Well, Putin sent an aid convoy, that Western Ukraine allowed so long as it was Red Cross inspected. No need for an armed escort. Now, there was evidently a Russian incursion but, I’m questioning that it had anything to do with the aid convoy. Mistakes happen in a tense border area and I think this was one of them. Battlefield commanders stretching their legs?

If you examine that TIC data, you now have an excuse as to why the US gov’t/FED need a war.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, I do not care. The FED was trapped and as they exited TIC started to go negative. That means the US CANNOT fund its deficits.

Oh but what a safe have Treasuries are in a war.

Odd isn’t it that just after gold is attacked, news is released about the Russian convoy.

I’d say because the separatists in Eastern Ukraine are getting beaten.

The bottomline is that Putin could never allow his interests in Ukraine to be controlled by the west anymore than we could allow the state of Texas to be controlled by the east.

It has led the whole way.

I’m always in 100%. Sometimes it’s painful but when we run big I’ll be there.

If I had a baby they’d be getting 14K shoes. 🙂

That’s an amazing stat. I find it a little hard to believe. I don’t think I know anyone who couldn’t come up with a measly $400.

The question that I would have is this: Why have an armed escort at all? Why deliberately ask for it?

… and gold spikes.

Does anyone think Pootie won’t respond? If so you must have bumped your head!

spot

Now contemplate this: 2/3rds of the nation’s households, according to the Federal Reserve, cannot raise a mere $400 in an emergency without going into debt or selling some item from their household

dennenger

You had to know Ukraine would be the aggressor. The west wants war. Now they’ll get it.

Scum is right.

It Begins: Ukraine Troops Destroy Part Of “Armed” Russian Convoy

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-15/it-begins-ukraine-troops-destroy-part-armed-russian-convoy

This was all the excuse Vlad needed.

If they smash PM’s etc down on this news, then the World will think they are insane.

Soros is certainly no favorite around here but it’s interesting to see what the really big money is doing. I hope he’s a winner on this one.

‘Attempt to intimidate’: US firm may face terrorism charges in Argentina

The government of Argentina is ready to use an anti-terrorism law to seek criminal charges against a US-based international printing company, which unexpectedly closed its plant on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

Workers of RR Donnelley in the Argentinian capital came to work on Monday to be informed of the plant’s closure due to an “insurmountable crisis,” according to AP.

The company’s sudden filing for bankruptcy and shutting down its printing presses has left around 400 people jobless.

“We are facing a real case of fraudulent behavior and an attempt to intimidate the population,” Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said in a Thursday speech cited by Reuters.

She believes there has been no sufficient ground for the company to shut down in a move which undermined the country’s economy. It could then be a violation of the anti-terrorism law, the president assumed. Argentina enacted its anti-terrorism law in 2011, but has not yet applied it.

Kirchner accused the printing company of being linked to foreign hedge funds or “vulture funds”, as they are called in Argentina, whose decade-long legal battle against the country in the US courts resulted in Argentina’s July default.

“There is an almost Mafiosi network on an international level,” she said.

RR Donnelley has not yet commented on the situation.

http://rt.com/news/180492-argentina-us-anti-terrorism/

Little stealth rally as the SM falls and bonds rally hard. Worth noting the USD is getting hit hard too.

Interesting about Soros. Also according to CNBS he upped his put position on the S&P by 606%.

We’ll see.

This is a multi-year chart of TIC data. This shows the demand for US assets, offset by

US demand for foreign assets. I cannot understand the lack of panic globally.

The US has to fund its deficit and relies on Foreign flows. They aren’t there

and they have not been there for over a year with a month or two being the

exception.

Start at 18:30. Again, this is a very big problem or at least it used to be!

Shares in gold miner Centamin (LON:CEY) (TSX:CEE) closed down over 6% in London Thursday as the company said its long-dragged dispute with Egyptian authorities over its flagship Sukari gold mine might drag into 2015.

Delivering its second quarter results, the Alexandria-based company — Egypt’s largest bullion producer— also logged lower production and higher costs during the first half of the year. It, however, kept its annual forecasts unchanged, suggesting it would deliver more output at better grades over the rest of the year.

Centamin problems in Egypt go back to 2012, when a court cancelled its mining license for Sukari, the firm’s only producing mine, and the country’s first large-scale modern gold operation.

Last year, a 400 kg gold shipment from Sukari was prevented from leaving Egypt as authorities claimed Centamin needed a permit from the national petroleum ministry to do so.

cont. http://www.mining.com/no-end-in-sight-for-centamin-legal-fight-over-gold-mine-in-egypt-56904/

The latest quarterly filings by major hedge fund managers raise some interesting facts regarding interest by some of the biggest names in the sector – notably George Soros and John Paulson – and their attitudes towards gold and gold stocks.

George Soros’ Soros Fund Management, according to a Reuters report, nearly doubled its stake in the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF to 2.05 million shares valued at $54 million at the end of the second quarter, compared with 1.16 million shares in the first quarter. The Soros Fund also initiated new gold investments including 1.33 million shares in call options of the Gold Miners ETF valued at $35 million, and 1 million equity shares in Allied Nevada Gold Corp., but notably cut back its stake in Barrick Gold sharply by more than 90% which suggests that the Fund sees better value in more volatile gold stocks than in the perhaps likely more pedestrian progress of a gold major should gold prices continue to rise.

Perhaps less surprisingly, John Paulson, who has remained committed to gold as a long term investment for his fund through thick and thin retained his 10.2 million shares in the GLD ETF, which was worth some $1.31 billion alone and is the largest single position in the world’s biggest gold ETF. Paulson is a known long term gold bull and his gold oriented fund suffered through the downturn, but will have gained some $45 million during the past quarter.

Although gold and gold stocks have received a lot of talking down by the media and the banks this year, they have provided some of the best market growth so far, in part due to geopolitical issues which have supported the gold price despite the seeming plethora of adverse market commentaries. There has been an element of riding the Dow, the S&P, FTSE, Dax etc, which have all been performing well, but so have the gold stock indices as investors have returned. Gold itself is up around 8% since the beginning of the year compared with say the S&P 500 which is only up just under 7% – fact which seems to be overlooked by many market commentators.

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-gold-news?oid=250346&sn=Detail

No doubt, the paper kings own everything and it’s hard to see that changing anytime soon. Seems we get one of these smashes out of the blue for no reason about once a month now.

Maddog has a theory that the paper kings are hitting oil to hurt Russia. I think he’s spot on.

Whatever the end result of where the world is headed, I agree with you it won’t be pretty good buddy. So we wait with our phyzz in hand and hope we’ve done the right thing.

Good Morning !

Say, with all those ‘Broomstick Miles’ aint you ready to take a vacation ?  Give a frog a break?  I figured the reason you were late getting your pledge in yesterday, other than the fact of being a woman (which I have never known to be on time ) was that you were at some Voo Doo Convention or something. Well….better late than never.

Listen, I have been thinking. Since we have this New Oasis and all, maybe I should turn a new leaf of sorts. You know, cut you some slack. Be a little nicer to you. But then I came to my senses and thought, Oh heck no !  Now that don’t mean I cant try to help you out more. I am not sure about those cats have more lives. I think frogs live longer on the magical pond so it all seems kind of offsetting to me. But just to show you my heart is in the right place, I hope you will accept my gift this morning. Besides you are gonna need the extra energy to keep up with me. (grin)

Best from Da Frog

Sure hope your chart plays out! If I had a baby they’d need new shoes.

Tell ya, if I ever had any doubts to the power of the Paper Lords, that idea has pretty much been put to rest recently. With all the crappola going on in the world today TPTB are still in charge of the markets.  I have sat and observed the past several weeks with great astonishment. (The oil slap down yesterday of oil for two bucks just one example)

With the all financial turmoil rolling from one shore to the next, rumors of another large bank failure, and anemic economy even if you believe half the gubberment figures ( and I don’t ), and the number and extent of the conflicts, and potential ‘wars’….I am amazed how well they can prop up this, slash this one over here , and continue the spin that keeps it all running. Simply, incredibly amazing.

It is a good thing I can occupy some of my day with chores. Do a little canning. And hold on to an ounce or two. And just try to survive whatever is to befall us next. It’s a tough game out there brother. And whatever ‘The End’ game is gonna look like, it aint gonna be a pretty one by my book.

Onward Pilgrams as the good Doc says. Marching into lands unknown.  And trying to stay sane, while trying to make sense of the insanity of a world turned upside down. 🙂

Look at the open interest in tonnage for silver the past several years prior to this.

the silver OI complex rests  at 161,928 contracts.

Each contract is 5000oz. You can do the math.

We have never seen OI like this at anything other than

major tops. Yet, the miners look like they are at a bottom.

Thanks Wanka & Crew ! The new pond looking good, and now that we got the ‘business’ side of things taken care of we can all look forward to another year of gatherings. Job Well Done !!

Thanks for the coffee Floridagold.  Coffee is not an option at the Oasis, it is a necessity. Besides, its good for ya ! I’m thinking we should take that generous contribution, late as it may be, of AuGal and apply it to the coffee funds. (grin)