If you ever suggest anything outside of the norm or the status quo you might be a “conspiracy theorist.” If you suggest that economic numbers are routinely fudged …like real inflation is running higher than the 1-2% that we are told…or if you suggest that unemployment (real, true and out of a job unemployment) is running higher than 7.6%…or that “growth” is really contraction you might be a conspiracy theorist. If you question the “suicide ruling” when someone has a bullet hole to the back of the head or if you question how a fire could “burn up” and make steel buildings fall down into a pile of dust…you might be a conspiracy theorist. If you thought that your e-mails were being read and phone calls listened to…then you might be…oh never mind.
There are too many “theories” out there to name them all; some are crocks and some 100% factual. The problem is that we have been bombarded with information and the population is so financially squeezed that the average person gets home from work and just shuts down. They either don’t have the strength, attention span or even the desire to “dig” for the truth. The “truth” to most people is whether or not their family gets fed and whether or not the bills are paid by the end of the month.
I would like to address the biggest (in my mind) conspiracy theory (fact) of all. It has been “said” for nearly 60 years that the U.S. has 8,400 tons of gold left. First off, there has been no audit done since 1956, not even Senators or Representatives (except for one time in the ’70’s for glance) been allowed to actually see the gold. “Trust us” is what the population has heard, “trust us” is what foreigners are told…trust us, trust us, trust us. The problem is that so much anecdotal evidence has been dug up by GATA and others. Eric Sprott just last month looked at the U.S. gold export numbers going back 10 years or more and found that 4,500 tons OVER AND ABOVE what are reported as production has been shipped out. Where did that gold come from? When looked at with your 3rd grade mind in gear, there is no way that the gold is really there.
Of course, we continually hear the constant refrain, “For what possible reason would they lie about gold holdings?” Another truly hilarious retort (championed by none other than Doug Casey himself) is “How is this possible for all of these years?” Surely “SOMEONE” would have come forward? There is no way that a lie of this size could be kept quiet for so long. Really? For what possible reason? Have you ever seen a neighbor that eventually went broke and lost their home? They “appeared” financially strong, solvent, powerful and living the good life…right up until they weren’t. How would it have worked out if the U.S. some 30 years ago came out and said, “Sorry rest of the world, we don’t have any gold left. It’s all gone…but we’d still like to be the reserve currency and buy oil with Monopoly money? How would the phrase “trust us” have been received?
Forget about all of the past official memos uncovered. Forget all of the evidence that GATA has uncovered over the last 15 years. Forget that Germany asked for their gold and were told “wait 7 years.” Forget that gold and silver prices have not acted like any other market since the mid 90’s and those prices have now crashed 3 times in the face of massive demand. Forget that 2 of the smash downs occurred WHILE the CFTC was supposedly “investigating” the silver market. Forget that 40% of the world’s total gold production was sold in reckless fashion in less than 12 trading hours (who would, could, do this?) FORGET IT ALL! …trust us. How about the people who actually drilled into gold bars only to find that they were tungsten filled gold plated candies? Even Forrest Gump knew (because his Momma told him so) that you never know what’s on the inside until you “bite” into it. All of this “conspiracy stuff” when put together rather than separately makes sense.
We Americans are easily put to sleep. I say “easily” because we lived the good life provided by entering and saving the world during the 2 World Wars. We got fat and rested on our laurels. We have taken The Constitution and The Bill of Rights for granted. We have forgotten the “why” and how the common phrase “it’s a free country” came about in the first place. Foreigners on the other hand see “us” differently. They know. They know what is going on. They know that we are broke and they know that our gold is gone. They will play the game as long as gold (stolen, rehypothecated or recently mined) gets delivered. They will “carry us” until they won’t.
Very briefly I would like to mention some thoughts on another “conspiracy theory.” Have you ever wondered “why” the open interest in COMEX silver has stayed so high for so long? How has it been possible that the “specs” did not get flushed out on the move from $40 to $21? Who in the world could endure this type of pain? Who could possibly have met all of the margin calls? You know the margin hikes that came AFTER the price drops? WHO could it possibly be?
Yes you are correct; the only entity(s) on the planet that would have the motive, desire and financial staying power to amass a position counter to that of JP Morgan’s short in silver are the CHINESE (maybe in concert with the Russians.) I don’t see any other likely possibility. There are some who would like to take on JP Morgan but cannot financially and others who financially could but “politically” won’t. Only the Chinese fit the bill here.
I will leave you with this, am I a conspiracy theorist if I believe that JP Morgan has suppressed the price of silver for years? Even if factually they have been THE biggest short position for years? Even if they are short more metal than they exists in any inventory? Even if low metals prices means high currency and bond prices which they coincidentally have the largest portfolio positions of anyone on the planet. Do they have motive? Do they have means? Does their “directional trade” coincide with a government that desires demand for their fiat produced currency? Was, is, are they…. regulated and investigated by a government that has the same motives and desires? Do low metal prices foster or harm paper derivatives of all sorts?
I guess we will just have to wait until the cash markets confirm that this “conspiracy theory” was fact all along.
Bill,
I can remember years ago, a Middle East official saying there is no need to go to war with America we can just bring them to their knees financially. That may not be an exact quote but I know you get the meaning. It certainly seems what is happening goes back to that statement.
Paul
…and we’ve done it ourselves without any help.
So unusual for any household to have it’s small savings (the gold) when it is so enormously in debt. When there is no production, cash only flows out. Yes, if you want to protect the gold you may or may not have…just print some more to build a wall around it!
Here is a conspiracy for you Bill. The FED is meeting next week. I believe they are out of bullets, so I think they have a bullet printing press to come up with some type of delusional BS that will confuse the crap out of the markets. Does this make me a conspiracy theorist? LOL! I also believe the FEDS may be conspiracy terrorists, for they manufacture problems and come up with delusional solutions which causes financial institutions to believe and invest along with them. The cause of all destruction starts with a LIE, and boy do we have plenty of those in these times.
Bill, great article as always. The only thing I would change is your assumption that the Chinese are the ones taking the long side of the JPM shorts. Why can’t JPM simply take both sides of the trade or have one of the other FED bullion banks take turns at playing the long and shorts. If “they” are always trading amongst themselves under the guise of liquidity, then they can produce as much or as little OI as they wish and at any price they want. Seems simple enough to me and the CFTC sees no wrong doing since they are fully hedged. What a shame!
maybe Mark but I believe the Chinese are positioned for when the plug gets pulled. This may go back even 20 years ago to a time that we “leased” Mao’s Silver stockpile as ours was running down.
Have you ever seen a neighbor that eventually went broke and lost their home? They “appeared” financially strong, solvent, powerful and living the good life…right up until they weren’t.
How about this: Have you ever seen a neighbor who eventually went broke and lost his home? He “appeared” financially strong, solvent, powerful and living the good life…right up until until he wasn’t. This is readable, your English is not.
Really? You are complaining about my poor grammar? My “English” might suck, my logic doesn’t. …So what do I say to the female chauvinist who complains about writing “he” instead of “she”? “They” is an appeasing way to not offend women. Though my version was not “readable” as you say, it seems as though you were able to read it enough to correct me…for that I thank you so much! Best regards, “William” not Shakespeare