With so much “bad news” to discuss, let’s start today (Wednesday) with a good joke. Which is, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew – he, whose claim to fame was being Citigroup’s Chief Operating Officer during the 2008 crisis – claiming the Chinese Yuan is ineligible for inclusion in the IMF’s “standard basket of currencies.” Sure the Yuan is backed by nothing; pegged to the dollar; and managed by bankers with as much sense (none) as their Western counterparts. However, to say the dollar, yen, euro, and pound are any better is quite laughable – as the Fed has inflated away 98% of the dollar’s value, while the Bank of England has done the same to the pound. As for the Yen, the Bank of Japan’s overt policy is currency destruction; whilst the ECB, ironically, believes doing “whatever it takes” to “save” the Euro entails negative interest rates, “NIRP to Infinity,” and the utter destruction of its member nations – to the point, for instance, that a near-term “Grexit” is all but guaranteed.

And again, just how arrogant can American be? I mean, whilst such aggressive, petty financial exclusion is bandied about, China is about to commence its alternative to the IMF, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank – with nearly 50 members, many of them supposed U.S. allies. Let alone, as the newly formed BRICS Development Bank is set to usurp the World Bank; and the Chinese-led SWIFT wire transfer system – better known as the “de-dollarization axis” – set to launch in September. So the Yuan is not “qualified” to join the rat’s nest of Western money printing, according to the United States of Dying Hegemony. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the history books have to say, particularly when China and its Eastern “partners” inevitably reveal they has more gold than all the (questionably accounted for) reserves of the entire Western world.

Irrespective, all paper currencies will be destroyed before a “new world monetary order” can be established. And this includes the Yuan as well; starting with its inevitable de-pegging from the dollar – as the “final currency war” goes nuclear; and eventually, by PBOC money printing when its historic credit, construction, equity, and real estate bubble completely implodes. Which, by the way, is likely far sooner than most can imagine, per today’s headlines (below). Remember, today’s Chinese leadership, whilst obviously viewing the long-term, are, from a personal standpoint, heavily invested in the “pre-collapse” status quo. And thus, I wouldn’t count on announcements like Chinese gold holdings until “the Big One” hits the world like a runaway locomotive. Frankly, there’s not a chance the current Chinese leadership survives the ensuing political, economic, and social earthquake; but rest assured, the “post-collapse” China will be a force to be reckoned with.

And again, I’m not sure how much more emphatic we can be about the timing of said crisis. In many parts of the world, it has already started. And as for the rest – i.e., the Western nations whose currencies are higher up on the submerging fiat totem pole; it’s just a matter of time. To wit, the above headlines regarding China and Japan – and others, like “World Bank sees protracted Russian recession”; “Brazil February Output plunges 9.1%”; “Greece fails to reach initial deal on reforms with lenders”; and, comically, “world inflation falls to new five year lows” – which, of course, is the giant, bright red, blaring clarion call to worldwide Central bankers to PRINT, PRINT, PRINT.

Here in the Dying Economic Empire of America, the government’s myriad “manipulation operatives” – like the PPT, Fed, ESF, and gold Cartel – work 24/7 to mask the horrific, unrelenting flow of data screaming recession, utterly begging the Fed to announce the QE4 hyperinflation that must inevitably occur. However, such tactics are decidedly failing; and frankly, the fact that CNBC’s ratings hit an all-time lowthis week, just as the PPT-goosed NASDAQ surged to its internet mania high of 5,000, should tell you all you need to know of how the “99%” are doing.

To wit, plunging home prices and interest rates; a recessionary Chicago PMI reading of 46 for the second straight month; a projected full-year decline in S&P 500 revenues and earnings; a dramatic miss in this morning’s ADP employment report – likely, presaging a similar disappointment in Friday’s upcoming NFP report; another “unexpectedly” negative construction spending reading; and a much lower than expected, borderline recessionary ISM Manufacturing Index reading are just a few of the past 24 hours’ “horrible headlines.” Not to mention, last night’s hideous API crude oil inventory build – pushing WTI crude down to $47.20/bbl – coupled with a 24-hour extension of negotiations regarding an increasingly imminent U.S.-Iranian nuclear agreement. LOL, the one and only peaceful thing Obama might actually accomplish will wind up badly damaging America; as once Iran’s nearly million barrels per day of sanctioned crude exports return to the market, oil prices will likely plunge further into the abyss – destroying whatever still remains of the dying U.S. energy industry, and permanently ending the laughable expectation of “energy independence.”

Of course, the polar opposite of the unrelenting “bad news” for stocks, bonds, and essentially all mainstream asset classes – which frankly, is “just getting started”; is the uninterrupted, expanding “good news” for gold and silver – which, too, is “just getting started.” In fact, I can’t recall a single piece of “bad news” for gold and silver in the past decade – except, of course, the orchestrated paper takedowns that have become as ubiquitous as stock market “dead ringer” and “hail mary” algorithms. Mining stocks, of course, have had more bad news than any sector on the planet; but not the inert, “riskless” pieces of metal that have served as real money for time immemorial – let alone, amidst the terminal stage of history’s largest, broadest, most destructive money printing orgy.

Everywhere one looks, the reasons why seven billion people are being driven towards the only assured financial salvation around – physical gold and silver – are multiplying; and frankly, it greatly depresses me to think how few will embrace it while they still can. Market manipulation and propaganda are indeed powerful tools; and consequently, when the global fiat Ponzi scheme inevitably implodes – as it’s already doing in many nations – I don’t expect more than a few percent of said seven billion to be properly prepared.

However, for readers of the Miles Franklin Blog, I expect a significant amount to take action to PROTECT themselves. Fortunately, they understand the ramifications of first quarter Chinese gold demand surging 10% above last year’s record level; or the inexorable decline of gold inventory from not only the COMEX, but the Federal Reserve’s custodial vaults; or the fact that “speculators” – who never get it right – have never been more short paper gold; or that the tiny amount of actual physical silver available for investment could be swept up by one of the world’s thousands of individual billionaires – or millions of institutional billionaires – with pocket change. Let alone, how powerful the tsunami of demand will be – amidst an environment of declining mine supply – if “black swan” events like a Yuan de-pegging, “Grexit,” or Ukrainian War occur.

Rest assured, there will NEVER be “bad news for precious metals” amidst a fiat Ponzi scheme; let alone, when prices have been suppressed below the cost of production. To the contrary, the relentless “horrible headlines” regarding essentially all other asset classes will continue to mount, making risk/reward decisions easier than at any time in history. And, as always, we hope that if you decide to act on such fundamentals, you’ll give Miles Franklin a call at 800-822-8080, and “give us a chance” to earn your business.