Yes, even I at times have mental blocks. Few bloggers on the planet write as much; and when dealing with the same topics each day, there are times when even the most active brains say “leave me alone.” However, the reason I have survived and thrived through the past eleven years of market manipulation is perseverance – and the relentless pursuit of truth. Working at Miles Franklin fuels my passion further – as the reach of our blog is growing as rapidly as global PHYSICAL demand. When combining the efforts of David Schectman, Bill Holter, and myself, it is difficult to conceive any blog putting out as much quality information – much less, for FREE.
Anyhow, as I reflect further on the post-FOMC PAPER gold and silver attacks – yet again, causing people to erroneously put off the “life or death” decision to protect financial assets; I again thought of the lunacy that has been this year’s ‘taper debate.’ Frankly, it’s the fifth straight year in which TPTB have spread such PROPAGANDA; and the second straight commencing with Helicopter Ben’s February “Humphrey-Hawkins” Congressional testimony. Regarding the latter, in neither instance did he say anything even remotely resembling an expectation of reining in the Fed’s unprecedented MONEY PRINTING; however, the Cartel instituted a “smokescreen” campaign to attack paper gold and silver in both cases. This year, said smokescreen became so powerful, Bennie was “backed into a corner” by mid-year; and thus, forced to acknowledge the hope of tapering QE by year-end – in a gambit that proved to be one his most infamous failures to date.
In prior years, Bennie would boldly state his belief in “imminent” recovery; however, his track record of blind, unjustified optimism has been so dismal, he no longer predicts anything. Instead, he’s resorted to the Greenspan method of “Fedspeak”; i.e., couching ALL statements with “if” and “when” – such as his now infamous June 19th press conference, when he said:
If the incoming data are broadly consistent our (updated 2014 forecast of 3.0%-3.5% GDP and 6.5% unemployment), the committee currently anticipates it would be appropriate to moderate the pace of purchases later this year.
Better yet, he went on to say:
If the subsequent data remain broadly aligned with our current expectations for the economy, we would continue to reduce the pace of purchases in measured steps through the first half of next year, ending purchases around midyear.
–Ben Bernanke, June 20, 2013
Of course, his job is to lie through his teeth about essentially EVERYTHING; from the nature of ECB “swaps” to secret loans to the state of the economy. He wouldn’t be appointed otherwise; and can you imagine the reaction if Bernanke ever spoke the TRUTH of the economy? Sure, he’s happy to criticize Congressional ineptitude to deflect attention from his monetary failures to their fiscal ones. However, in the big picture, it’s his policy of unfettered MONEY PRINTING that enabled them to inflict such catastrophic financial damage. Not to mention, the equally catastrophic inflation he has exported to everyone from Joe Sixpack to billions of Indian citizens. And as for the aforementioned June 19th statements, they caused interest rates to rise so sharply, he backtracked on them just four weeks later – yet again, proving how utterly clueless the Fed is – when he uttered the equally cowardly “Fedspeak” statement, that his tapering plan was “not a preset course.”
Generally speaking, “tapering” was never anything more than a short-term PROPAGANDA campaign to aid PPT and Cartel efforts to support stocks and suppress Precious Metals, respectively. The fact that “tapering” Treasury and mortgage bond purchases would cause irreparable economic damage was conveniently ignored by the MSM; and even now, with the housing “recovery” rolling over, banks shedding mortgage-based jobs by the tens of thousands, and mounting fixed income losses, such FACTS are not reported by anyone except us “shadow worlders.” Historically, NOTHING has been more negative for stocks than rising rates; but in today’s “all manipulation, all the time” markets, stocks and bonds apparently raise together.
Of course, the “good news” for those seeking TRUTH is that such efforts to distort reality have ALWAYS failed; and thanks to the laws of “Economic Mother Nature,” ALWAYS will. Just because TPTB are using more sophisticated manipulation and obfuscation “tools” doesn’t mean they will succeed; and in fact, such attempts have historically made the problems exponentially worse. For example, the “London Gold Pool” probably looked invincible in its stated goal of holding gold at $35/oz. for nearly seven years. Of course, once it broke in 1968, the price rocketed to nearly $900/ounce.
Regarding today’s title, it’s a reminder of yet another PROPAGANDA campaign gone bad; in this case, Bernanke’s initial, failed foray into the post Global Meltdown I economic forecasting business. Yes, in March 2009, he claimed to see “green shoots of recovery” in the economy; and thus, “We’ll see recovery beginning next year, which will pick up steam over time.”
Per the below chart – published in an article last week, such words were confidently uttered as QE1 ended in March 2010; accompanied by an even more infamous quote, “If necessary, as a means of applying monetary restraint, the Federal Reserve also has the option of redeeming or selling securities.”
Bolstered by the “liquidity aftermath” of QE1 – and more than $20 trillion of nationalizations, bailouts, and “secret loans” – Bennie got even bolder in July of 2009, having the courage to pen “The Fed’s Exit Strategy” for the Wall Street Journal; tragically, followed up in March 2010 with “hints” at the timing and pace of said exit strategy. Tragically, I say, because just four months later the 2008-09 liquidity hangover was over, forcing the Fed to initiate QE2.
Since then, we’ve not heard the words “green shoots” or “exit strategy.” However, in February 2012, we were PROPAGANDIZED that something similar might come, when the Cartel’s “LEAP DAY VIOLATION” PM attacks were initiated coincident with a Bernanke speech; which, by the way, mentioned NOTHING of the sort. In hindsight, the 2012 PM attack campaign failed – with gold and silver surging in early 2013, causing TPTB to “up the ante.” And thus, despite Bennie admitting “QE to Infinity” was indeed a possibility – on February 26th, no less – TPTB embarked on even more intense PM suppression campaign.
This time around, the best they could do was claim Bennie was “provoking mystery” over a Fed stimulus Exit – per this Bloomberg article from March 11th; culminating in the now infamous June 18th FOMC press conference, in which Chairman-san said the Fed might taper if the economy improved measurably. This campaign has thus far been “successful,” in that PM prices are measurably lower since February. However, the cost of this gambit will ultimately be catastrophic, as the amount of available PHYSICAL metal has plunged worldwide. Moreover, per last week’s FOMC statement that not only will QE be continued indefinitely, but with no visible timetable for ending, it’s just a matter of time before the ENTIRE WORLD realizes the past five years’ talk of “green shoots,” “exit strategies,” and “tapering” were but a ruse to kick the can one more mile.
Fortunately, the window to protect yourself from the inevitable END GAME is still open; to boot, at significantly more attractive prices than two to three years ago. However, it could close any time; and when it does, it may NEVER again open in our lifetimes. ONLY gold and silver will survive the upcoming global currency crash; and hopefully, you’ll have some in your possession when it does.