GAINS, PAINS & CAPITAL

I continue to see commentators claiming QE 3 is just around the corner. I don’t see how this is possible because all of the Fed’s excuses for more QE are no longer valid.

First off, interest rates are already at or near record lows. So the Fed cannot argue that it needs to lower rates. Moreover, it’s not like lowering rates via QE 1, QE lite, QE 2, and Operation Twist 2 did much to help the US housing market. So QE 3 can’t be presented as a solution to housing.

Secondly, the economic data coming out of the US has been massaged to the point of not looking so bad. So the Fed cannot use the “economy is collapsing” argument this time either. And it’s not as though the public isn’t totally aware that QE 2 did next to nothing for the economy.

Indeed, the Fed spent $600 billion on QE 2 and had at most three months’ of improved economic data as a result (QE 2 was announced in November and the US economy rolled over in February 2011). The public is well aware of this as well as the fact that QE 2 saw inflation exploding higher.

Despite end-of-year decline, 2011 food prices highest on record – UN

Global food prices declined in December, but the overall annual average was the highest ever on record, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today.

Last month, FAO’s Food Price Index level was 211 points – 27 points below its peak in February. The decline was driven by sharp falls in the international prices of cereals, sugar and oils due to a productive harvest coupled with a slowing demand and a stronger United States dollar.

However, despite the steady decline in prices during the second half of the year, the Index overall averaged 228 points in 2011 – the highest average since FAO started measuring international food prices in 1990. The second highest average occurred in 2008 at 200 points.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40925&Cr=food&Cr1=prices

Food prices hit all time highs in 2011, resulting in numerous revolutions and riots throughout the world. The increased cost of living also drew a lot of negative attention to the Fed from the US populace. So it’s not like the Fed can use the “QE will stimulate the economy” argument anymore.

The final argument for QE is that Obama needs the economy to recover to win the 2012 election. This argument completely overlooks the fact that Bernanke and the Fed are now politically toxic.

If the Fed were not in trouble politically, why would it:

1)   Stage town hall meetings

2)   Open up to Q&A sessions

3)   Have “humanizing’ articles written about Bernanke in major media publications.

4)   Moving towards more transparency on its forecasts and projections

These are all defensive moves. And the Fed wouldn’t be making them if it wasn’t under pressure. Which makes it all the more unlikely that QE 3 would help Obama. The public is already outraged at the Fed moves. And QE 3 would send inflation through the roof.  How exactly would this benefit Obama’s Presidential campaign?

In the end, the bar for QE 3 is much, much higher than most people think. The days in which the Fed could do whatever it wanted are over. And there simply isn’t a decent argument for QE 3 at this time.

In the end, it’s not as though QE 3 would do much for the market anyway. Look at the recent coordinated Central Bank intervention in November… the benefits lasted less than a month.

And somehow QE 3 is going to send stocks through the roof? Give me a break. Look at earnings. They’ve been a disaster, and investors are pulling their funds from the market en masse.

On that note, I truly believe we’re on the verge of the next round of the Great Crisis. The credit and bond markets are already starting to predict another 2008 event. Only this time things will be even worse because the Fed has already used up its tools into combating the First Round of the Crisis.

Many people see their portfolios go up in smoke with this. Don’t be one of them. The time to prepare your portfolio for the collapse is NOW before it starts.

I can show you how.

Indeed, while 99.9% of investors lost their shirts in 2008, my subscribers actually MADE MONEY.

We did the same thing during the first round of the Euro Crisis in 2010.

And so far we’ve locked in 34 STRAIGHT WINNERS in the last five months… including gains of 12%, 15% even 18%.

In fact we haven’t closed a SINGLE LOSING TRADE in the second half of 2011.

We just opened several new positions last week, all of them designed to profit beautifully from the coming collapse of the EU.

To find out what they are… and  take action to insure that the coming disaster will produce profits NOT pain for you and your portfolio…

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Graham Summers
Chief Market Strategist
Phoenix Capital Research

For months I’ve been warning that when push come to shove Germany will bail on the Euro.

The reasons for this are simple:

1)   The German public and court system won’t stand for QE from the European Central Bank

2)   Issuing Euro bonds goes against the German constitution

3)   Germany has its own share of domestic problems with a REAL Debt to GDP ratio north of 200% and its banks needing tens of billions of Euros in new capital

All of these factors lead me to believe that Germany would refuse to be the ultimate backstop for the EU. You could also see Germany preparing the legislation to allow it to walk if it wanted to:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party voted to allow euro states to quit the currency area, endorsing the prospect of a move not permitted under euro rules.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-11/german-cdu-is-set-to-back-motion-allowing-euro-member-exit-1-.html

The resolution reads:

“Should a member [of the euro zone] be unable or unwilling to permanently obey the rules connected to the common currency he will be able to voluntarily–according to the rules of the Lisbon Treaty for leaving the European Union–leave the euro zone without leaving the European Union. He would receive the same status as those member states that do not have the euro.”

I believe Germany implemented this legislation for itself… not some other country. And by the look of things, Germany’s getting a lot closer to walking.

BBK Thiele: Current ECB Government Bond Buys Violate Treaty

The European Central Bank’s government bond buys are a violation of the Maastricht Treaty, Bundesbank board member Carl-Ludwig Thiele said Monday.

Thiele’s comments depart form the official Bundesbank line. While the German central bank has warned that larger purchases may be illegal, it has said that current purchases do not violate the prohibition of monetary financing.

Thiele recalled that the decision to buy Greek government bonds had found no support from German ECB Governing Council members. “Germany was over-ruled on the Council,” Thiele said.

“These buys were a violation against the prohibition of monetary financing, that is the basic principle that a central bank should not give credit to a state,” Thiele said in a speech text provided by the Bundesbank.

https://mninews.deutsche-boerse.com/index.php/bbk-thiele-current-ecb-government-bond-buys-violate-treaty?q=content/bbk-thiele-current-ecb-government-bond-buys-violate-treaty

Bundesbanker says euro zone must forget idea of QE

Europe must abandon the idea that printing money, or quantitative easing, can be used to address the euro zone debt crisis, Bundesbank board member Carl-Ludwig Thiele said on Monday.

Thiele called for euro zone countries to exercise fiscal discipline and said that boosting the resources of Europe’s rescue funds would buy time to address the bloc’s debt woes.

“But lasting confidence cannot be bought with money alone,” he added in the text of a speech for delivery in Hamburg.

“One idea should be brushed aside once and for all – namely the idea of printing the required money. Because that would threaten the most important foundation for a stable currency: the independence of a price stability orientated central bank.”

http://www.sharenet.co.za/news/Bundesbanker_says_euro_zone_must_forget_idea_of_QE/d02483d59237b6eb2c6ae98f17b3e1ce

These are extremely strong statements coming from the Bundesbank. Remember, Merkel is the German political leader, but she doesn’t control the purse strings to Germany: the German courts and Bundesbank do. And if they don’t support more bailouts, there’s nothing Merkel can do.

We see similar warnings coming out of German CEOs:

Linde CEO says Germany should mull euro exit-paper

Germany should consider leaving the euro if efforts to impose fiscal discipline upon indebted euro zone countries fail, the head of industrial gases firm Linde (LING.DE) told German weekly paper Der Spiegel.

“I fear the willingness of crisis countries to reform themselves is abating if, in the end, the European Central Bank steps in,” Linde’s chief executive Wolfgang Reitzle was quoted as saying.

“If we do not succeed in disciplining crisis countries, Germany needs to exit,” said Reitzle who was previously a board member at carmaker BMW (BMWG.DE) and head of Jaguar and Land Rover.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/01/15/eurozone-linde-idINDEE80E07Z20120115

I firmly believe Germany is already makings moves to prepare for precisely this outcome. No EU member state is going to submit to German authority regarding fiscal policies. Indeed, virtually every EU legislation passed in the post-WWII era was aimed at limiting Germany’s power.

And Germany isn’t going to simply prop up the EU out of the goodness of its heart. As I mentioned before, Germany has its own domestic issues to deal with. And when push comes to shove, Germany will look after its own interests rather than Greece’s or Italy’s.

With that in mind I believe it’s only a matter of time before Germany walks out of the EU. When this happens the Euro will collapse a minimum of 20-30% and we will see numerous sovereign defaults.

When the smoke clears the EU in its current form will be broken and we will have passed through a Crisis far worse than 2008.

Many people see their portfolios go up in smoke with this. Don’t be one of them. The time to prepare your portfolio for the collapse is NOW before it starts.

I can show you how.

Indeed, while 99.9% of investors lost their shirts in 2008, my subscribers actually MADE MONEY.

We did the same thing during the first round of the Euro Crisis in 2010.

And so far we’ve locked in 34 STRAIGHT WINNERS in the last five months… including gains of 12%, 15% even 18%.

In fact we haven’t closed a SINGLE LOSING TRADE in the second half of 2011.

We just opened several new positions last week, all of them designed to profit beautifully from the coming collapse of the EU.

To find out what they are… and  take action to insure that the coming disaster will produce profits NOT pain for you and your portfolio…

Click Here Now!!!

Graham Summers
Chief Market Strategist
Phoenix Capital Research

As usual, bad news was released over the weekend when the least number of people are paying attention. In this particular instance the bad news was:

1)   S&P downgrading nine EU countries, including France and Austria which both lost AAA status

2)   S&P downgrading the EFSF to AA

3)   S&P’s head of sovereign ratings stating that a Greek default is coming soon

4)   Germany giving a definitive “NO” to the ECB on the option of Quantitative Easing (QE)

None of these should be a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention. Germany signaled that it was against QE months ago. Having already experienced the end result of monetization (hyperinflation), German voters and courts are completely opposed to this option.

As for the numerous downgrades… these are just a natural consequence of EU leaders failing to face the facts. The facts are that Europe is insolvent and the only possible outcome for most EU members is to default.

However, because EU leaders continue to play for time by “kicking the can” down the road with half measures and pseudo-solutions, the debt contagion has spread rapidly from the PIIGS countries to other more stable members like France and Austria.

Put another way, by failing to address the core issues Europe faces (too much debt, too little capital, far too many entitlement programs relative to taxes), EU leaders are simply letting the debt contagion spread unchecked.

As a result of this, the Euro has broken into the gap down formed during the May 2010 Crisis. We now have one primary line of support before things get really ugly.

Indeed, the long-term chart of the Euro shows us in a massive downward channel that predicts the Euro breaking below 118.

Elsewhere in the world, traders gunned the S&P 500 to 1,300 in the overnight session. At that point buying power dropped and the market has begun to correct.

Truthfully the only reason to be long stocks right now is in anticipation of more QE from the Fed at its January 25 FOMC meeting. However, the likelihood of more QE being announced at that time is slim to none.

For starters, interest rates are already at record lows, so the Fed cannot use that excuse. Secondly the latest economic data out of the US, while heavily massaged, is showing some signs of improvement, which negates the need for more QE. And finally, Bernanke and the Fed are far too politically toxic for the Fed to begin another massive round of QE (the last one of $600 billion accomplished nothing) just for the sake of it.

Indeed, I fully believe that the Fed will not engage in another massive stimulus move until the financial system is in full-scale Crisis mode again.

With that in mind, this latest low volume melt-up on hype and hope has brought the S&P 500 up against the trendline formed during the summer top, as well as resistance at 1,300.

Whenever a market rallies hard based on hype and hope, the chance for a violent reversal increases dramatically. And given just how bad the fundamentals are for the US and Europe at this time, we could see a very sharp collapse in no time.

The only thing holding  the system together is hope of more QE from the Fed/ additional measures by other Central Banks. However, at this point it’s clear that the impact of Central Bank intervention is lessening with every new move. Consider the coordinated intervention that involved seven Central Banks in late November: the positive effects of that move were completely undone within a month.

And what happens when the Central Banks finally lose control of this mess (and they will, just as they did in 2008). The answer is a Crisis that will make 2008 look like a picnic.

This is coming… it’s only a matter of when.

On that note, if you have not already taken steps to prepare for the next round of the Crisis now is the time to do so while the system is still holding together.

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Graham Summers

Greece is in big trouble.

I realize that 99% of commentators have completely missed this fact. After all throughout 2011 the mainstream financial media published stories claiming that the Greek Crisis was solved.

However, the reality is that Greece remains in Crisis mode. The country has only 37 billion Euros left from its first bailout package. And the second bailout package is anything but guaranteed.

Indeed, as the below story reveals, the two financial backstops for Greece (the IMF and Germany) are in no place to pony up more cash.

Analysis: IMF funds for Greece not assured

IMF chief Christine Lagarde is warning Europe that Greece’s economic prospects are deteriorating and the European Union will either have to pony up more money to rescue Athens or debt holders will have to stomach steeper losses.

Unless the private sector or the EU contribute more to Greece’s rescue, the International Monetary Fund will view the nation’s debt load as unsustainable and may be unwilling to deliver more funds, IMF sources told Reuters as Lagarde met with Germany’s and France’s leaders in Europe…

But talks aimed at getting private-sector creditors to shoulder a bigger part of a new Greek bailout are going badly, senior European bankers said on Wednesday, raising the prospect that euro-zone governments will have to increase their contribution.

If bondholders refuse to take larger losses and the EU does not agree to provide more aid, it is unlikely the IMF would come in to save the day, a senior diplomatic source said.

Already, concern is rising among IMF member countries about the Fund’s growing exposure to Greece, with lending already at 2,400 percent of the nation’s IMF quota — by far the largest on record since 2003.

U.S. Republican lawmakers are already taking aim at Washington’s support for the IMF, threatening to snatch back a loan approved for an IMF crisis fund in 2009. With a presidential election looming in November, the Obama administration has made clear it has no plans to provide further resources through the IMF to help Europe.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/11/us-greece-imf-idUSTRE80A2AL20120111

Let’s consider the IMF first. The IMF has already given Greece 2,400% more funds than its quota allows. Moreover, the IMF is essentially a US-backed organization. And what are the odds that Congress and Obama are going to “OK” hundreds of billions in funds to bailout Europe during an election year?

Next to none.

So the idea that the IMF will somehow save the day here is completely delusional. Indeed, you can even see this in the following paragraph:

Unless the private sector or the EU contribute more to Greece’s rescue, the International Monetary Fund will view the nation’s debt load as unsustainable and may be unwilling to deliver more funds, IMF sources told Reuters as Lagarde met with Germany’s and France’s leaders in Europe…

This is nothing more than a cop-out: the IMF knows private bondholders don’t want to eat more losses on their Greek debt holdings, so it’s using that as the reason why it cannot provide more funds. It’s actually pretty brilliant as it portrays the IMF as wanting to help, but blames others for the reason why it can’t.

Germany is pulling a similar stunt, promising to pony up more cash only if Greece meets certain conditions (conditions that Germany knows Greece won’t agree to).

Merkel warns Greece on second bailout

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned Greece it will not be able to receive further aid unless it makes rapid progress on its second rescue package, including reaching agreement with private bondholders over a voluntary write-down on Greek debt, Reuters has reported.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Berlin with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel told reporters,“The second Greek aid package including this restructuring, must be in place quickly. Otherwise it won’t be possible to pay out the next tranche for Greece.”

The scheme aims to cut Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio from around 160 percent to 120 percent. However, last week European Central Bank (ECB) policymaker Athanasios Orphanides said the private sector deal should be scrapped, while on Saturday an adviser to Germany’s finance minister said a 50 percent “haircut” was insufficient to tackle Greece’s huge debt, Reuters reported.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/business-tech/debt-crisis/120109/merkel-warns-greece-second-bailout

In plain terms, both the IMF and Germany have stated they will help Greece if and only if Greece agrees to various measures… which they KNOW Greece cannot agree to.

And so the Greek issue has become a kind of “hot potato” that no one wants to keep holding. Meanwhile, every day that this issues doesn’t get solved, the EU as a whole moves closer to systemic failure.

After all, the very same issues that are plaguing Greece (namely the inability to find additional bailout funds) are going to take down Spain, Italy, and the other PIIGS. And once they do, the EU in its current form will be broken up.

You can already see investors preparing for this as they flock to German bunds pushing yields negative there. On top of this, EU corporations and banks are so worried about the system that they are parking record amounts of cash with the ECB.

So if you’ve not already taken steps to prepare your portfolio for a Euro collapse, NOW is the time to do so. Because once the real fireworks start, it will be too late.

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Graham Summers

I’ve received a number of emails regarding the fact that stocks continue to rally despite Europe being on the verge of Collapse. Once again, investors are forgetting that stocks are the most clueless asset class on the planet.

Indeed, here are three reasons why this latest stock market rally isn’t to be trusted.

1) Volume has fallen from awful to absolutely horrendous.

Stocks traded roughly nine billion shares on the second trading session of 2012. This marks a 36% decrease from trading volume for the second day of 2011 (nearly 14 billion shares).

Put another way, stocks are levitating on lower and lower volume. Indeed, volume on Monday of this week was the lowest volume of the year so far, even lower than that of last week.

This flies in the face of conventional market action (bull markets are marked by increasing volume) as well as the usual start of the year buying. And it serves as a major red flag that all is not well with the financial system.

Indeed, one wonders what the market would look like if volume were to pick up (hint every time that it has in the last year stocks have collapsed).

2) Bonds are forecasting an event worse than 2008

As I’ve noted countless times before, the bond market is much larger, much more liquid, and much better at forecasting developments than the stock market.

With that in mind, I’d like to point out that US Treasuries have in fact already exceeded their all time highs established during the 2008-2009 Crash. In fact, they’ve bounce off of their former all-time highs, indicating that former resistance is now support:

Mind you, Treasuries aren’t the only “safe haven” bond to be exploding higher: German bonds have actually gone negative indicating that investors are actually willing to pay to have their capital parked with the German government, based on it reputation for fiscal strength.

By the way… this has never happened before.

3) The likelihood of more juice coming from the Fed is getting lower by the day.

The number one driving force behind every stock market rally in the last two years has been the assumption that the US Federal Reserve will pump the system with more liquidity.

The only problem with this assumption is that it’s been dead wrong for over six months. Indeed, not only has the Fed disappointed at every FOMC since July (while always promising to do more, the Fed has in fact done next to nothing), but as far back as May 2011, Bernanke himself admitted that QE has become less “attractive” as a monetary policy.

See for yourself…

Q. Since both housing and unemployment have not recovered sufficiently, why are you not instantly embarking on QE3? — Michael A. Kamperman, Waco, Tex.

Mr. Bernanke: “Going forward, we’ll have to continue to make judgments about whether additional steps are warranted, but as we do so, we have to keep in mind that we do have a dual mandate, that we do have to worry about both the rate of growth but also the inflation rate…

“The trade-offs are getting — are getting less attractive at this point. Inflation has gotten higher. Inflation expectations are a bit higher. It’s not clear that we can get substantial improvements in payrolls without some additional inflation risk. And in my view, if we’re going to have success in creating a long-run, sustainable recovery with lots of job growth, we’ve got to keep inflation under control. So we’ve got to look at both of those — both parts of the mandate as we — as we choose policy”

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/how-bernanke-answered-your-questions/

Pessimistic Bernanke Fed Admits QE Has Failed In FOMC Statement

In its latest FOMC statement, the Bernanke Fed has admitted the economy continues to remain depressed, essentially admitting that both programs of long-term asset purchases, or quantitative easing, have failed to prop up output after what has been the worst recession since the Great Depression.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2011/08/09/pessimistic-bernanke-and-fomc-practically-admit-qe-has-failed/

“Monetary policy can do a lot, but monetary policy is not a panacea.” — Ben Bernanke 9/29/11

U.S. “close to faltering,” Fed ready to act: Bernanke

Asked whether another round of bond purchases, known as quantitative easing, was in store, Bernanke was noncommittal.

“We never take anything off the table because we don’t know where the economy is going to go. We have no immediate plans to do anything like that,” he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/04/us-usa-fed-bernanke-idUSTRE79337C20111004

Central banks may need to burst bubbles: Bernanke

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday that central banks may need to resort to monetary policy to combat asset bubbles, although regulation should be a first line of defense.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/18/us-usa-fed-bernanke-idUSTRE79H5IR20111018

Look at the progression there. As far back as May 2011, Bernanke admitted the benefits of QE were less attractive. He’s since not only admitted that asset bubbles exist (something Greenspan never admitted) but that Central Banks may even need to “burst” them!?!?

And somehow, the Fed is going to reverse this attitude and unleash some mega-new QE effort… during an election year in which the Fed has become one of THE hot topics for the GOP?

The reality is that the financial system is once again teetering on the brink of collapse. The only thing holding stocks up is misguided hope that EU leaders will somehow solve a debt crisis with more debt (how’d that work out the last two years?) or that the Fed will somehow be able to print our way to growth (again, how’d that work out over the last two years?).

Look at the bond markets: they’re forecasting something worse than 2008. Look at commodities: they’re breaking down just as they did before the 2008 Crash. Look at stock market volume: it’s falling dramatically during rallies just as it did in 2008.

And people still believe that things are alright?

The reality is that we are rapidly heading into a Crisis that will make 2008 look like a picnic. It could erupt tomorrow or next week, or even in a month’s time. But the fact remains that there is no possible happy ending for the current EU Crisis. Interbank liquidity is drying up and banks are parking record amounts of cash at the ECB in anticipation of widespread bank failures.

Many people will lose everything in this mess. Yes, everything. However, you don’t have to be one of them. With the right set-up, the coming Collapse could be a time of profits and good fortunes… not pain.

So if you’ve not already taken steps for what’s coming, the time to do so is NOW before the real mess begins.

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Best Regards,

Graham Summers

The Euro-zone in its current form is in its final chapter. Anyone who argues otherwise is not paying attention.

Consider the Greek situation. Greece’s debt problems first made mainstream media headline news at the beginning of 2009. The IMF/ EU/ ECB/ and Federal Reserve have been working on this situation for two years now. And they’ve yet to solve anything: after two bailouts, significant debt write-downs, and numerous austerity measures, Greece remains bankrupt.

Now, if the Powers That Be cannot solve Greece’s problems… what makes anyone think that they can address larger, more dangerous issues such as Italy or France, etc?

Consider that the world’s central banks staged a coordinated intervention in November… and Italy’s ten year is back yielding more than 7% less than two months later. Again, a coordinated intervention by the world’s central banks bought less than two months’ time for Italy.

And now we find the debt contagion spreading to France:

French Debt Costs Rise at Bond Sale as AAA Decision Looms

France sold 7.96 billion euros ($10.2 billion) of debt, with 10-year borrowing costs rising in the country’s first bond auction of the year as credit-rating companies threaten to cut the nation’s AAA grade.

The government sold 4.02 billion euros of the bonds maturing in October 2021 at an average yield of 3.29 percent, from 3.18 percent on Dec. 1. The euro fell to its weakest level against the dollar in 15 months, and the extra yield investors demand to hold French 10-year bonds instead of benchmark German bunds widened to the most in about six weeks.

“There’s still the threat of a downgrade hanging over France and until we get that situation cleared up you can’t signal the all-clear,” said Eric Wand, a fixed-income strategist at Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets in London.

France has the biggest debt burden of the six top-rated euro nations, at 85 percent of gross domestic product. Its 10- year yield spread to German debt widened to a 21-year high of 204 basis points on Nov. 17 amid concern Europe will struggle to contain the region’s debt crisis. Today, it reached 151 basis points, or 1.51 percentage points, the most since Nov. 25. It was at 149 basis points at 5:39 p.m. Paris time compared with a premium of 47 basis points for AAA rated Finland and 39 basis points for the Netherlands.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-04/france-takes-market-pulse-with-bond-offering-as-aaa-rating-decision-looms.html

The significance of this cannot be overstated. European nations need to roll over hundreds of billions if not trillions of Euros’ worth of debt in 2012. And this is at a time when even more solvent members such as France and Germany are staging weak and failed auctions.

Previously, EU sovereign nations would rely on European banks for these debt needs. However, European banks have their own debt issuance problems to deal with. To wit, before the end of 2012…

• French banks need to roll over 30% of their TOTAL debt.
• Spanish banks and Italian banks need to rollover more than 33% of their TOTAL debt.
• German banks need to roll over nearly 40% of their TOTAL debt.
• Irish banks need to roll over almost HALF (50%) of their TOTAL debt.

Thus, the question becomes: WHO is going to buy all this debt? China’s increasingly focusing on domestic issues. Japan is on the verge of its own solvency Crisis. And the US is running terrible Debt to GDP and Deficit to GDP ratios as well.

Again… who’s going to put up the funds to roll over this debt? The only player that could possibly do that would be the ECB. But Germany won’t stand for that level of debt monetization. And the Fed can’t monetize everything in today’s political climate

Thus, the fact remains: the EU in its current form will be broken up sometime in 2012. The Powers That Be are rapidly losing control over there. And once the stuff really hits the fan, it’s going to make 2008 look like a joke.

If you’ve not already taken steps to prepare for this, NOW is the time to do so.

I can show you how with my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

Private Wealth Advisory is my bi-weekly investment advisory aimed at helping investors beat the market by anticipating major trends and avoiding the REAL risks to their portfolios.

Case in point, Private Wealth Advisory subscribers profited from the collapse in late July/ early August, having been warned weeks in advance that it was coming.

They’ve since locked in some 34 winning trades (and no losers)… at a time when 99% of investors (professional and otherwise) are getting whipsawed this way and that by the market’s volatility.

As a result of this, we crushed the market last year, which is why my clients (which include executives at Fortune 500 companies and some of the largest financial institutions in the world including UBS, Wells Fargo, Merrill Lynch, and others) are very, very happy.

But we’re not done by any stretch.

Indeed, we just opened seven new trades to profit from the next round of Deflation. All of these trades are positioned to explode higher in the coming weeks as the market comes unhinged.

To find out what they are… that the worry and uncertainty out of investing in today’s market… and start making serious returns from your investments (again, we’ve seen 34 STRAIGHT WINNERS in the second half of 2011)…

Click Here Now!!!

Graham Summers

We are now into the second week of 2012 and frankly I can’t see any fundamental reason to be bullish about things. The European debt Crisis continues to accelerate, with France’s borrowing costs rising dramatically and the yield on Italy’s ten-year back above 7% despite massive intervention on the part of the ECB.

Indeed, it’s quite telling that the one country that kicked off the entire EU Crisis, Greece, still hasn’t gotten its fiscal house in order: there’s only 37 billion Euros’ worth of aid left from the first bailout of 110 billion Euros… and the EU has yet to hammer out details of the second Greek bailout, worth an additional 150 billion Euros.

If the ECB/ IMF/ Central Banks cannot solve the Greece situation… what hope do they have of tackling the larger issues of Italy and France? Heck, even Germany now sports a Debt to GDP ratio that exceeds Maastricht Treaty requirements and they haven’t recapitalized their banks.

As a result of this, shares of even the supposedly “rock solid” German banks have come under stress, breaking down into the gap established during the 2008 Crash.

Aside from Europe, we find signs of a brewing solvency Crisis in Japan, an economic slowdown in China, Iran is playing war games with the Strait of Hormuz, and the US is entering a second recession within the context of a larger Depression.

Against this highly deflationary backdrop, the one primary prop for the markets is hope of more juice/credit from the world Central Banks. However, even that prop is rapidly losing its strength: the gains of the last coordinated Central Bank intervention lasted just a few weeks before the market rolled over again.

Moreover, if the world Central Banks are about to launch another massive wave of liquidity, the commodity space sure isn’t picking up on it…

Gold has broken its post-Crash trendline:

While Copper appears to be forming a massive Head and Shoulders top:

Does this mean that the markets are about to plunge straight down? No. But these charts do serve as massive warnings that anyone expecting another round of QE or some other huge monetary stimulus from the Central Banks may be in for a RUDE surprise.

With that in mind, this week’s action will go a long ways towards explaining where we’re heading from here. Start of the Year buying is over and holiday ebullience is fading fast. Put another way, the market is on very thin ice.

With that in mind, if you’re an individual investor looking for investment strategies to profit from the market’s volatility, you need to check out my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

Private Wealth Advisory is my bi-weekly investment newsletter devoted to helping investors maximize their returns from the markets. Every two weeks I detail the single most pressing economic and financial trends in the markets in a 20-page report.

However, I do much more than that. I also tell my clients which investments to buy, when to buy them, and when to sell. And to be blunt, Private Wealth Advisory is one of the top performing investment newsletters on the market: while most investors, including hedge funds, got taken to the cleaners in 2011, Private Wealth Advisory subscribers actually MADE money, outperforming the S&P 500 dramatically.

In fact, we didn’t close a SINGLE losing trade in the last six months of 2011. Instead, we locked in 34 STRAIGHT WINNERS, including gains of 10%, 13%, even 18%.

So if you’re looking for a newsletter that will not only explain the many trends and developments of the markets but will also provide specific investment strategies to profit from them, Private Wealth Advisory is the newsletter for you.

To find out more about Private Wealth Advisory and how it can help you grow your portfolio in these dangerous times…

Click Here Now!!!

Graham Summers

We’ve reached the end game for Central Bank intervention.

When confronted with excessive debt, you can either “take the hit” or you can try to inflate the debt away.

In 2008, the Central Banks, lead by the US Federal Reserve, decided not to “take the hit.” They’ve since spent trillions of Dollars propping up the financial system. By doing this, they’ve essentially attempted to fight a debt problem by issuing more debt.

The end result is similar to what happens when you try to cure a heroine addict by giving him more heroine: each new “hit” has less and less effect.

Case in point, consider the Central Banks’ coordinated intervention to lower the cost of borrowing Dollars three weeks ago. Remember, this was a coordinated effort, not the Federal Reserve or European Central Bank acting alone.

And yet, here we are, less than one month later, and European banks have wiped out MOST if not ALL of the gains the intervention produced.

Here’s the Irish Bank Allied Irish Banks:

This is actually the best of the bunch I’m going to show you (by the way, this was a $4 stock at the beginning of the year).

Here’s the Spanish Bank Santander:

And lest you think it’s only the PIIGS banks that are in trouble, here’s French bank Credit Agricole:

And here’s Germany’s Commerzbank:

On that note, if you’re looking for investment ideas and risk strategies on how to profit from this, I strongly urge you to check out my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

Private Wealth Advisory is my bi-weekly investment advisory aimed at helping investors beat the market by anticipating major trends and avoiding the REAL risks to their portfolios.

Case in point, Private Wealth Advisory subscribers profited from the collapse in late July/ early August, having been warned weeks in advance that it was coming.

They’ve since locked in some 33 winning trades (and no losers)… at a time when 99% of investors (professional and otherwise) are getting whipsawed this way and that by the market’s volatility.

As a result of this, we’re crushing the market this year, which is why my clients (which include executives at Fortune 500 companies and some of the largest financial institutions in the world including UBS, Wells Fargo, Merrill Lynch, and others) are very, very happy.

But we’re not done by any stretch.

Indeed, we just opened seven new trades last week to profit from the next round of Deflation. All of these trades are positioned to explode higher in the coming weeks as the market comes unhinged.

To find out what they are… that the worry and uncertainty out of investing in today’s market… and start making serious returns from your investments (again, we’ve seen 33 STRAIGHT WINNERS in the second half of 2011)…

Click Here Now!!!

Graham Summers

… Unless we get a major bank going under or a 2008-type event.

I’ve been reading that several pundits believe QE 3 is just around the corner. I’m sorry to say that this view is both misguided and has proven to be extremely dangerous to investors’ portfolios over the six months.

Indeed, we’ve heard this argument virtually non-stop since last June. Every time the Fed had another FOMC coming up, the argument was made that QE 3 would be announced. Every single time the Fed disappointed and the markets cratered (only to then be ramped higher by the PPT).

The madness would then start all over again a few weeks later. Whether it was some Dovish Fed President hinting the Fed was ready to act… or some economic data point missing expectations… EVERY TIME the pundits spun this to argue that QE 3 was just around the corner.

However, for those who actually read what Bernanke was saying, it was clear as day that QE 3 was NOT coming… at least not without some kind of Crisis hitting first: such as a major bank collapsing or another 2008 episode.

Take a look at the following:

Q. Since both housing and unemployment have not recovered sufficiently, why are you not instantly embarking on QE3? — Michael A. Kamperman, Waco, Tex.

Mr. Bernanke: “Going forward, we’ll have to continue to make judgments about whether additional steps are warranted, but as we do so, we have to keep in mind that we do have a dual mandate, that we do have to worry about both the rate of growth but also the inflation rate…

“The trade-offs are getting — are getting less attractive at this point. Inflation has gotten higher. Inflation expectations are a bit higher. It’s not clear that we can get substantial improvements in payrolls without some additional inflation risk. And in my view, if we’re going to have success in creating a long-run, sustainable recovery with lots of job growth, we’ve got to keep inflation under control. So we’ve got to look at both of those — both parts of the mandate as we — as we choose policy”

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/how-bernanke-answered-your-questions/

Pessimistic Bernanke Fed Admits QE Has Failed In FOMC Statement

In its latest FOMC statement, the Bernanke Fed has admitted the economy continues to remain depressed, essentially admitting that both programs of long-term asset purchases, or quantitative easing, have failed to prop up output after what has been the worst recession since the Great Depression.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2011/08/09/pessimistic-bernanke-and-fomc-practically-admit-qe-has-failed/

“Monetary policy can do a lot, but monetary policy is not a panacea.” — Ben Bernanke 9/29/11

U.S. “close to faltering,” Fed ready to act: Bernanke

Asked whether another round of bond purchases, known as quantitative easing, was in store, Bernanke was noncommittal.

“We never take anything off the table because we don’t know where the economy is going to go. We have no immediate plans to do anything like that,” he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/04/us-usa-fed-bernanke-idUSTRE79337C20111004

Central banks may need to burst bubbles: Bernanke

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday that central banks may need to resort to monetary policy to combat asset bubbles, although regulation should be a first line of defense.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/18/us-usa-fed-bernanke-idUSTRE79H5IR20111018

Look at the progression there. As far back as May 2011, Bernanke admitted the benefits of QE were less attractive. He’s since not only admitted that asset bubbles exist (something Greenspan never admitted) but that Central Banks may even need to “burst” them!?!?

In what way do ANY of these indicate QE 3 is coming any time soon… if at all.

Which brings us to today. Once again the economy is weakening and once again the markets are under duress. And the pundits are out in full force saying QE 3 is coming in early 2012.

My question is: How exactly is the Fed going to sell that one?

The Fed can’t possibly claim it’s trying to lower interest rates with the short end of the curve essentially offering 0% and Operation Twist 2 focusing on getting the long-end even lower (at a time when the 30-year is already under 3% and the 10-year under 2%)?

Also how is Bernanke, who is now so politically toxic that he’s complaining to Congress that the media is treating him unfairly (and having his leaks at the Wall Street Journal write “Bernanke’s just like the rest of us… with a kindle and everything” articles) going to be able to unveil QE 3 without major consequences to his career?

Folks, this is the same man who used to lie openly to Congress about his intentions… who acted however he saw fit and was beholden to no one… NOW WRITING TO CONGRESS DEFENDING HIS ACTIONS AND COMPLAINING THAT HE’S BEING UNFAIRLY TREATED.

Do you really think Bernanke can launch another MAJOR monetary policy in this environment? Heck, EVERY GOP candidate is talking about firing him or calls his actions borderline treasonous. And with Obama’s rating at new lows… do you really think he’s going to be defending Bernanke when it’s already obvious that both the GOP and the general populace are outraged at the Fed?

Not. A. Chance.

The simple fact is that QE 3 is not coming… at least not without a 2008-type event or one of the TBTFs going under first. And even then, Bernanke may find that the political environment won’t tolerate it (after all, the simple argument to counter the need for QE 3 would be: “We’re in a Crisis again… so QE 1, QE Lite, QE 2, and Operation Twist 2 failed to solve the problem… so why should you launch QE 3?”).

On that note, if you’re looking for investment ideas and risk strategies on how to profit from this, I strongly urge you to check out my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

Private Wealth Advisory is my bi-weekly investment advisory aimed at helping investors beat the market by anticipating major trends and avoiding the REAL risks to their portfolios.

Case in point, Private Wealth Advisory subscribers profited from the collapse in late July/ early August, having been warned weeks in advance that it was coming.

They’ve since locked in some 33 winning trades (and no losers)… at a time when 99% of investors (professional and otherwise) are getting whipsawed this way and that by the market’s volatility.

As a result of this, we’re crushing the market this year, which is why my clients (which include executives at Fortune 500 companies and some of the largest financial institutions in the world including UBS, Wells Fargo, Merrill Lynch, and others) are very, very happy.

But we’re not done by any stretch.

Indeed, we just opened seven new trades last week to profit from the next round of Deflation. All of these trades are positioned to explode higher in the coming weeks as the market comes unhinged.

To find out what they are… that the worry and uncertainty out of investing in today’s market… and start making serious returns from your investments (again, we’ve seen 33 STRAIGHT WINNERS in the second half of 2011)…

Click Here Now!!!

Graham Summers

The markets have entered a new round of deflation. The only asset class that has yet to realize this is stocks.

Here’s the 30-Year Treasury Bond:

As you can see, we’ve already surpassed the former all-time established during the nadir of the 2008-2009 Crisis. To say this is deflationary would be an understatement. Indeed, on the shorter end of the bond curve Treasuries are yielding 0% (the 3-month), 0.02% (the six month) and 0.2% (the two year).

Put another way, investors are essentially willing to lend to the US for almost NOTHING in return for up to two years… based solely on the notion that by doing so they’re at least “guaranteed” a return OF capital.

DE-flation.

Here’s Gold:

Considering that Gold is a leading indicator for stocks… and that the precious metal only breaks below its long-term uptrend in times of systemic risk, the above breakdown is a MAJOR red flag that something BAD is brewing in the financial system. That something is another round of DE-flation.

How about Agricultural commodities… which anticipated QE Lite and QE 2 before every other asset class?

As you can see, we’ve wiped out ALL of the QE 2 gains and are now on the verge of breaking back into a trading range that goes back to 2009. Again, DE-flation.

And then there’s stocks… the most clueless of asset classes, which simply don’t “get it”… yet.

As you can see, while Europe’s banking system is imploding, Gold has broken its long-term uptrend, and US Treasuries are signaling a Crisis even worse than 2008, stocks are bouncing off of support as though there’s no real danger.

This can be attributed to three factors:

1)   Light volume (fewer and fewer folks are investing in stocks which allows Wall Street to move the market more easily).

2)   End of the year performance gaming by hedge funds and institutions (most of which have had horrible years)

3)   Misguided hope and delusions… just like the ones we had in 2008 when stocks didn’t “get it” until the whole system was ready to collapse

In simple terms, the best analysis of today’s markets is that we are getting MAJOR red flags across the board that another round of DE-flation is here.

Against this backdrop, stocks are as clueless as they were in 2008. And given that most traders will be taking off early this week, those remaining will be able to move the market any way they please as volume will be even lower than the abysmal levels we’ve seen for most of 2011.

So my advice is to avoid trading this week if you can help it. There is simply too much uncertainty in the market: stocks could rally based on end of the year shenanigans… or they could just as easily collapse due to Europe or any number of other issues in the system today.

However, the larger picture indicates that deflation is back and it’s back with a vengeance. It would be wise to prepare in advance for this as stocks are ALWAYS the last to “get it.” And by the looks of the recent action in Gold and Treasuries, “It” is going to be something VERY unpleasant.

On that note, if you’re looking for investment ideas and risk strategies on how to profit from this, I strongly urge you to check out my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

Private Wealth Advisory is my bi-weekly investment advisory aimed at helping investors beat the market by anticipating major trends and avoiding the REAL risks to their portfolios.

Case in point, Private Wealth Advisory subscribers profited from the collapse in late July/ early August, having been warned weeks in advance that it was coming.

They’ve since locked in some 33 winning trades (and no losers)… at a time when 99% of investors (professional and otherwise) are getting whipsawed this way and that by the market’s volatility.

As a result of this, we’re crushing the market this year, which is why my clients (which include executives at Fortune 500 companies and some of the largest financial institutions in the world including UBS, Wells Fargo, Merrill Lynch, and others) are very, very happy.

But we’re not done by any stretch.

Indeed, we just opened seven new trades last week to profit from the next round of Deflation. All of these trades are positioned to explode higher in the coming weeks as the market comes unhinged.

To find out what they are… that the worry and uncertainty out of investing in today’s market… and start making serious returns from your investments (again, we’ve seen 33 STRAIGHT WINNERS in the second half of 2011)…

Click Here Now!!!

Graham Summers

One of the biggest problems facing the world today is the fact that most world leaders have little if any business experience. Those who do are inevitably investment bankers/ financiers who, while technically businessmen, have expertise primarily in financial engineering, NOT manufacturing goods or services that create actual job growth.

With that in mind, when analyzing what’s happening in Europe, it’s wise to consider what ACTUAL businesspeople are doing today with their corporations’ cash rather than what leaders are claiming is true about the financial system.

Case in point, every other week we are told that Europe’s problems will soon be solved and that the EU will be stronger then ever. If this is indeed the case, I wonder about the following story:

European CEOs Move Cash to Germany In Case of Euro Breakup

Grupo Gowex, a Spanish provider of Wi-Fi wireless services, is moving funds to Germany because it expects Spain to exit the euro. German machinery maker GEA Group AG is setting maximum amounts held at any one bank…

“A couple of weeks ago I would never have thought about having conversations on the probability of the euro disappearing, but now there is more speculation on such a scenario,” Wolters Kluwer NV (WKL) CEO Nancy McKinstry said in a Nov. 29 interview at the company’s headquarters outside Amsterdam…

Kingfisher Plc (KGF), Europe’s largest home-improvement retailer, has considered plans for the possibility of a collapse of the euro region and will focus on cash generation to account for that possibility, Chief Executive Officer Ian Cheshire said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-09/wary-european-ceos-move-cash-to-germany-to-protect-against-breakup-risk.html

These are REAL businesspeople who RUN corporations, preparing for the breakup of the Euro by moving their cash to Germany. Read the above article: it features executives from companies throughout Europe all of whom state they are preparing for a Crisis and the potential of a Euro breakup.

And if you think that politicians have somehow solved the banking crisis… read the following:

Eurozone banking system on the edge of collapse

If anyone thinks things are getting better then they simply don’t understand how severe the problems are. I think a major bank could fail within weeks,” said one London-based executive at a major global bank.

Many banks, including some French, Italian and Spanish lenders, have already run out of many of the acceptable forms of collateral such as US Treasuries and other liquid securities used to finance short-term loans and have been forced to resort to lending out their gold reserves to maintain access to dollar funding.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8947470/Eurozone-banking-system-on-the-edge-of-collapse.html

If a bank has to resort to lending out GOLD reserves in order to get DOLLAR funding so it can maintain liquidity… then it’s on its deathbed. And this is happening in France, Italy and Spain RIGHT NOW.

It’s time we admit the truth, the EU and its banking system are literally on the edge of collapse. Think 2008… for an entire region. And politicians are going to solve this mess with a March 2012 meeting!?!

The impact of what’s coming will be TREMENDOUS. Europe’s banking system is over $40 trillion in size. The EU, taken as a whole, is:

1)   The single largest economy in the world ($16.28 trillion)

2)   Is China’s largest trade partner

3)   Accounts for 21% of US exports

4)   Accounts for $121 billion worth of exports for South America

So if the EU banking system/ economy collapses, the global economy could enter a recession just based on that one issue alone (ignoring the other issues in China, Japan, and the US).

Make no mistake, we’re heading into a Crisis that will make 2008 look like a picnic. If you’ve yet to prepare for this, I suggest you do so now.

On that note, if you’re an individual investor (not a day trader) looking for the means of profiting from all of this, then you NEED to check out my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

Private Wealth Advisory is a bi-weekly investment advisory that uses stocks and ETFs to profit from the dominant market trends.

Every two weeks I outline what’s REALLY going on behind the scenes in the markets, as well as which investments will profit best from these developments.

Case in point, Private Wealth Advisory subscribers caught the initial market Collapse in August. They’ve also profited beautifully from the collapse in European banks, the US Dollar’s rally, and the breakdown in the emerging markets.

In fact, we’ve closed out 32 straight winners and NO losers since JULY.

But don’t worry that all the profits have already been made. We currently have several trades open that are primed to explode higher in the coming weeks. By subscribing today, you’ll immediately be given access to them.

You’ll also gain immediate access to my Protect Your Family, Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports outlining how to prepare these areas of your life for the coming Great Crisis.

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…

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now… start profiting from the market’s gyrations (again we haven’t closed a losing trade since JULY)… and gain access to all my Special Reports…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

Stocks have entered a kind of fantasy world, completely detached from any kind of economic, political, or financial reality. Indeed, last week the #1 driver of stock prices was unfounded rumors that were refuted within hours of their being published (I’ve circled the rumor-based rallies in the chart below).

Again, these were rumors… based on lies… that were refuted within hours of their being published… pushing the market into vertical rallies. Like I said, we’re in La La Land.

The reality of the financial system today is that we’re entering another global economic contraction. Earning have been abysmal in the US. Europe’s banking system is in a liquidity crisis on par with the post-Lehman Brothers collapse. China is entering a hard landing. And the US economy is in a second recession within a larger DE-pression.

The reasons stocks aren’t reacting to these realities (yet) are:

1)   Hedge funds and institutions are desperately trying to boost their returns before year-end (most have had HORRIBLE years)…

2)   Barring REAL selling pressure, most market action is dominated by high frequency trading programs (which don’t think or make qualitative judgments)… AND

3)   Traders have been conditioned to only care about one thing: more juice from the world’s central banks.

Indeed, if you want the real story for what’s happening to the world economy, take a look at the agricultural commodities. They (not stocks) were the first asset class to pick up on inflationary pressures from the Fed’s largesse in 2010. They were also the first asset class to pick up on the downturn in global economic activity in February 2011. And right now, they’re reflecting a reality that is far, FAR uglier than the one equities are discounting

This is an UGLY, DEFLATIONARY chart. It is a chart the predicts a SHARP economic contraction. Indeed, commodities as a whole don’t seem to be buying into the “risk on” atmosphere that dominated equities for most of 2011 (with the exception of late July-August).

The final, most glaring example of stocks being in La La Land comes from their inability to comprehend the current situation in Europe. Europe’s banking system is in a full-scale liquidity crisis that rivals the aftermath of Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy. Indeed, multiple European nations are relying on the ECB to insure they don’t post FAILED bond auctions.

Against this backdrop, EU leaders just decided to impose stricter budgetary requirements from EU members. Only in La La Land could this be viewed as progress. The EU already had budgetary requirements… which the PIIGS countries all ignored. So how will these NEW budgetary requirements change anything? And who or what is going to enforce them?

And yet… stocks viewed this decision as a success. Again, we’re in La La Land.

Does this mean stocks can’t rally more from here? Not at all, in La La Land stocks can rally for no reason at all. But you should be aware that the credit, bond and commodities markets are all indicating we’re heading into a MASSIVE wave of deflation in the near future.

Remember, stocks were the last to “get it” in 2008. They’re the last to “get it” today too. And when they finally DO “get it,” we’re going to see some REAL fireworks.

On that note, if you’re an individual investor (not a day trader) looking for the means of profiting from all of this, then you NEED to check out my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

Private Wealth Advisory is a bi-weekly investment advisory that uses stocks and ETFs to profit from the dominant market trends.

Every two weeks I outline what’s REALLY going on behind the scenes in the markets, as well as which investments will profit best from these developments.

Case in point, Private Wealth Advisory subscribers caught the initial market Collapse in August. They’ve also profited beautifully from the ongoing turmoil in Europe as well as the volatility in the US Dollar.

In fact, we’ve closed out 32 straight winners and NO losers since JULY.

But don’t worry that all the profits have already been made. We currently have several trades open that are primed to explode higher in the coming weeks. By subscribing today, you’ll immediately be given access to them.

You’ll also gain immediate access to my Protect Your Family, Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports outlining how to prepare these areas of your life for the coming Great Crisis.

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…

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now… start profiting from the market’s gyrations (again we haven’t closed a losing trade since JULY)… and gain access to all my Special Reports…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

Every day that Germany continues to flirt with the idea of propping up Europe, is another day that the country gets closer to its own fiscal crisis.

The mainstream media believes that Germany is somehow the bastion of fiscal strength. However, even a cursory look at the facts disproves this.

For starters, German banks post some of the highest leverage rations in Europe: higher that Italy, higher than Ireland, even higher than Greece. In fact, German banks are actually sporting leverage EQUAL to that of Lehman Brothers when it went bust.

To make matters worse, Germany has yet to recapitalize its banks. Indeed, by the German Institute for Economic Research’s OWN admission, German banks need 147 billion Euros’ worth of new capital.

Mind you, this is just NEW capital demands. In addition to this, German banks need to roll over 40% of their total outstanding debt within the next 12 months.

This is at a time when the many European nations are relying on the ECB to insure they don’t have a failed bond auction (by the way Germany had a failed bond auction just a few weeks ago).

Suffice to say, the German banking system isn’t as rock solid as the mainstream consensus. The German government knows about this situation which is why it’s already preparing for the potential nationalization of Germany’s largest banks should things get messy.

Germany’s sovereign balance sheet isn’t a whole lot better either. Officially, Germany has a Debt to GDP ratio of 84%. However, according to Axel Weber, the most recent head of Germany’s Central Bank (he left April 2011), Germany is in fact sitting on a REAL Debt to GDP ratio of over 200%. This is Germany… with unfunded liabilities equal to over TWO times its current GDP.

What’s truly frightening about this is that Weber is most likely being conservative here. Jagadeesh Gokhale of the Cato Institute published a paper for EuroStat in 2009 claiming Germany’s unfunded liabilities were in fact closer to 418% (and that was two years ago).

This further goes with my primary view: Germany has its own problems to deal with. So the idea that Germany is somehow going to prop up the EU is not really realistic. After all, if Germany was indeed going to serve as the mega-European backstop, don’t you think it would already have done so?

The truth is this: the German constitution won’t permit the issuance of Euro bonds. And the German population/ social contract between German politicians and voters will not stand for money printing of any kind.

So… don’t bank on Germany coming to save the day. Indeed, even the option of Germany somehow taking over other EU nations budgetary controls is ridiculous as NO EU member would submit to that.

Instead, I expect Germany to duck out of the Euro in the near future. It may happen in the next few weeks or it may happen in early 2012. But considering that the Federal Reserve had to step in to save the European banking system today I believe it will be sooner rather than later.

So if you believe that Germany is going to save the EU… you’re in for a rude surprise. Indeed, if we look at the bond or credit markets, it’s clear we’re into a Crisis far greater than 2008. Forget the stock market rally. Stocks ALWAYS get it last (just like in 2008). And before the smoke clears on this mess we’re going to see sovereign defaults, bank holidays, riots, and more.

Many people will lose everything in this mess. Yes, everything. However, you don’t have to be one of them. Indeed, I can show you how to turn this time of collapse into a time of profits.

Few people on the planet can match my ability to return a profit during times of Crisis.

To wit, my clients MADE money in 2008 outperforming every mutual fund on the planet as well as 99% of investment legends.

We also outperformed the market by 15% during the Euro Crisis of 2010. And since the latest round of the Euro Crisis began in July 2011, we’ve locked in not 10, not 20, but 32 STRAIGHT WINNERS including gains of 12%, 14%, 16% and 18%,

So if you’re looking for a guide to get you through the coming disaster, I’m your man.

I’ve been helping investors, including executives at many of the Fortune 500 companies, navigate their personal portfolios through the markets for years.

I can do the same for you with m y Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

The minute you subscribe to Private Wealth Advisory you’ll be given access to my Protect Your Family, Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports telling you precisely which steps to take to prepare your loved ones and your personal finances for what’s coming.

You’ll also join my private client list in receiving my bi-weekly market updates outlining what’s really happening behind the scenes in the markets and which investments will profit in the coming months.

And when it’s time to pull the trigger on a given investment, I’ll send you real-time trade alerts.

All of this is yours for just $249 per year.

The time for dilly dallying is over. Europe is literally on the eve of systemic failure. Even the IMF has warned we’re facing a global collapse.

To take action to protect yourself… and insure that the coming weeks and months are a time of profit and safety, NOT losses and pain…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards

Graham Summers

I’ve stated before that I fully believe Germany will be leaving the Euro. With that in mind, I want to draw your attention to recent comments from Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble.

Wolfgang Schauble admits euro bail-out fund won’t halt crisis

Europe’s “big bazooka” bail-out fund is not ready and won’t stem the debt crisis that on Tuesday pounded Italy and the European Central Bank (ECB), admitted Wolfgang Schauble, Germany’s finance minister.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8924462/Wolfgang-Schauble-admits-euro-bail-out-fund-wont-halt-crisis.html

This is a pretty strong admission from the finance minister of the country that Europe looks to as a financial backstop. And the following is even more disconcerting for the future of the Euro:

Seeing in Crisis the Last Best Chance to Unite Europe

MR. SCHÄUBLE said the German government would propose treaty changes at the summit of European leaders in Brussels on Dec. 9 that would move Europe closer to the centralized fiscal government that the currency zone has lacked. The ultimate goal, Mr. Schäuble says, is a political union with a European president directly elected by the people.

“What we’re now doing with the fiscal union, what I’m describing here, is a short-term step for the currency,” Mr. Schäuble said. “In a larger context, naturally we need a political union.”

Critics say the spending cuts German leaders have demanded from other countries are hurting growth across the Continent, in the process making debts only harder to repay. And his proposals to give the European Commission far-reaching powers to enforce budgetary discipline have been likened by skeptics in Britain to an invasive new “super state.” Even some euro supporters fear that Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Schäuble are talking about long-term changes while panicked investors and practiced speculators are tearing the euro to pieces right now.

“There is a limited transition period where we have to manage the nervousness on the markets,” Mr. Schäuble said. “If it is clear that by the end of 2012 or the middle of 2013 that we have all the ingredients for new, strengthened and deepened political structures together, I think that will work.”

He sees the turmoil as not an obstacle but a necessity. “We can only achieve a political union if we have a crisis,” Mr. Schäuble said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/world/europe/for-wolfgang-schauble-seeing-opportunity-in-europes-crisis.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2

Note that Schauble repeatedly emphasizes the goal of a “political union,” NOT a “fiscal union” or “monetary union.” Indeed, his one reference to a “fiscal union” is in the “short-term,” while stressing that in a “larger context” the EU needs a “political union.”

The message here is very, very clear: Germany is interested in the EU as a political entity, NOT the Euro as a currency. With that in mind, consider the following story which received almost NO attention from the media:

-German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives on Monday passed a resolution at a party convention urging the government to establish rules in Europe that would allow a country to voluntarily leave the euro zone without giving up membership in the European Union.

The resolution reads:

“Should a member [of the euro zone] be unable or unwilling to permanently obey the rules connected to the common currency he will be able to voluntarily–according to the rules of the Lisbon Treaty for leaving the European Union–leave the euro zone without leaving the European Union. He would receive the same status as those member states that do not have the euro.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20111114-712771.html

I fully believe that Germany is laying the groundwork for it to leave the Euro while still remaining a member of the EU. The alternative to this would be for Germany to demand other nations give up their fiscal sovereignty and make Germany a kind of monetary authority in exchange for additional bailouts. However, the likelihood of this option being presented is next to ZERO as ALL of Europe remembers WWII and the threat of German rule.

So I expect Germany to duck out of the Euro in the near future. It may happen in the next few weeks or it may happen in early 2012. But considering that the Federal Reserve had to step in to save the European banking system today I believe it will be sooner rather than later.

So if you believe that Germany is going to save the EU… you’re in for a rude surprise. Indeed, if we look at the bond or credit markets, it’s clear we’re into a Crisis far greater than 2008. Forget the stock market rally. Stocks ALWAYS get it last (just like in 2008). And before the smoke clears on this mess we’re going to see sovereign defaults, bank holidays, riots, and more.

Many people will lose everything in this mess. Yes, everything. However, you don’t have to be one of them. Indeed, I can show you how to turn this time of collapse into a time of profits.

Few people on the planet can match my ability to return a profit during times of Crisis.

To wit, my clients MADE money in 2008 outperforming every mutual fund on the planet as well as 99% of investment legends.

We also outperformed the market by 15% during the Euro Crisis of 2010. And since the latest round of the Euro Crisis began in July 2011, we’ve locked in not 10, not 20, but 32 STRAIGHT WINNERS including gains of 12%, 14%, 16% and 18%,

So if you’re looking for a guide to get you through the coming disaster, I’m your man.

I’ve been helping investors, including executives at many of the Fortune 500 companies, navigate their personal portfolios through the markets for years.

I can do the same for you with m y Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

The minute you subscribe to Private Wealth Advisory, you’ll be given access to my Protect Your Family, Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports telling you precisely which steps to take to prepare your loved ones and your personal finances for what’s coming.

You’ll also join my private client list in receiving my bi-weekly market updates outlining what’s really happening behind the scenes in the markets and which investments will profit in the coming months.

And when it’s time to pull the trigger on a given investment, I’ll send you real-time trade alerts.

All of this is yours for just $249 per year.

The time for dilly dallying is over. Europe is literally on the eve of systemic failure. Even the IMF has warned we’re facing a global collapse.

To take action to protect yourself… and insure that the coming weeks and months are a time of profit and safety, NOT losses and pain…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards

Graham Summers

A few months ago, I stated that Ben Bernanke was going to come under increased scrutiny and possibly even face legal trouble based on the fact that someone was going to take the fall for the bailout madness/ theft/ fraud that occurred from 2007-onward.

At the time I wrote:

First off, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein has hired a criminal defense attorney… and not just any attorney, but Reid Weingarten… If Blankfein is under investigation and hiring someone of Weingarten’s caliber, a massive legal storm is about to begin on Wall Street. These lawsuits will involve the US Federal Reserve. And when push comes to shove, Blankfein (and other Wall Street executives who broke the law) will be blaming Bernanke and the Fed.

After all, the easiest defense is for Blankfein and his kind to simply say that they were pressured into defrauding investors and the public by Bernanke and the Fed when the financial system imploded in 2008.

Since I wrote this, things have indeed gotten hot for Bernanke. He’s now a verbal punching bag for virtually every GOP Presidential Candidate. And recent revelations by Bloomberg have shown that the Fed made secret bailouts to Wall Street to the tune of several TRILION Dollars.

As a result of this, Bernanke has gone into full-blown damage control mode, staging town-hall meetings and granting the press Q&A session (an unprecedented move), in a clear attempt to make himself appear more accessible and likeable to the public.

Indeed, things have gotten so heated that Bernanke even wrote a letter to policymakers defending the Fed and stating that the media’s [Bloomberg] recent reporting of the Fed’s actions contained “egregious errors.”

The significance of this CANNOT be overstated. This is a man who just a year or two ago was so arrogant of his power that he committed blatant perjury in front of Congress (the famed “debt monetization” lie)… NOW writing a letter to politicians whining about how unfair the media has been regarding his monetary actions.

This is a massive and I mean MASSIVE shift for Bernanke… and it underscores just how much the political environment has changed. Bernanke is politically toxic and he knows it. So expect him and his cronies to be much MUCH more attentive to how their moves appear to the public.

Which makes it all the more UN-likely that he’ll be able to unveil any major new policies/ QE 3 without some kind of systemic issue (a major bank going under, etc) happening first.

Consider the latest Fed move to lower the cost of borrowing US Dollars. First of all, the Fed acted with other central banks to implement this… so it was not the Fed acting alone. Secondly this move didn’t involve throwing the usual hundreds of billions of dollars around. Instead, all it did was lower the cost of borrowing Dollars.

This is a very reactive, more politically palatable move compared to the more aggressive actions of QE 1, QE lite, and QE 2. Indeed, even a brief overview of the Fed’s moves in 2011 show them to be largely symbolic or verbal in nature, especially compared to the Fed’s actions in 2010.

Which brings me back to one of my core themes for the future: that the Fed will NOT be able to act aggressively (if at all) without some systemic issue occurring first. Which means that the market and the bulls are completely misguided in believing the Fed’s about to unveil QE 3 or some major new policy any time soon… if at all.

So if you believe the Fed is coming to save the day for the EU… or the financial system in general… you’re in for a rude surprise. Indeed, if we look at the bond or credit markets, it’s clear we’re into a Crisis far greater than 2008. Forget the stock market rally. Stocks ALWAYS get it last (just like in 2008). And before the smoke clears on this mess we’re going to see sovereign defaults, bank holidays, riots, and more.

Many people will lose everything in this mess. Yes, everything. However, you don’t have to be one of them. Indeed, I can show you how to turn this time of collapse into a time of profits.

Few people on the planet can match my ability to return a profit during times of Crisis.

To wit, my clients MADE money in 2008 outperforming every mutual fund on the planet as well as 99% of investment legends.

We also outperformed the market by 15% during the Euro Crisis of 2010. And since the latest round of the Euro Crisis began in July 2011, we’ve locked in not 10, not 20, but 32 STRAIGHT WINNERS including gains of 12%, 14%, 16% and 18%,

So if you’re looking for a guide to get you through the coming disaster, I’m your man.

I’ve been helping investors, including executives at many of the Fortune 500 companies, navigate their personal portfolios through the markets for years.

I can do the same for you with my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

The minute you subscribe to Private Wealth Advisory, you’ll be given access to my Protect Your Family, Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports telling you precisely which steps to take to prepare your loved ones and your personal finances for what’s coming.

You’ll also join my private client list in receiving my bi-weekly market updates outlining what’s really happening behind the scenes in the markets and which investments will profit in the coming months.

And when it’s time to pull the trigger on a given investment, I’ll send you real-time trade alerts.

All of this is yours for just $249 per year.

The time for dilly dallying is over. Europe is literally on the eve of systemic failure. Even the IMF has warned we’re facing a global collapse.

To take action to protect yourself… and insure that the coming weeks and months are a time of profit and safety, NOT losses and pain…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Something fishy is going on in the markets. Stocks are holding up relatively well this morning, while the credit markets deteriorate. That the market could digest S&P putting Austria, France, and Germany under credit downgrade review this easily is a bit much to stomach.

We know that the Fed and other Central Banks have a tendency to leak information to certain friends in advance, so I cannot help but wonder if stocks are showing this strength based on someone knowing something we don’t.

Alternatively, this could just as easily be stocks showing their usual cluelessness about the true state of affairs in the financial system as traders gun the market higher for whatever misguided reason they come up with.

For certain, all eyes are on Europe where Merkel and Sarkozy continue to claim they have reached new agreements, only for it to be revealed that in point of fact they haven’t come up with anything new, nor are their proposed solutions A) viable or B) palatable to other EU members.

There is a price for kicking the can time and again: every day Germany continues to play with the idea of backstopping Europe is a day it creeps closer to losing its AAA rating. Germany already sports a real Debt to GDP of 200% (when you include unfunded liabilities) and has yet to recapitalize its banks.

Moreover, the German populace will not tolerate either Eurobonds or money printing from the ECB. So all proposed ideas so far won’t fly with German voters anyway (to say nothing of other EU members who will not be too excited about a German-lead Europe).

In other words: so far no one has any REAL solutions. So unless someone is about to unveil a REAL new proposal, stocks are misguided in their enthusiasm here.

Regardless, this is a very dangerous market environment and one that needs to be traded with extreme caution. Only those in the know can guess the Fed’s day to day moves. We’re not in that crowd.

However, big picture, nearly every indicator is pointing towards trouble ahead. The issue is whether we’re going to see another intervention before the stuff hits the fan. But things have reached a critical point in Europe. And we’re now getting some staggeringly bad data out of China as well. Barring more interventions, the trend will likely be down.

On that note, if you’re an individual investor (not a day trader) looking for the means of profiting from all of this, then you NEED to check out my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

Private Wealth Advisory is a bi-weekly investment advisory that uses stocks and ETFs to profit from the dominant market trends.

Every two weeks I outline what’s REALLY going on behind the scenes in the markets, as well as which investments will profit best from these developments.

Case in point, Private Wealth Advisory subscribers caught the initial market Collapse in August. They’ve also profited beautifully from the ongoing turmoil in Europe’s banking system as well as the volatility in the US Dollar.

In fact, we just closed out our 32nd straight winner last week. And we haven’t closed a single loser since the END OF JULY.

But don’t worry that all the profits have already been made. We currently have several trades open that are primed to explode higher in the coming weeks. By subscribing today, you’ll immediately be given access to them.

You’ll also gain immediate access to my Protect Your Family, Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports outlining how to prepare these areas of your life for the coming Great Crisis.

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…

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory today… start profiting from the market’s gyrations (again we haven’t closed a losing trade since JULY)… and gain access to all my Special Reports…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

Equities got giddy last week when the world’s central banks, lead by the US Federal Reserve, lowered the global cost of borrowing Dollars. Regardless of the market’s reaction, the whole thing smells of desperation and quite frankly, everyone should be questioning the Fed’s move.

First of all, the situation in Europe is a solvency Crisis, not a liquidity Crisis. European banks need over one trillion Euros in new capital. Providing more cheap credit is not going to do anything other than give those European banks which are facing liquidity troubles a few more weeks life support.

Speaking of which, it’s now clear that Europe is fast approaching its Lehman moment. Forbes noted that a large European bank was on the ropes the night before the Fed intervention. We also see France and Germany are implementing plans to nationalize large banks that fail. I can assure you they’re not doing this because things are going well over there.

As for the market’s reaction to the Fed’s move… it could kick off a short-term end of the year rally depending on how much the market falls for the “this time we’ve got a REAL solution” tripe coming our of Europe. But, you must remember that none of the proposed solutions address the underlying problems Europe’s banks are facing.

Technically, the Fed’s move brought the market to major resistance. Unless the market moves higher aggressively to start this week, we’re heading back down in short order.

Truly, the only reason to buy into a stock rally here is based on the belief that the Fed or someone else is going to be providing more juice in the near future. The US economy has clearly begun to roll over in a big way: retail sales, GDP, and unemployment numbers are all being massaged heavily to make the situation look better than it is.

This is clear in corporate earnings which just posted their worst sequential drop since the first quarter of 2009: when the economy and markets were both falling off a cliff. These kinds of drops don’t happen if everything’s going well.

Across the pond, Europe’s banking system is experiencing a solvency crisis on par with 2008. The markets believe that Germany and France will save the day by re-vamping the EU arrangement. However, this doesn’t mean other EU members will agree to their suggestions (the idea of a German-lead EU is completely unpalatable to many EU states).

So I don’t expect a viable solution to emerge in Europe this week. The math doesn’t support any of the proposals EU leaders have come up with yet. And the fact it was the Fed, NOT the IMF or ECB or EFSF that stepped in to save the day last week should be a major red flag that Europe’s out of ideas.

The markets seem to sense this as the Euro hasn’t cleared resistance in any meaningful way yet. And unless we get above 135 and stay there, we’re heading a LOT lower in the near future.

To conclude, in the short-term the markets are moving based on hope of more juice from the Powers That Be. However, the reality of the financial system today is downright frightening. The US economy is rolling over in a big way. Europe is imploding. China is heading straight into a hard landing. And on and on.

Heck, Europe alone could derail the entire financial system temporarily. The region’s entire banking system is insolvent (with few exceptions). European non-financial corporations are running massive debt to equity ratios. And even EU sovereign states require intervention from the ECB just to meet current debt issuance, to say nothing of the huge amount of sovereign debt roll over that is due over the next 14 months.

The impact of this will be global in nature. The EU, taken as a whole, is:

1)   The single largest economy in the world ($16.28 trillion)

2)   Is China’s largest trade partner

3)   Accounts for 21% of US exports

4)   Accounts for $121 billion worth of exports for South America

So if the EU banking system/ economy collapses, the global economy could enter a recession just based on that one issue alone (ignoring the other issues in China, Japan, and the US).

This is the reality of the financial system, no matter what the talking heads say. The IMF, Bank of England, and others have warned of a systemic collapse… do you think they’re doing this for fun?

Many investors will have their portfolios wiped out in the coming carnage. It could be next week, or it could take place next year… but we ARE heading into a Crisis that will be worse than 2008.

If you’re looking for someone to help you navigate this mess, I strongly urge you to try out my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

Few investors have my ability to cut through the noise and identify the most important macro- and financial trends. To wit, my clients MADE money in 2008 and the Euro Crisis of May 2010. They’ve also locked in 32 STRAIGHT winners in the last four months, outperforming virtually every investment fund on the planet.

Because of our high quality research as well as our independence (our research is unbiased by relationships or advertising dollars), we’ve become one of the most highly regarded investment research firms out there: our clients include executives and strategists at Exxon Mobil, Time Warner, Boston Scientific, John Deere, Medtronic, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, Raymond James and others.

These clients look to us to help them navigate the markets volatility. And we provide them with top quality research and investment returns as a result: we haven’t closed a losing trading since July 2011.

We’d love for you to join us.

To take out an annual subscription to Private Wealth Advisory now… start profiting from the market’s gyrations (again we haven’t closed a losing trade since JULY)… and gain access to all my Special Reports… including my Protect Your Family, Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio Special Reports outlining how to prepare these areas of your life for the coming Great Crisis…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards,

Graham Summers

The thought that should be on every investor’s mind today is “Why did the Fed have to stage the coordinated intervention yesterday?’

Put another way, what exactly does the Fed know that we don’t?

The whole thing smells fishy to me. Aside from the fact that the Fed clearly leaked its intentions as early as Monday night (hence the reason stocks rallied while credit markets weakened), there’s something peculiar about the fact the Fed chose to do this at the end of November.

Why November 30? Why not today or Tuesday?

I think the answer is that the Fed stepped in to help its institutional investor/ hedge fund buddies. November was a horrible month for this crowd. And with Bank of America approaching $5 per share (a level which would require many institutions to liquidate due to regulations), the Fed was also helping out its favorite insolvent bank as well.

Aside from this, Europe was approaching the End Game.  Germany won’t permit the ECB to print nor to issue Euro-bonds. The EFSF plan was dead before arrival, failing to even stage a 3 billion Euro bond auction without having to step in and buy the bonds itself. And the IMF wasn’t going to be an option either.

Put another way, ALL other bailout options had failed for Europe. The Fed was the lender/ intervener of last resort. That alone should have everyone worried as it indicates just how dire things had become in Europe.

However, there’s something far more worrisome about the Fed’s move which is that: IT SOLVES NOTHING.

Europe is facing a solvency crisis. Lowering the cost of borrowing Dollars does absolutely ZERO to help European banks raise capital. All it does is provide even more easy credit… which of course is the entire problem to begin with.

Banks across Europe are leveraged at an average of 26 to 1. This means that they own 26 times more assets (read: loans made to consumers, businesses, etc) than they do equity.

At these leverage levels, if the assets fall even 4% in value, you’ve wiped out ALL equity, rendering the bank bankrupt.

In this situation, providing more liquidity to these banks helps in terms of short-term operations, but it does nothing to address the core issue which is too little capital and too much leverage.

So this move, as dramatic as it was for the stock market has done NOTHING to solve Europe’s solvency crisis.

Indeed, we have reports that a large European bank was on the verge of collapse last night. Things are so bad that Germany has drawn up legislation to allow countries to leave the Euro while remaining in the EU.

I believe Germany itself will be using this option in the next few weeks as it realizes that it cannot and will not be able to prop up the Euro any longer (even Germany doesn’t have the 1 TRILLION Euros’ in capital that European banks need).

So do not be fooled. The Fed’s move today didn’t fix anything. At most its bought the markets a few weeks’ time before the whole mess comes crashing down.

So if you have not taken steps to prepare for this, the time to do so is now.

I can show you how.

Few people on the planet can match my ability to return a profit during times of Crisis.

To wit, my clients made money in 2008 outperforming every mutual fund on the planet as well as 99% of investment legends.

We also outperformed the market by 15% during the Euro Crisis of 2010. And since the latest round of the Euro Crisis began in July 2011, we’ve locked in not 10, not 20, but 32 Straight Winners including gains of 12%, 14%, 16% and 18%… using stocks and ETFs.

So if you’re looking for a guide to get you through the coming disaster, I’m your man.

I’ve been helping investors, including executives at many of the Fortune 500 companies, navigate their personal portfolios through the markets for years.

I can do the same for you with my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

The minute you subscribe to Private Wealth Advisory, you’ll be given access to my Protect Your Family, Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports telling you precisely which steps to take to prepare your loved ones and your personal finances for what’s coming.

You’ll also join my private client list in receiving my bi-weekly market updates outlining what’s really happening behind the scenes in the markets and which investments will profit in the coming months.

And when it’s time to pull the trigger on a given investment, I’ll send you real-time trade alerts (this is how we’ve locked in 32 straight winners in the last three months).

All of this is yours for just $249 per year.

In fact, if you subscribe now, you’ll receive my latest issue of Private Wealth Advisory hot off the press and detailing four investments poised to produce HUGE gains in the coming weeks.

The time for dilly dallying is over. Europe is literally on the eve of systemic failure. The Fed’s intervention will at most buy us a week or two.

To take action to protect yourself… and insure that the coming weeks and months are a time of profit and safety, NOT losses and pain…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards

Graham Summers

This act is getting old.

Almost every other day we’re getting rumors about new bailouts and interventions in Europe. All of these rumors turn out to be total lies as they are refuted usually within a day and sometimes within a few hours.

Case in point, stock futures erupted overnight on Sunday on rumors that Italy would be getting a 600 billion euro bailout from the IMF. Just a few hours later this story came out:

IMF denies in Italy aid talks

However, an IMF spokesperson poured cold water on a report in the Italian daily La Stampa that said up to 600 billion euros could be made available at a rate of between 4-5 percent to give Italy breathing space for 18 months.

“There are no discussions with the Italian authorities on a program for IMF financing,” an IMF spokesperson said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/28/us-italy-idUSTRE7AQ0GU20111128

Is this what the markets have devolved to? The equivalent of gossip that borders on “he said, she said” nonsense? Also, why is it no one even checks with the reporters who publish the initial rumor-based news? Can reporters simply publish total lies these days and no one cares (that’s a rhetorical question, we already know the answer).

The whole thing just reminds us of the core issue pertaining to this Crisis: values.

This is not a monetary Crisis; it is a Crisis of values and morals. It is a Crisis caused by the notion that you can lie about virtually everything pertaining to a business deal (the quality of the assets, who owns them, whether they’re even legitimate, etc) and get away with it.

To review how we go into this mess, Wall Street and other industries lobbied Congress to loosen regulations. However, the secondary nature of those lobbying efforts was it trained Congress to see Wall Street as the hand that feeds, thereby making it unlikely for Congress to prosecute or pursue any criminal activity on the part of the bankers.

Take away consequence and rules and you have anarchy. And that’s virtually what we had in the Financial System leading up to the Crisis. Looking back on some of the more glaring situations (AIG, Goldman Sachs, etc) it’s simply amazing the whole mess didn’t blow up sooner.

The Federal Reserve and regulators then blew a one in 100 years opportunity to reform the system. We’re now finding out that instead of doing anything positive, Bernanke literally gave away TRILLIONS of Dollars to the banks.

In simple terms, the Fed engaged in the exact same business practices that blew up the mortgage lenders: giving money away without inquiring as to the borrowers real financial position or needs.

By doing this, the Fed spread the lies (and toxic debts) onto the public’s balance sheet, thereby compromising the Republic’s creditworthiness.

In plain terms, Bernanke extended the Big Lie: that those working in the financial sector are the smartest, most capable people on earth and that they know what they’re doing (even though they almost blew up the system).

Which brings us to today.

The whole system is now built on lies. The lie that banks are solvent. The lie that the Federal Reserve actually cares about regulating the financial system. The lie that crimes will be punished. The lie that Congress will reform Wall Street. The lie that we’ll get “change” at the ballot box.

And on and on.

You cannot build a financial system on lies. It simply doesn’t work. All it does is breed distrust and resentment. And as any businessperson can tell you, without trust business cannot work.

Small wonder then that the private sector won’t hire and the economy won’t recover. Debt only becomes a problem when the person who borrows can no longer be trusted to pay you back. We’ve now crossed that line and are trying to prop things up with more lies and more easy credit.

Neither math nor common sense indicate that this will turn out well. Indeed, when this mess finally comes undone, it’s going to make Lehman look like a joke. We’re now talking about entire countries collapsing, not just private institutions

Many people will lose everything in this mess. Yes, everything. However, you don’t have to be one of them. Indeed, I can show you how to turn this time of collapse into a time of profits.

Few people on the planet can match my ability to return a profit during times of Crisis.

To whit, my clients made money in 2008 outperforming every mutual fund on the planet as well as 99% of investment legends.

We also outperformed the market by 15% during the Euro Crisis of 2010. And since the latest round of the Euro Crisis began in July 2011, we’ve locked in not 10, not 20, but 32 Straight Winners including gains of 12%, 14%, 16% and 18%,

So if you’re looking for a guide to get you through the coming disaster, I’m your man.

I’ve been helping investors, including executives at many of the Fortune 500 companies, navigate their personal portfolios through the markets for years.

I can do the same for you with my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

The minute you subscribe to Private Wealth Advisory, you’ll be given access to my Protect Your Family, Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports telling you precisely which steps to take to prepare your loved ones and your personal finances for what’s coming.

You’ll also join my private client list in receiving my bi-weekly market updates outlining what’s really happening behind the scenes in the markets and which investments will profit in the coming months.

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In fact, if you subscribe now, you’ll receive my latest issue of Private Wealth Advisory hot off the press when it’s published tomorrow evening after the market closes.

In it I detail six investments that are poised to produce enormous profits in the next month when the next leg down begins…

The time for dilly dallying is over. Europe is literally on the eve of systemic failure. Even the IMF has warned we’re facing a global collapse.

To take action to protect yourself… and insure that the coming weeks and months are a time of profit and safety, NOT losses and pain…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards

Graham Summers

With the European End Game now in sight, the primary question that needs to be addressed is whether Europe will opt for a period of massive deflation, massive inflation, or deflation followed by inflation.

Indeed, with Europe’s entire banking system insolvent (even German banks need to be recapitalized to the tune of over $171 billion) the outcome for Europe is only one of two options:

1)   Massive debt restructuring

2)   Monetization of everything/ hyperinflation

These are the realities facing Europe today (and eventually Japan and the US). Either way we are talking about the destruction of tens of trillions of Euros in wealth. The issue is which poison the European powers that be choose.

Personally, I believe we are going to see a combination of the two with deflation hitting all EU countries first and then serious inflation or hyperinflation hitting peripheral players and the PIIGS.

In terms of how we get there, I believe that in the next 14 months, the following will occur.

1)   Germany and possibly France exit the Euro

2)   ALL PIIGS defaulting on their debt

3)   Potential hyperinflation in the PIIGS and peripheral EU countries

Regarding #1, we are already beginning to see hints of this development in the press:

DEATH OF THE EURO: SECRET PLOT TO WRECK THE CURRENCY

Ministers are understood to be deeply concerned that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel are secretly plotting to build a new, slimmed down Eurozone without Greece, Italy and other debt-ridden southern European nations.

Well-placed Brussels sources say Germany and France have already held private discussions on preparing for the disintegration of the Eurozone.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/283060

FRENCH AND GERMANS EXPLORE IDEA OF SMALLER EURO ZONE

German and French officials have discussed plans for a radical overhaul of the European Union that would involve setting up a more integrated and potentially smaller Euro zone, EU sources say.

“France and Germany have had intense consultations on this issue over the last months, at all levels,” a senior EU official in Brussels told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

“We need to move very cautiously, but the truth is that we need to establish exactly the list of those who don’t want to be part of the club and those who simply cannot be part,” the official said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/09/us-Eurozone-future-sarkozy-idUSTRE7A85VV20111109

With no one willing to foot the bill for the EFSF the markets are hoping Germany will step in and save the day. However, the German constitution forbids Germany from backing Euro-bonds.

German EconMin: court verdict rules out Euro bonds

German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said on Thursday the constitutional court’s ruling on Euro aid made it clear that joint Euro zone bonds were not an option.

Addressing left-wing opposition parties in the Bundestag lower house of parliament, Roesler said: “You continue to talk up Euro bonds although the constitutional court yesterday made it clear that as transfer union such as the one you propose on the left will never be possible, never be allowed.”

“We don’t want it politically, either, and we will not let the German taxpayer be obliged to pay for the debt of other countries,” he said in a parliamentary budget debate.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/08/Eurozone-germany-Eurobonds-idUSB4E7K600L20110908

Moreover, Germans will simply not permit the monetization of debt. Weimar’s hyperinflation happened in the early 1920s and is still fresh in the memories of the German people (those who lived through it undoubtedly told their children and grandchildren about it). So the German people will not tolerate price instability in any form.

Germany is not alone in having little or no desire to attempt to backstop the system. Indeed, NONE of the G20 countries wish to support the EFSF from a monetary standpoint (yet another sign that the bailout game is ending).

No new Euro zone money for debt crisis at G20

The Euro zone won verbal support but no new money at a G20 summit on Friday for its tortured efforts to overcome a sovereign debt crisis, while Italy was effectively placed under IMF supervision.

Leaders of the world’s major economies, meeting on the French Riviera, told Europe to sort out its own problems and deferred until next year any move to provide more crisis-fighting resources to the International Monetary Fund.

“There are hardly any countries here which said they were ready to go along with the EFSF (Euro zone rescue fund),” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/04/us-g-idUSTRE7A20E920111104

So… everyone claims they want to support the EFSF… but no one wants to commit the money. Moreover, Germany’s constitution forbids the backing of Euro bonds… and the EFSF itself has failed to stage even a three billion Euro bond offering under normal market conditions.

Again, the bailout game is ending. Under these conditions, I believe Germany and France will push to either:

1)   Leave the EU

2)   Draft legislation that allows countries to leave the Euro but remain in the EU

3)   Propose kicking out the PIIGS from the Euro

Whichever one of these options Germany opts for, the Euro will collapse. Indeed, the primary reason the Euro has been rallying since October is due to French banks and others selling assets (buying Euros) to recapitalize themselves.

Put another way, the Euro rally is in fact NOT a sign of currency strength. Instead, it is a sign that the major players are moving to cash (Euros) in an attempt to lower their exposure to PIIGS’ debt.

Indeed, if we look at the bond or credit markets, it’s clear we’re into a Crisis far greater than 2008. Forget the stock market rally. Stocks ALWAYS get it last (just like in 2008). And before the smoke clears on this mess we’re going to see sovereign defaults, bank holidays, riots, and more.

Many people will lose everything in this mess. Yes, everything. However, you don’t have to be one of them. Indeed, I can show you how to turn this time of collapse into a time of profits.

Few people on the planet can match my ability to return a profit during times of Crisis.

To whit, my clients MADE money in 2008, outperforming every mutual fund on the planet as well as 99% of investment legends.

We also outperformed the market by 15% during the Euro Crisis of 2010. And since the latest round of the Euro Crisis began in July 2011, we’ve locked in not 10, not 20, but 30 STRAIGHT WINNERS including gains of 12%, 14%, 16% and 18%,

So if you’re looking for a guide to get you through the coming disaster, I’m your man.

I’ve been helping investors, including executives at many of the Fortune 500 companies, navigate their personal portfolios through the markets for years.

I can do the same for you with my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

The minute you subscribe to Private Wealth Advisory, you’ll be given access to my Protect Your Family, Protect Your Savings, and Protect Your Portfolio reports telling you precisely which steps to take to prepare your loved ones and your personal finances for what’s coming.

You’ll also join my private client list in receiving my bi-weekly market updates outlining what’s really happening behind the scenes in the markets and which investments will profit in the coming months.

And when it’s time to pull the trigger on a given investment, I’ll send you real-time trade alerts.

All of this is yours for just $249 per year.

In fact, if you subscribe now, you’ll receive my latest issue of Private Wealth Advisory hot off the press when it’s published tomorrow evening after the market closes.

In it I detail six investments that are poised to produce enormous profits in the next month when the next leg down begins…

The time for dilly dallying is over. Europe is literally on the eve of systemic failure. Even the IMF has warned we’re facing a global collapse.

To take action to protect yourself… and insure that the coming weeks and months are a time of profit and safety, NOT losses and pain…

Click Here Now!!!

Best Regards

Graham Summers