltering your assets from these banking system disasters. You can also ignore the tripe being spewed by the various political leaders and Central Bankers about everything being great in the global financial system.

Ready? Let’s play!

As you can see, the seven counties listed here have banking asset to GDP ratios ranging from 90% to an incredible 400%. Five of the seven have banking asset to GDP ratios above 250%, which is simply extraordinary given the implications of this horrific metric.

Having trouble?

OK, I’ll give you a hint, one of these countries is the US. We’re often cited as the debt nightmare of the world, which makes all other countries look good in comparison. So which one is the US?

Did you guess number 6?

Wrong!

OK, here’s another hint, the other six countries are all based in EUROPE.

Give up? Here’s the answer:

As you can see, the US’s banking system is in fact dramatically smaller relative to its GDP than the big players in Europe. As much grief as I and others have given our financial system about being overleveraged and filled with toxic debts, the US is NOTHING compared to Europe, including the allegedly rock solid banking system of Germany.

It’s also worth noting that France, which is considered to one of the essentially sovereign backstops of the EU is in fact one of the worst offenders when it comes to having a totally out of control banking system. Remember this when you hear French politicians talking about the EU crisis being “over.”

So… the next time you hear someone on the TV talking about great things in Europe are, remember the above chart and ask yourself… how can a country be in great shape when it’s banking system is over 200% larger than its economy? Just what are all these “assets.”

And the multi-trillion Euro question: how much of them are in fact garbage?

So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from Europe’s banks imploding, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into EU banks right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

 

 

 

 

 

In 2008, as the financial crisis picked up steam, one by one the big bank Wall Street CEOs came forward to assure everyone that “everything is fine” and that their banks were “well capitalized.”

Anyone who did a bit of actual research knew this was not the case. But a large component of corporate (and political) leadership is to maintain confidence and calm no matter how bad things get.

As a result of this, in May 2008 alone, executives at Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch all stated that the worst was over for financials.  That’s right, in just one month executives at ALL of these firms issued proclamations that everything was just dandy for the banks.

The market took about five months to realize the truth, at which point these firms imploded taking the market with them.

I bring this up because we’re seeing this same game played out on a much larger scale in Europe today. Starting in November, various political bigwigs from the EU, whether it be Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, France’s Prime Minister Francois Hollande, of Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy have all stated that the EU Crisis is either over… or that at least the worst of it is over.

It’s rather incredible when you consider the complete and utter failure of these folks to solve the debt problems for a country as small as Greece (which makes up only 2% of the EU’s GDP).

Greece entered a crisis in 2010. Three years later, its major banks are STILL insolvent, the Greece economy has contracted over 20% (the sort of collapse Argentina saw in 2001 when its entire financial system failed), and nothing has been fixed.

So… the EU, with the help of the ECB, IMF, and the US Fed (QE 2 and 4 were basically EU bank bailouts in disguise), COULDN’T SOLVE GREECE’S PROBLEMS. And we’re supposed to believe that these folks can solve Spain, Italy or even France’s!?!

Let’s cut through the crap here.

The European banking system is a complete and total disaster. Remember how bad Wall Street was in 2008? Europe’s banks are many multiples worse than that. The US at least recapitalized its banking system after the Crisis.

Europe hasn’t. At all. That’s right, the banks in Europe have not raised capital to bring down their leverage rations, which is why the ENTIRE EU BANKING SYSTEM IS LEVERAGED AT 26 TO 1.

Lehman, which was a total sewer of garbage debt, was leveraged at 30 to 1. Europe’s ENTIRE SYSTEM is leveraged at 26 to 1.

Let’s take Spain by way of example.

In the run up to the Spanish banking crisis, Spain sported a housing bubble that DWARFED the US’s. Spain is the DARK blue line in the chart below. The US housing bubble is the little green lump below it.

How does a housing bubble get that out of control? By banks lending to anyone with a pulse. Indeed, a little know fact is that the banks sitting on 56% of the Spanish mortgage market were TOTALLY unregulated up until about 2010. As bad as US lending standards leading up to our housing bust, Spain had us beat by many multiples as the above chart illustrates.

The Spanish Government’s solution to this mess was to merge one garbage bank with another. They’ve been doing this for three years… but the Spanish banking system remains screwed up beyond anyone’s comprehension.

Take Bankia for example.

Bankia was formed in December 2010 when the Spanish Government merged seven bankrupt smaller banks in

The bank was touted as a success story, posting a profit in 2011 and even considering paying a dividend. Then the following happened in 2012…

• May 9^th: Bankia requests €4.5 billion loan, Spanish Government states that the bank is “solvent.”
• May 21^st: Spain meets Bankia’s request for loan and takes a 45% stake in the bank thereby instigating a partial nationalization.
• May 23^rd:  Bankia’s bailout needs grows to €11 billion
• May 24^th: Bankia’s bailout needs grow to €15 billion
• May 25^th: Bankia’s bailout needs are now €19 billion (2011 profits revised to €4 billion loss)…
• December 27^th: Spanish bailout fund announces that Bankia still has a “negative value of €4.2 billion” and will need another €13.5 billion in capital
• January 2^nd (2013): Bankia shares halted on Spanish stock exchange.

As a summary… Bankia was considered profitable in 2011… it was actually talking about paying out a dividend in April 2012. And in the following eight months, it was discovered that the bank was not only un-profitable, but completely and totally insolvent.

Today, nine months later, the bank has swallowed up over €19 billion in bailouts and still has a NEGATIVE value. With the additional €13.5 billion Spain claims it needs (assuming that is the actual limit… which I doubt) the bank will have consumed over €32 billion in bailouts.

If you think Bankia is an isolated incident, you’re out of your mind.

The point of this? Europe’s banks are totally insolvent and have not been fixed. No EU leader is going to tell you this because their jobs depend on convincing people that everything is fine. Bankia was supposedly “fine” right up until the truth came out. Just like the Wall Street banks were “fine” going into 2008.

Just like Europe is “fine” today.

I know the markets have yet to fully realize this…the S&P 500 is approaching its all-time highs. But back in late 2007, the last time the markets were at this level… did stocks get what was coming then too? Nope. And by the time stocks “got it” things moved VERY quickly.

So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from Europe’s banks imploding, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into EU banks right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to issue a major warning to investors: the EU Crisis is going to get worse in the coming months.

I realize that most investors and analysts believe that the EU Crisis is over. Then think that because the S&P 500 is closing in on its all-time highs that things are fine in the system.
They are wrong.

The only item that held Europe together in 2012 was the credibility of EU politicians and ECB President Mario Draghi. Please note that nothing fundamental improved for the EU’s financial system: EU GDP has since re-entered a recession and EU unemployment has a hit a new record.

Indeed, the only reason things even looked better was because various Government engaged in massive interventions. In the case of Spain, this included raiding 90% of their social security fund to buy Spanish bonds so that yields would fall.

So… when you entire financial system is held together by the credibility of the political class… corruption scandals can implode the system.

MADRID — Spain’s governing Popular Party was drawn deeper into a web of corruption scandals this past week, after the Swiss authorities informed the Spanish judiciary that the party’s former treasurer had amassed as much as 22 million euros, or $29 million, in Swiss bank accounts.

The treasurer, Luis Bárcenas, resigned from his job in 2009, after being indicted in the early stages of an investigation, which is still ongoing, into a scheme of kickbacks and illegal payments allegedly involving other conservative party politicians…

Nonetheless, the revelations have brought a fast-growing list of corruption investigations, which have unspooled across Spain, to the doorstep of the conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has so far remained silent. About 300 Spanish politicians from across the party spectrum have been indicted or charged in corruption investigations since the start of the financial crisis. Few have been sentenced so far.

 Source: NY Times

The above story illustrates some key elements that all investors need to be aware of:

1)   EU politicians are so corrupt they make their US counterparts look clean by comparison.

2)   Having been put off for years, investigations into corruption are now reaching the point at which the rich and powerful are actually at risk of serious consequences.

Note in the above story that former Spanish Treasurer Luis Bárcenas has been under investigation since before 2009. The fact that the real smoking gun (his hidden Swiss bank account containing over $29 million) is only just coming to light should give you an idea of how corrupt the system in Europe has become (there is no way on earth it would take four years to find this information).

That this information is coming out now also tells us that things are getting so bad in Spain that heads are going to start to role. As we stated earlier, corruption only works until the consequences outweigh the benefits of being “on the take.” The above story tells us that we have finally reached that point in Spain. It’s taken five years for this to happen (the Crisis begin in 2008). But the system has finally reached the inflection point at which key players will face real consequences for their corruption.

With that in mind we can expect more and more such cases to begin to emerge in Europe. The fallout from this will be major both for the political class and for the financial markets.

Indeed, later in the same story we find the following tidbit:

On Wednesday, amid another property investigation, the president of Madrid’s regional government, Ignacio González, revealed that he and his wife purchased a penthouse last month in the holiday resort of Marbella for 770,000 euros, or more than $1 million. Mr. González, who earns 4,800 euros a month, about $6,380, is denying any wrongdoing, as well as any link between his acquisition and the property investigation undertaken by a local judge.

A regional President, earning less than $80K a year just bought a $1 million penthouse in a country where youth unemployment is above 50%, workers have gone over six months without being paid, and pharmacies are running out of medicine due to having not been paid some €500 million by the government.

The reason this is so important is because politics, not economics, drives everything in Europe. Please note that the entire EU banking system was pulled back from the brink of collapse last summer by Mario Draghi and other EU officials promising to do whatever it takes to end the crisis.

Since that time, the economy has actually worsened in Europe. Unemployment has hit a new record and the vast majority of the EU has re-entered recessionary territory. Thus, it has been the credibility of various EU officials, not any fundamental improvement in things that has made the whole system work

Now that major corruption scandals are breaking out regarding key EU figures, it’s going to be increasingly difficult for the EU political class to continue to convince the markets that the “everything is OK.”

Indeed, it’s time that we get really honest about things and state that Europe is done. Finished.

The powers that be over there are rapidly losing control of the system. Spain’s banking system is collapsing at a rate worse than that of the Asian nations during the Asian Contagion of the late ’90s. Italy’s bonds are imploding. Germany is finding its economy teetering on the edge of a cliff. And France is seeing auto sales and apartment deals collapse at a rate just as bad as that of 2008.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The debt contagion has now spread to Spain, Italy, and even France: all three of them are countries too big to be bailed out.

Which means… it’s the End Game. No matter what, the defaults are coming and the Euro will implode.

This is the reality for Europe. The whole system will be going down, it’s only a matter of time. And when it does collapse, it’s going to make Lehman Brothers look like a joke.

I know the markets have yet to fully realize this…the S&P 500 is approaching its all-time highs. But back in late 2007, the last time the markets were at this level… did stocks get what was coming then too? Nope. And by the time stocks “got it” things moved VERY quickly.

So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from Europe’s banks imploding, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into EU banks right now trying to stop this from happening.

I’ve already alerted Private Wealth Advisory  subscribers to 6 trades that will all produce HUGE profits as this mess collapses.

We’ve also taken steps to prepare our loved ones and personal finances for systemic risk with my Protect Your Family, Protect  Your Savings,  and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports.

With a total of 20 pages, these reports outline:

1) how to prepare for bank holidays
2) which banks to avoid
3) how much bullion to own
4) how much cash is needed to get through systemic crises
5) how much food to stockpile, what kind to get, and where to get it

And more…

I can do the same for you. All you need to do is take out a subscription to my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

You’ll immediate be given access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives, including my Protect Your Family,Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports.

You’ll also join my private client list in receive my bi-weekly market commentaries as well as my real time investment alerts, telling you exactly when to buy and sell an investment and what prices to pay.

So you get my hard hitting market insights, actionable investment recommendations, and real time trade alerts, for one full year, for just $299.99.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now and start taking steps to insure your loved ones and personal finances move through the coming storm safely…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A month ago, we noted that the Fed was becoming increasingly splintered about how to proceed with its monetary policy. At that time we noted that the latest FOMC minutes indicated that the Fed was in fact conflicted about QE 4 despite its public appearance of being unified:

Consider its recent FOMC minutes released on January 3 2013.

With regard to the possible costs and risks of purchases, a number of participants expressed the concern that additional purchases could complicate the Committee’s efforts to eventually withdraw monetary policy accommodation, for example, by potentially causing inflation expectations to rise or by impairing the future implementation of monetary policy. Participants also discussed the implications of continued asset purchases for the size of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet. Depending on the path for the balance sheet and interest rates, the Federal Reserve’s net income and its remittances to the Treasury could be significantly affected during the period of policy normalization. Participants noted that the Committee would need to continue to assess whether large purchases were having adverse effects on market functioning and financial stability. They expressed a range of views on the appropriate pace of purchases, both now and as the outlook evolved. It was agreed that both the efficacy and the costs would need to be carefully monitored and taken into account in determining the size, pace, and composition of asset purchases.

Source: Fed FOMC minutes

Remember, the Fed only just announced QE 3 in September 2012 and QE 4 in December 2012. At the time of these announcements, the media heralded these moves as indicating that the Fed would act aggressively forever.

Instead, the Fed was actually quite conflicted about QE 4. And we just got yet ANOTHER major warning sign that the Fed is changing tactics.

Indeed, Fed uber-dove, Charles Evans, who called incessantly for more QE throughout 2011-2012, just stated that the Fed may in fact END QE BEFORE unemployment falls to 7%.

Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said today the central bank may stop its asset-purchase program before unemployment falls to 7 percent.

“I tend to think it might be possible to turn off the quantitative easing,” Evans said in a CNBC interview. “We might be able to stop before 7 percent” assuming momentum builds and keeps going.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Chief Executive Officer Charles Evans said that quantitative easing would continue until it’s clear the labor market outlook has improved.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-07/fed-s-evans-says-qe-could-stop-before-drop-to-7-jobless.html

The bulls and mainstream media are ignoring the implications of this. But this is a serious sign that the Fed will be changing course going forward.

Understand that the Fed has blown a yet another bubble in stocks and cannot simply remove the stimulus punch bowl all at once without risking a total collapse in the market. So the Fed is going to begin managing expectations downward gradually.

The fact that Evans, a man who has called for nothing but more stimulus for more than two years, is now stating point blank that the Fed may end QE before it reaches its target for unemployment is a major warning sign. Do not ignore it.

This is precisely the sort of “unquantifiable” investment analysis we specialize in with our Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

With most of the markets dominated by computer programs and Wall Street sharks, the only way to make serious money is by focusing on the opportunities and risks that no computer or group-think Wall Streeter can come up with. If you can do this, you can still making a killing in the markets.

We’re speaking from experience here.

By focusing on investment ideas and portfolio risks that are “unquantifiable” we’ve shown  Private Wealth Advisory a success rate of OVER 80% on our investments.

Put another way, we’ve made money on more than eight out of ten investments. This includes a 74 trade-winning streak (from July 2011-July 2012 we didn’t close a single losing trade).

And this is not some flash in the pan either… Private Wealth Advisory has a history of beating the market and locking in serious gains when others are losing their shirts (we saw a 7% gain in 2008 when the markets fell over 30%)

Indeed, I’m so confident in this newsletter that it comes with a 30-day refund period. If you’re not totally satisfied with Private Wealth Advisory in the first month, simply drop us a line and we’ll refund every cent of your subscription.

You’ll have full access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives in that time. You’ll also receive two new hot off the press issues and access to all of our Special Reports outlining some of the biggest investment opportunities unknown to 99% of the investment community.

To find out more about Private Wealth Advisory and how it can help you beat Wall Street and the market…

Click Here Now!!!

Phoenix Capital Research

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following is an excerpt from our most recent issue of Private Wealth Advisory. In it we outline how the EU’s economy is beginning to collapse again, at the precise moment that Spain, Italy and Greece are becoming embroiled in major corruption scandals.

To find out more about Private Wealth Advisory and how it can help you stay ahead of the major developments in the market… Click Here Now

The house of cards that is Europe is close to collapsing as those widely held responsible for solving the Crisis (Prime Ministers, Treasurers and ECB head Mario Draghi) have all been recently implicated in corruption scandals.

Those EU leaders who have yet to be implicated in scandals are not faring much better than their more corrupt counterparts. In France, socialist Prime Minister Francois Hollande, has proven yet again that socialism doesn’t work by chasing after the wealthy and trying to grow France’s public sector… when the public sector already accounts for 56% of French employment.

France was already suffering from a lack of competitiveness. Now that wealthy businesspeople are fleeing the country (meaning investment will dry up), the economy has begun to positively implode.

The first sign of this came actually came from Germany. As we noted a few months ago, Germany had prepared a working group to examine the impact of an economic collapse in France.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has asked a panel of advisers to look into reform proposals for France, concerned that weakness in the euro zone’s second largest economy could come back to haunt Germany and the broader currency bloc.

Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters this week that Schaeuble asked the council of economic advisers to the German government, known as the “wise men”, to consider drafting a report on what France should do…

“The biggest problem at the moment in the euro zone is no longer Greece, Spain or Italy, instead it is France, because it has not undertaken anything in order to truly re-establish its competitiveness, and is even heading in the opposite direction,” Feld said on Wednesday.

“France needs labour market reforms, it is the country among euro zone countries that works the least each year, so how do you expect any results from that? Things won’t work unless more efforts are made.”

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/09/uk-germany-france-economy-idUKBRE8A80MN20121109

This German concern has proven to be well founded, as the recent spate of French economic data has been truly horrific.

Auto sales for 2012 fell 13% from those of 2011. Sales of existing homes outside of Paris fell 20% year over year for the third quarter of 2012. New home sales fell 25%. Even the high-end real estate markets are collapsing with sales for apartments in Paris that cost over €2 million collapsing an incredible 42% in 2012.

Since the EU Crisis began in 2008, France and Germany have been the two key countries backstopping the implosion. The fact that France is now facing an economic implosion does not bode well for the future of the Euro or the EU.

The other sovereign backdrop for the EU, Germany, is also experiencing an economic slowdown.

The German economy was hit hard by the euro zone crisis in the final quarter of last year, shrinking more than at any point in nearly three years as traditionally strong exports and investment slowed, the Statistics Office said on Tuesday…

Gross domestic product shrank by 0.5 percent in the final three months of 2012, the worst quarterly performance since Germany fell into a recession during the global financial crisis in 2008/2009 and only the second contraction since it ended.

The parlous fourth quarter pushed overall growth for the year down to 0.7 percent, a sharp slowdown from the 3.0 percent registered in 2011 and a post-reunification record of 4.2 percent in 2010. The 2012 figure was a tad below a Reuters consensus forecast for growth of 0.8 percent.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/15/us-germany-gdp-idUSBRE90E09Q20130115

Thus, we find that Europe’s primary political market props (EU leaders including ECB head Mario Draghi) are coming unraveled at the precise time that EU banks are showing warning signs and the most important EU economies are heading sharply south.

2013 is going to be a very interesting year for Europe.

This is precisely the sort of “unquantifiable” investment analysis we specialize in with our Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

With most of the markets dominated by computer programs and Wall Street sharks, the only way to make serious money is by focusing on the opportunities and risks that no computer or group-think Wall Streeter can come up with. If you can do this, you can still making a killing in the markets.

We’re speaking from experience here.

By focusing on investment ideas and portfolio risks that are “unquantifiable” we’ve shown  Private Wealth Advisory a success rate of OVER 80% on our investments.

Put another way, we’ve made money on more than eight out of ten investments. This includes a 74 trade-winning streak (from July 2011-July 2012 we didn’t close a single losing trade).

And this is not some flash in the pan either… Private Wealth Advisory has a history of beating the market and locking in serious gains when others are losing their shirts (we saw a 7% gain in 2008 when the markets fell over 30%)

Indeed, I’m so confident in this newsletter that it comes with a 30-day refund period. If you’re not totally satisfied with Private Wealth Advisory in the first month, simply drop us a line and we’ll refund every cent of your subscription.

You’ll have full access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives in that time. You’ll also receive two new hot off the press issues and access to all of our Special Reports outlining some of the biggest investment opportunities unknown to 99% of the investment community.

To find out more about Private Wealth Advisory and how it can help you beat Wall Street and the market…

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Over the last 30+ years, the Chinese government has maintained control of the economy by gradually implementing reforms that permit greater economic freedom to its citizens.

The citizens in turn have gone along with this scheme because they believed that the system would permit them a greater quality of life and the potential of getting rich before they got old.

In broad brushstrokes, the data supported this view: starting with the re-opening of formal trade arrangements in 1971, China has undergone a near unprecedented level of economic transformations. The country’s per-capita income doubled from 1978 to 1987 and again from 1987 to 1996.

In those 20 years, official statistics indicate more than 300 million Chinese ascended out of poverty with accompanying dramatic changes in lifestyle, professions, and diet: between 1985 and 2008, average Chinese meat consumption more than doubled from 44 pounds to 110 per year.

Moreover, the China consumer (which most analysts believe has been suppressed) saw a tremendous change in habits, with consumer spending rising an average of 9% a year for 30 years. Even high-end luxury goods manufacturers such as Burberry and Tiffany’s opened stores there during the boom.

However, this all came to a screeching halt in 2008. As the global economy collapsed, China found its export driven manufacturing economic model was terribly flawed. The Government, in a panic, unleashed a stimulus program equal to nearly 18% of China GDP.

This plan worked until two items developed:

1)   The Global Central banks let the inflation genie out of the bottle.

2)   The Chinese population began to notice that while it was suffering, many ruling party officials were living high on the hog.

Regarding #1, with nearly a third of its population living off less than $2 per day, any bump in food prices hits China much harder than the US and other developed nations. With food prices hitting record highs in 2008 and then again in 2011, China began to face massive civil unrest.

Regarding #2, China’s government has a history of rampant corruption. Between 1991-2011, it’s estimated that between 16,000-18,000 Chinese officials fled China taking 800 BILLION RMB (roughly $125 BILLION) with them. Bear in mind China’s entire GDP was just 2.1 trillion RMB in 1991. By way of perspective, imagine if members of US Congress fled the US taking $2 trillion+ with them (US GDP was roughly $7 trillion in 1991).

This corruption continues today. If anything it’s gotten worse:

The CDIC report, which was obtained by the Economic Observer newspaper, suggested that nearly 10,000 luxury homes had been sold by government officials in Guangzhou and Shanghai alone last year.

It also claimed that an astonishing $1 trillion (£630 billion), equivalent to 40 per cent of Britain’s annual GDP, had been smuggled out of China illegally in 2012.

Economists and experts cast doubt on the figure, but said the flow of money from China was dramatic. Li Chengyan, a professor at Peking University, suggested that a total of roughly 10,000 officials had absconded from China with as much as £100 billion.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9815998/Chinas-Communist-party-cadres-launch-property-fire-sale.html

Let’s provide a little perspective on the more conservative number in the above article. £100 billion translates to roughly $157 billion. China’s entire GDP is $7.3 trillion… so Chinese officials stole an amount equal to roughly 2% of China GDP in 2012 ALONE.

An equivalent case for the US would be if it were discovered that members of Congress fled the US taking $300 BILLION with them last year. Bear in mind, if you added up the total net worth of every politician in Washington you wouldn’t come even close to $300 billion.

And Chinese officials stole the equivalent of this in ONE YEAR. Not over the course of a decade but in a single year.

In a country where the average college grad makes $2,500 per year, this kind of corruption is a MASSIVE problem for the Chinese government. Which is why those betting on China continuing to grow at a breathtaking pace are overlooking some of the larger cultural problems the People’s Republic is facing today. With inflation on the rise and corruption becoming more and more apparent, China has MAJOR problems on its hands. And massive stimulus will only exacerbate them.

This is precisely the sort of “unquantifiable” investment analysis we specialize in with our Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

With most of the markets dominated by computer programs and Wall Street sharks, the only way to make serious money is by focusing on the opportunities and risks that no computer or group-think Wall Streeter can come up with. If you can do this, you can still making a killing in the markets.

We’re speaking from experience here.

By focusing on investment ideas and portfolio risks that are “unquantifiable” we’ve shown  Private Wealth Advisory a success rate of OVER 80% on our investments.

Put another way, we’ve made money on more than eight out of ten investments. This includes a 74 trade-winning streak (from July 2011-July 2012 we didn’t close a single losing trade).

And this is not some flash in the pan either… Private Wealth Advisory has a history of beating the market and locking in serious gains when others are losing their shirts (we saw a 7% gain in 2008 when the markets fell over 30%)

Indeed, I’m so confident in this newsletter that it comes with a 30-day refund period. If you’re not totally satisfied with Private Wealth Advisory in the first month, simply drop us a line and we’ll refund every cent of your subscription.

You’ll have full access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives in that time. You’ll also receive two new hot off the press issues and very likely several trade signals (it’s getting close to time to close out our 7^th and 8^th  winners for the year).

To find out more about Private Wealth Advisory and how it can help you beat Wall Street and the market…

Click Here Now!!!

Phoenix Capital Research

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The single most difficult aspect about analyzing market moves in Europe is the impact of the political class on just about everything.

Worldwide, politicians are not exactly famous for honesty. However, Europe is a very special case… where just about everyone is lying on just about everything involving the economy and banking system.

This notion is illustrated wonderfully by Spain’s Prime Minister Rajoy, who was recently embroiled in a scandal in which he and many of the politicians in his party were receiving illegal payments for decades via a slush fund.

Rajoy himself allegedly received roughly $34,000 per year… from 1997-2008. This doesn’t bode well in any country, least of all one that has broken down to the point that pharmacies are running out of medicine and over 50% of youth are unemployed.

Rajoy first denied all of the allegations… then this morning stated that, “I repeat what I said Saturday: everything that has been said about me and my colleagues in the party is untrue, except for some things that have been published by some media outlets.”

At this point, why would anyone listen to what Rajoy had to say about anything?

Those investors who can remember back to last May, before Europe was fixed (by another massive lie, this one from Mario Draghi), Spain’s banking system was on the verge of collapse. What’s striking is that as late as May 28, Rajoy continued to maintain that Spain would not need a outside funding, stating, “there will be no rescue of the Spanish banking sector.”

At this point, Bankia had already requested its bailout and Spanish banks’ shares were in a free-fall. Moreover, Spain itself was just days away from requesting outside aid from the EU.

The timeline says it all:

• May 9^th: Bankia requests €4.5 billion loan, Spanish Government states that the bank is “solvent.”
• May 21^st: Spain meets Bankia’s request for loan and takes a 45% stake in the bank thereby instigating a partial nationalization.
• May 23^rd:  Bankia’s bailout needs grows to €11 billion/ Rajoy retorts to France’s Hollande, “Hollande does not know the state of Spanish banks.”
• May 24^th: Bankia’s bailout needs grow to €15 billion
• May 25^th: Bankia’s bailout needs are now €19 billion (2011 profits revised to €4 billion loss)… the Spanish Bailout Fund has just €5 billion in cash.
• May 28^th: Rajoy comments, “there will be no rescue of the Spanish banking sector.”
• Weekend of June 8-10^th: Rajoy texts to his finance minister: “Aguanta, we are the fourth European power. Spain is not Uganda… If they want to force the rescue of Spain, they need to start getting ready €500 billion and another €750 billion for Italy, which will have to be rescued afterwards.”/ Spain informally asks for €100 billion bailout/ EU Finance Ministers OK the bailout.
• Sunday June 10^th: Rajoy states that the bailout is a “victory” before commenting, “This year is going to be a bad one: Growth is going to be negative by 1.7 percent, and also unemployment is going to increase.”

Thus, in just one month’s time, Spain implements the largest bank nationalization in its history and requests €100 billion from the EU to recapitalize its banks. And yet, throughout this time, Spanish politicians maintain that Spain’s banking system is “solvent” or in great shape… right up until they get the €100 billion at which point the truth comes out: “This year is going to be a bad one.”

Also note that Rajoy sealed the deal and which he proclaimed a “triumph”  (along with the above statement about 2012 being a bad year) before hopping a plane to watch Spain’s soccer team play Poland.

So… Spain’s economy is lead by a man who denies that its banks are in trouble (despite one of the largest already being nationalized), then demands €100 billion for a bailout, calls said bailout a “triumph” before flying to watch a soccer match… all the while sitting on over €300,000 in illegal payments that he received in the decade leading up to the crisis.

There can be absolutely no trust in a system like this, nor can there be any transparency. The EU Crisis will not end until this sort of corruption and fraud is cleared from both the political class and the banking system (Spain itself recently admitted that several of its biggest banks have negative value).

This is precisely the sort of “unquantifiable” investment analysis we specialize in with our Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

With most of the markets dominated by computer programs and Wall Street sharks, the only way to make serious money is by focusing on the opportunities and risks that no computer or group-think Wall Streeter can come up with. If you can do this, you can still making a killing in the markets.

We’re speaking from experience here.

By focusing on investment ideas and portfolio risks that are “unquantifiable” we’ve shown  Private Wealth Advisory a success rate of OVER 80% on our investments.

Put another way, we’ve made money on more than eight out of ten investments. This includes a 74 trade-winning streak (from July 2011-July 2012 we didn’t close a single losing trade).

And this is not some flash in the pan either… Private Wealth Advisory has a history of beating the market and locking in serious gains when others are losing their shirts (we saw a 7% gain in 2008 when the markets fell over 30%)

Indeed, I’m so confident in this newsletter that it comes with a 30-day refund period. If you’re not totally satisfied with Private Wealth Advisory in the first month, simply drop us a line and we’ll refund every cent of your subscription.

You’ll have full access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives in that time. You’ll also receive two new hot off the press issues and very likely several trade signals (it’s getting close to time to close out our 7^th and 8^th  winners for the year).

To find out more about Private Wealth Advisory and how it can help you beat Wall Street and the market…

Click Here Now!!!

Phoenix Capital Research

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the Financial Crisis erupted in 2007, the US Federal Reserve has engaged in dozens of interventions/ bailouts to try and prop up the financial system. Now, I realize that everyone knows the Fed is “printing money.” However, when you look at the list of bailouts/ money pumps it’s absolutely staggering how much money the Fed has thrown around.

Here’s a recap of some of the larger Fed moves during the Crisis:

• Cutting interest rates from 5.25-0.25% (Sept ’07-today).
• The Bear Stearns deal/ taking on $30 billion in junk mortgages (Mar ’08).
• Opening various lending windows to investment banks (Mar ’08).
• Hank Paulson spends $400 billion on Fannie/ Freddie (Sept ’08).
• The Fed takes over insurance company AIG for $85 billion (Sept ’08).
• The Fed doles out $25 billion for the automakers (Sept ’08)
• The Fed kicks off the $700 billion TARP program (Oct ’08)
• The Fed buys commercial paper from non-financial firms (Oct ’08)
• The Fed offers $540 billion to backstop money market funds (Oct ’08)
• The Fed agrees to back up to $280 billion of Citigroup’s liabilities (Oct ’08).
• $40 billion more to AIG (Nov ’08)
• The Fed backstops $140 billion of Bank of America’s liabilities (Jan ’09)
• Obama’s $787 Billion Stimulus (Jan ’09)
• QE 1 buys $1.25 trillion in Treasuries and mortgage debt (March ’09)
• QE lite buys $200-300 billion of Treasuries and mortgage debt (Aug ’10)
• QE 2 buys $600 billion in Treasuries (Nov ’10)
• Operation Twist reshuffles $400 billion of the Fed’s portfolio (Oct ’11)
• QE 3 buys $40 billion of Mortgage Backed Securities monthly (Sept ‘12)
• QE 4 buys $45 billion worth of Treasuries monthly (Dec ’12)

The Fed is not the only one. Collectively, the world’s Central Banks have pumped over $10 trillion into the financial system since 2007. This money printing has resulted in a massive expansion of Central Bank balance sheets, spread inflation into the system, and done nothing to address the key solvency issues that lead up to the great crisis.

This competitive debasement has lead to increased tension between the world’s Central Banks. You will never hear their stated outright for the simple reason that the single most important responsibility of the Central Banks is to maintain confidence in the system.

However, underneath the veneer of goodwill and the occasional necessary coordinated intervention, tensions are rising between Central Banks. When the US debases the US Dollar it pushes the Euro higher. This hurts German exports which in turn angers the Bundesbank.

The Bundesbank fired a warning shot at the Fed last autumn when it announced it wanted to have its Gold reserves at the Fed audited. To be clear here: no one of major financial import has ever questioned the Fed’s trustworthiness before. However, at the time of this announcement Germany stated it had no intentions of actually moving its reserves.

Fast-forward to today and Germany has not only audited and checked its Gold reserves at the Fed but it is now moving them. In plain terms, Germany has told the world that A) it does not trust the Fed and B) it is through playing around.

This situation will likely be getting worse going forward. The fact that Germany will be removing all of its Gold reserves from France certainly doesn’t bode well for future German French relations if push ever comes to shove (it’s not as though Europe has a history of getting along well).

Look for increased tension to grow between the world’s Central Banks in the coming months and years. This tension will likely result in:

1)   Economic warfare (see the recent situation in Iran)

2)   Political infighting

3)   Key players being sacrificed

Given that the financial system and economic “recovery” have been built on a house of cards, these political developments will have major impacts on the financial markets.

Outside of internal dissent, the power players in the global economy (the US, China, Japan, and Germany) are showing increasing signs of tension both internal (China and the US) as well as external (China vs. Japan, Germany vs. the US, the US vs. China).

These tensions will lead to economic warfare and very likely physical warfare in the coming years.

This is precisely the sort of “unquantifiable” investment analysis we specialize in with our Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

With most of the markets dominated by computer programs and Wall Street sharks, the only way to make serious money is by focusing on the opportunities and risks that no computer or group-think Wall Streeter can come up with. If you can do this, you can still making a killing in the markets.

We’re speaking from experience here.

By focusing on investment ideas and portfolio risks that are “unquantifiable” we’ve shown  Private Wealth Advisory a success rate of OVER 80% on our investments.

Put another way, we’ve made money on more than eight out of ten investments. This includes a 74 trade-winning streak (from July 2011-July 2012 we didn’t close a single losing trade).

And this is not some flash in the pan either… Private Wealth Advisory has a history of beating the market and locking in serious gains when others are losing their shirts (we saw a 7% gain in 2008 when the markets fell over 30%)

Indeed, I’m so confident in this newsletter that it comes with a 30-day refund period. If you’re not totally satisfied with Private Wealth Advisory in the first month, simply drop us a line and we’ll refund every cent of your subscription.

You’ll have full access to the Private Wealth Advisory archives in that time. You’ll also receive two new hot off the press issues and very likely several trade signals (it’s getting close to time to close out our 7^th and 8^th  winners for the year).

To find out more about Private Wealth Advisory and how it can help you beat Wall Street and the market…

Click Here Now!!!

Phoenix Capital Research