D. Stewart Armstrong

Did you have to make up your mind?

To choose one, and leave the other behind. It’s not always easy, it’s not always kind—-did you ever have to make up your mind?

Wasn’t this by the ‘Lovin Spoonful?’ I think it was and I think it has enormous implications in terms of what we are all going through right now. We’re all having to make up our minds–over something–especially our investments. But then if we are sufficiently fortunate to have funds to invest, what are we choosing? If we are living from paycheck to paycheck or no paycheck at all, what do we choose? Are we saving our homes or sending our kids to school? Are we choosing health issues over saving our houses? Are we looking short term or long term? This is very difficult because most of the working class have been put in a most untenable situation.

We are faced with some very difficult choices and I sympathize with all of those people, all of those families who are having to make up their minds. I wish there was a magic wand which we could wave and make all of our financial problems disappear. In actuality, there are several wands and they are known as gold and silver. They won’t make all the issues disappear but they will offer opportunities and they can put a foundation under your future like no other investment–including money–in our case the US dollar! But alas, gold and silver have been manipulated so that the magic wand is tepid, under-performing, and the opposite of what they really should be which is omnipotent. Currently they are impotent because of INTERVENTION. The magic wand is still magic but it demands that you recognize and then believe in common sense. Common sense dictates that there has been an enormous amount of intervention in the precious metals complex in order to support the US dollar. Basically the power elite is now killing Peter (gold) to buy a little more time {forget about paying} for Paul (the US Dollar)! It always seems to return to the same basic premise, doesn’t it. Paper promises versus “the real thing” which is the precious metals complex. So, Did you ever have to make up your mind?

I have just encapsulated GATA’s (Gold Anti Trust Action) Committee basic premise in a few short sentences. Gata’s contention is that a Cabal, consisting of an organized group of Central Banks, various US financial entities (think Federal Reserve), and assorted international allies have been conspiring to suppress the price of gold for their own nefarious ends has been repeatedly and empirically proven. The procedures utilized by these powerful groups to accomplish their ends has become ever more intense, desperate and subsequently obvious, over the past five years as the US dollar has become increasingly suspect as a reserve currency; for that matter as a viable fiat currency. Did you ever have to make up your mind?

You do have to be quite involved to really understand what is occurring in the world around us. But understand this one basic premise and you’ll be miles ahead. Gold beats paper every time because you can manufacture paper but you cannot manufacture gold. Understand this basic premise. In your heart of hearts you know this is correct; especially if you’ve been around these markets for any extended period of time. What happens is that we get too close to the topics; in other words we cannot see the forest for the trees. We are bombarded every day with counterproductive arguments as to why paper is going to prosper when common sense tells us otherwise. Believe in the judgment of those people who have educated all of us in the ways of these financial entities. And then believe in your own judgment because you are correct.

There are seemingly dozens of cross arguments: inflation versus deflation, a recession versus something worse, a government that doesn’t seem to function in the best interests of its citizens, and economy that really doesn’t seem to be sustaining a country with the resources and the history of the United States. All of the noise, as Jim Sinclair puts it, is designed to throw us off track. Patience is our biggest nemesis. We must practice patience and the problem is patience equates with time. When you are sitting on a precipice, and the rocks are starting to crumble, time is not your friend. That is to say that most people need money now and in many cases they need a lot of it now. Incidentally, I don’t want you to feel alone because governments are facing the same dilemmas. My answer to this question is to find the right vehicle for you, study it from every angle, and then apply what you’ve learned in the real world. There are no easy routes to success. It is true that money begets money but it is also true that greed begets greed and that greed can ultimately rear its ugly head and bite you firmly in the butt. Become a master at something. Most importantly become a master of yourself! Most Zen Masters will tell us that we are perfect–we just need to understand that perfection.

On a more mundane level, become a master of one company– perhaps one gold or silver company; or one discipline–stocks, bonds, options, gold, silver and then learn everything you possibly can about that entity or vehicle. Perhaps you can study one sector such as gold or silver and learn the intricacies around it. Jason Hommel has made himself something of an expert in the realm of silver. I can see by his work that he is committed to knowing and learning as much as he possibly can about the “silver story” and is passing that knowledge on to those who would listen. He has become so good at it that people will pay just to see his portfolio. Jason is an honorable guy and this works for him and for the community as he has quite a following.

I would then urge you to take the first step, and realize that every journey does indeed begin with that first step. Look around you, see what’s going on in terms of reality, not in terms of what “they” are trying to shove down our collective throats. 95% of what we witness via mass media is noise. It is noise that helps the powerful keep the less powerful, the average citizen, in line. America is our country — it has always been our country– we just don’t recognize that it is nor do we act accordingly. And because we have not acted accordingly, and due to the grand design (Think “Creature From Jekyll Island” by G. Edward Griffith ) our country has been rustled away from us just as a rustler rustles cattle. A fitting metaphor since most of us have been acting as cattle. Mooooor trouble on the way?

America is not only for the power elite. The American dream is for each and every one of us and I can almost guarantee you that if we had direct input into some of the most critical decisions that have been made about this country over the past dozen years or so, we would be on the opposite side of 80% of them. Why? Because the decisions that were made were counter to good old American common sense. Americans do have common sense but most of our political appointees and our political legislators do not exercise theirs. Whose fault is that? Is it the cattle or the Rustlers? Who continues to put the fox in charge of the hen house? But then, who has the willingness to think and reflect in a timely and coherent fashion? Did you ever have to make up your mind?

Stay with your common sense. We should be looking for common sense in our leaders. There are very few free lunches. They would have you think otherwise. Perception is not reality. There are two worlds we live in. One is the way governments would have you perceive it, and the other world is the way it actually is– that would be the one that we live in on a day-to-day basis.

I’m going to close with this. The problems that I see facing this country right now center around the economy, well paying jobs and careers, the status of the US dollar which has eroded in value over the last 75 years, health care, illegal immigration, a biased tax system which has evolved into a total morass and not what the founding fathers advocated, and finally the Bill of Rights and the Constitution being slowly destroyed in the name of national security. Our foreign policy is also in shambles but this is not of great concern to the average American although it truly should be. Now I ask you, after this enormously long presidential campaign, how many times have you heard the candidates talk about those issues in a meaningful way. I’m not talking about a sound bite, I’m talking about detailed solutions for what ails America. Politics in this country is based upon perception and not reality. Think of the topics I’ve just mentioned next time you listen to one of those political made for TV commercials.

I want to hear how much PORK they are DEFINITELY going to cut.

Gold and Silver are Reality.

Did you ever have to make up your mind and choose your metals so bright and leave the other stuff behind? It’s a fight to the finish, the truth hard to find, but with good common sense, we’ll succeed in due time.

PS

Would you like to become an expert on one gold company and enjoy considerable upside potential? Consider Oromin Explorations (OLEPF.OTC). This is a company that has five drill rigs running 24/7 and they have already proven up well over 1,400,000 ounces of gold. My feeling is that it won’t be too far below 2,000,000 ounces within six months. Oromin is now selling at about $1.45 while at its highs a year or so ago, it was well over $3.50. The junior golds have been hammered–the worst in the last 25 years. I believe we’ve hit the bottom but it will take some time to rebuild the technical infrastructure of the precious metals markets. We could go back and test $700 but I would find that ever so surprising!Currently people want to own physical gold and silver but that will eventually change and the closer any good company is to production, the better they will do. Think advanced stage projects and small producers that have an opportunity to grow.Finally, Oromin is well financed and it is my opinion that when this market turns around, you’ll see OLEPF as one of the front runners. .Oh yes, and consider the management team.– Not too shabby! That being said, read the disclaimers on all articles.

Until next time,

D. Stewart Armstrong
Consultant to the Junior Mining Sector

by D. Stewart Armstrong

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The realization comes to me that there is so much information of such infinitely high quality on the Internet that my commentary should be of the briefest nature. I can pass on my observations and I can possibly guide you to additional sources of excellent information. Perhaps I can even recommend newsletters that I personally believe offer the best value. But with all of these very bright people on the Web; with guys like Buckler, Russell, Willie, Murphy, Wiegand, Saunders, and so on, there is little need for me to do anything other than point you in their directions. And so the commonsense portion of seacoast-consulting.com will remain the most important part of the site. There seems to be such a clear lack of common sense in the world we find ourselves.

I encourage you to opt in to our mailing list which is jealously guarded at consulting@seacoastpub.com.

I will also continue to cover the junior mining companies as I have in the past and together we will endeavor to forge our way through this very uncomfortable period which is about to beset us.

There are several things I would like you to consider.

1. Nothing occurs in a vacuum: there is a past a present and a future. Live in the present but plan for the future and learn from the past.
2. We create our own reality; there are no victims. Be accountable and accept responsibility for your actions. This is difficult to do.
3. Do not believe everything you read or what you are told; most stories will have a bias. Sometimes you cannot even believe what you see.
4. Information that is true is the key to your success; perception is not the same as reality-Do not confuse the two.
5. Find a way to initiate real love in your life, and “the rest” will follow. Think of others: Human, animal, plant-nothing occurs in a vacuum.
6. Almost everyone is selling something so be careful “the pitch” and then what you purchase; and be very careful for what you wish.
7. Time is precious so let us be vigilant in terms of how we use it.
8. America has always been America which is to say it has always been beset by conflict. This will not change. We can minimize it.
9. Gold and silver have always been real money and fiat currencies have always failed. Always!
10. Under all circumstances work for peace but be prepared for war. But remember, wars are easy to begin and very difficult to end.

Those are the insights I would share with you today.

Historically Speaking

On August 8,2008, the dollar took a tremendous leap, er upward?–about 1.23 points on the USDX or the Dollar Index. That appeared to be the reason for the gold market to come unglued–but was it? The Wall Streeter’s were jumping up and down and proclaiming that all is now well with the world. Besides, oil was down five dollars, and the pattern repeated itself most of last week. The stock markets went up and down which is what markets do. So many pundits in the financial world were proclaiming that happy days are here again–but what really occurred?

In a word what happened was intervention. It’s rather obvious, it’s rather menacing, and all is not what it appears to be. These are more of the same patterns that we’ve been tracking for the past 10 years but on a much more intense level. Think escalation! You need to understand this as do I; as do we all! The central point to consider is that the US dollar requires resuscitation and with the aid and compliance of other nations, they will do everything in the book to save the dollar because it is intrinsically linked to every other Fiat currency on the planet. Will they succeed? Creating conflicts and wars will certainly not help.

Additionally, if you want to destroy a country, destroy its currency. We are doing that by ourselves with very little assistance from the outside. We are essentially self-destructing. Americans had better get a grip–and fast! What does this presidential election really offer?

The prices of gold and silver have been affected by the intervention but has the intervention really affected the value of gold and silver? The answer is no. We are pretty much exactly where we were two weeks ago; only worse because the politicos continue to dig deeper and deeper holes. These deeper holes, financial in nature, are going to become oh so difficult to escape. Believe me when I tell you that they fully understand this. Congress sits on their thumbs as Congress is want to do while the Executive Branch goes on a quest for power. This is not what our Founding Fathers were thinking when they created the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the three branches of government which were to be a checks and balance system.

Escalation, intervention, resuscitation desperation, exasperation, equals extreme exhaustion. The escalation centers around the amount of intervention that has become necessary to pull the wool over the eyes of the American citizens. All “da boyz” of the world are fully cognizant of what is occurring. The intervention is orchestrated by the US Treasury and abetted by those who hold humongous quantities of US debt. And by those who would sell ever more extreme quantities of that debt in order to sustain America. How does any country borrow $1 billion a day and still pay interest on the other $10-$50000000000000 (trillion) in debt? That is a rhetorical question. How does Mr. Bush make public statements against Russia (with a straight face) for invading sovereign nations and overthrowing their governments? Does anyone remember an exercise in Iraq of a similar nature? read more

Ladies and Gentlemen: I think Jim Willie is worth the time it takes to “plough” through his articles; they are detailed, accurate, complex, but well researched.

This one is particular hits home because he is talking about our Nations very existence being in jeopardy. We all need to find a way to save our homes and in some cases this is going to take some very smart speculation. So many who have contacted me are saying that a doubling or even a tripling of their money will not save the day. They need “ten baggers”. The only place I can see those occurring is in the resource sector–precious metals (gold and silver) and energy (oil and gas)  and now, August of 2008 is the time to begin. It will take discipline and patience. If you are up to the task, and are willing to take the risks and to learn, then I might have a few ideas for you. Stay tuned.

Read Jim’s article carefully and consider subscribing to his service. It too, takes patience and discipline.

I will make a few comments and highlight items of importance. However, Jim’s article is as written His Website is www.goldenjackass.com.  Regards, DSA

The Path to the Printing Press by Jim Willie CB

“Conditions are worsening for banks, not improving — defaults and foreclosures keep the pressure on banks and the prime and commercial loans are next to suffer losses. Benefactors up to now have been burned with steep losses. They want more control of the banks they have aided. Yielded Sovereignty will soon be an issue and the banking system will turn to its final solution.”

“An historically unprecedented mess has been created by compromised central bankers and inept economic advisors, whose interference has irreversibly altered and damaged the world financial system, urgently pushed after the removed anchor of money to gold. Analysis features Gold, Crude Oil, US Dollar, Treasury bonds, and inter-market dynamics with the US Economy and US Federal Reserve monetary policy.”

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The path to the printing press is a long one. It is used at first to spread credit indiscriminately in sustaining commerce and funding financial systems. For the United States, that means horribly inefficient usage of credit in commerce, where 5 units of credit produce one unit of business activity. In the twisted bizarre arena that is Wall Street, the financial maze they created has imploded as yet another chapter is written in the standard textbook of boom and bust. They managed to cause the most powerful deflation storm in eighty years, all born from the monetary inflation wellspring, no easy feat. The Americans think they are immune to the immutable laws of economic nature. They dispatched most of their industry to the Pacific Rim, then Mexico, finally a more complex mix of Asia with China the new center. With that exodus went legitimate income. In its place was the great majority of the US Economy resting atop a housing and mortgage bubble. The heretical US economists, led by the closest thing to Mr Magoo on the planet in the former US Federal Reserve Chairman, endorsed the plan as not only sound, but advanced in risk offset price modeling. Imagine Mr Magoo a knight! Now the entire model is in the process of dissolving, taking down the entire US banking system, including most lending institutions, into the sewer of acidic pits, the wasteland of dilution, or the cemetery for bankruptcy.

Long is the path to the printing press, the ultimate supposed savior of the nation. Current US Fed Chairman Bernanke once said, “But the US government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost.” His words are taken out of context, unfair to him. Sue me! The hidden cost is beyond description as huge, like ruin of a national financial foundation. It is a device that kills the host, hardly any solution. When the financial system is totally broken, when allies are totally betrayed, when investors are totally ransacked, when isolation is the spoils of current policy riddled with curried favor, the printing press remains to save the day. What heresy! Usage of the printing press in large scale volume will earn the certain reward of astronomical gold and silver prices. The decisions to be made will determine whether a return to precious metal supremacy is accompanied either first by very high interest rates and uncontrollable credit derivative meltdowns, or second by suppressed controlled interest rates and total discouragement of savings from artificially low interest rates. Systemic meltdown awaits the first path, while continued pursuit of bubbles the second path. Either way, gold wins! The spoils will be devastation for the first path, but rationing for the second path. Both paths require the most dreaded device to be deployed at the last turn, the printing press. Other alternatives will have been exhausted.

A tragedy is in progress. For three years, my premises have centered on foreign-held debt leading to lost sovereignty, on the inevitable wreckage of the US banking system (first with insolvency, later with bankruptcy, finally consolidation and nationalization, and a long drawn out housing bear market made worse by the extraordinary extension at its peak. That pathogenesis is on course, in progress still, despite supposed rescues, most being horribly designed and full of the same broken devices that Voltaire warned about. Few people think much about the Founding Fathers of the United States these days. They would be appalled, even say, I TOLD YOU SO. Thomas Jefferson warned specifically about handing over the power and authority over money to private banks, stating in clear terms that if granted, then in time the nation will lose their homes to bankers. We are there. The brilliant second president crafted the Constitution, an ignored document shredded by those who prefer war, fear, and private profit to liberty, free markets, and honest money, while they spout endlessly about freedom, national pride, and foreign threats. The menace is internal.

IMPERFECTIONS & DECEPTIONS

he Mortgage Relief Bill just signed into law should be regarded as a first pass at governmental rescue actions, the first of many. The first bill always represents the most difficult bill to pass. The succeeding bills will be easier, since the interference has been removed. The nationalization movement in mortgage finance has begun. The benefits will extend ranks to homeowners finally, and not exclusively to the banker elite as seen to the present date. One should note that the elite, primarily shareholders and bondholders, stand in first position of priority in this first bill designed toward rescue and relief. In return for quasi-formal guarantees from the formerly quasi-government agencies, Fannie & Freddie (F&F) will submit to strong reins from a newly created regulator. The Federal Housing Administration will insure up to $300 billion in such mortgage loans, as 400 thousand upside-down homeowners will be lined up for aid, provided loan originators eat a large helping of red ink. Attached to the legislative bill, more like snuck in, was a convenient increase of $800 billion to the USGovt federal debt limit, now at $10.6 trillion. read more