D. Stewart Armstrong
Our new President Elect–Can he affect change?
Is it a new day? Is there real change in the air? I do believe there is once again hope in America because of our new President-elect. It feels to me that we have come through a long dark tunnel and hopefully America can get back on track once again. But I remember feeling like that after Clinton departed?Is this all a “pipe dream”? And then we elected “W and the Neo-cons”. It was like having a national tooth pulled without Novocain for eight long years. Today, November 11, 2008, I just heard on NBR that the Patriot Act was being enacted permanently. Now, what was I saying about change in the air?
Washington, DC is still Washington, DC and no single person can undo what has been done by a group of politicians unworthy to hold office in any country for the past eight years. I love America and for what it represents, but as we all know, this Country has gotten off track and we are as just as responsible as the next guy. We were too busy at the punch bowl and we’ve become spectators to our own political system. Our Republic has been through amazing times, trying times; and we are resilient as a people. But we are starting from a very deep black hole and our new President Elect doesn’t even want to be part of this weeks G-20 meeting. Can you blame him? The message is clearly “it’s your mess–you created it and I’m not getting involved until my watch begins”.
But Ladies and Gentlemen–consider this one thing, America was created for the people by the people and it is supposed to be our country. We need to take it back from those entities that treat us like “feeder cattle”. That means we get off the couch and into the game.
We begin by contacting our congress people until they know us by name. We form neighborhood groups oriented towards positive political change. We begin at home and remember the names of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Lincoln, FDR, Kennedy and we remember what sacrifice is.
A Country of Extremes and Extreme Diversity. This is a country of extremes and that means there are extreme people in the country.
There are those who would promote hatred and bigotry and feel threatened by this new era in our nation’s history. I urge everyone to support this new administration until we see that they are not worthy of our support. That goes to action and policy. It does not go towards race or family roots. I think both black and white America were truly proud that this nation could promote both a woman and a person of color for the White House. I think we should all be proud of that and I think the world is delighted that America has made this choice.
Mr. Obama will arrive at the White House at one of the lowest points in this nation’s economic/financial history. There is going to be hell to pay before we as a nation get back on track. Concurrently, we are at one of the most extreme points in our Nation’s history. We are literally at a point in time wondering whether our National currency will survive. The US Constitution banned all but gold and silver coin but that policy was slowly eroded away. When the “Federal Reserve created itself”, it was the beginning of the end and when Nixon took us totally off the gold standard, it was the end.
But whatever we do, we need to give this man the benefit of the doubt and to work together as a nation to preserve the Republic.If McCain had been elected I would say the exact same thing. We need to pull together as a Nation and that is something this country has not done since WWII.
Could have, Would have, Should have…
Could have, would have, should have! There are so many things that we all feel that we should have done differently over the past four to six months if not the last 4 to 8 years. But we are we are, and we need to get a plan together for ourselves and our families and we need to implement that plan as quickly as possible. Many of us are going to have to reinvent ourselves in one capacity or another. Do not be afraid of the change because change, especially at this point in both our personal lives and in our nation’s history is going to be absolutely necessary.
There are two things in particular that I would ask of each of us. The first is to help spread the word about honest money in America, i.e., gold and silver. This is not easy because it takes a personal commitment and no one wants to be wrong. But we can certainly directly people to web sites where they can pick up information about what is really occurring in America. We cannot bury our heads in the stand. Speaking out in this regard is much like Public Speaking. Very difficult in the beginning and then it gets easier.
The second is that we stay on top of our political system, our representatives, and never allow this country to revert back to the kinds of treachery we’ve been exposed to over the past 10 years. If we do not take our political system/process seriously, then we have no one to blame but ourselves. Americans have become ever more complacent. I’m not casting stones. But I think everyone needs to pitch in to form a more perfect union. We need to become involved in the political process from a local level to a national level. We need to take the time to become involved. It’s difficult because many of us are looking for work, raising families, or trying to survive. It simply is not in the DNA of many of us.
The Five Major “Must Dos”
1. We must support the Middle Class in every way; I believe we are already supporting the illegal immigrants, many of the poor, and the Wealthy usually can care for themselves. (I would urge that we all support our local food banks any way we can. We have a plan that every several years we take our emergency supplies and “turn them over”. Give the older items and replace them, thereby keeping the dates fresh and helping the local food banks)
2. We must stabilize the Housing Industry and find a way to keep Americans in their homes: Stop the foreclosures immediately even if Uncle Sam has be become more involved. If they bail out Wall Street, they absolutely have to “bail out” main street.
3. Stop the illegal immigration along with all the drug running that goes with it.
4. Create manufacturing in the US so we once again begin to make things. I believe we have to save the auto industry because of the 3-4 million jobs affiliated with it–not because they’ve done such a great job! Yes, they’ve built awful vehicles for the last 20 years but that is not the problem of the guy on the assembly line. We won’t even ask whether they deserve to be saved because 3 million jobs depend upon its survival. What does it do to the local economy when some six to eight million jobs are lost?
5. Stop the manipulation of gold and silver and the PM complex because we simply don’t know where we are as a nation until we know where gold and silver revert to in an unobstructed basis.
Gold and Silver
My take is that the precious metals sector will really begin to rally upwards after the deleveraging ends, repatriation of the dollar ends, and inflation is recognized as being baked into the system. This rally could occur between now and Christmas. Don’t make the mistake of putting your hard earned money into T-Bills and US Treasureies because we are living in a different world. This weekend with its G-20 meeting will be very telling both in what they say and what they don’t say. Your money is best served and saved via physical gold and silver. After that becomes unavailable, then I’d look to quality junior mining companies that are producing or close to producing. Again, there are some very good deals in this sector if you can hold on. I personally like Oromin (OLEPF), Madison Minerals (MMRSF), GORO, and Entree Gold (EGI).
Now let me say a few additional words about gold and silver. Just because we have hope (Obama along with “Goodby W”) does not mean that we have accomplished anything. We will still need to be fighting the same forces of greed and fear that we’ve always had to fight– both internally and externally. There are many debates occurring across the financial, geopolitical spectrum as to whether or not we are in an inflationary or deflationary environment. We are also debating how either of these particular environments will affect inflation and therefore gold and silver and the precious metals complex. Personally I think that we may be in a deflationary environment here in the short term but the only way that the government can move this country forward is by printing more dollars and especially by cutting wasteful spending. I’m certain that they will be printing more dollars but whether or not they will eliminate the wasteful spending is another matter altogether. So we will have short term deflation followed by longer term inflation once the enormous amounts of dollars are absorbed (and accounted) into the system. Remember this: Countless trillions of dollars have evaporated into thin air.
At the end of the day there will be inflation and gold and silver will become more valuable. As most of you know there has been a dearth of the smaller denominations in gold and silver coins but word has it that supply is coming back. Nevertheless, I think the supply will be thin and eventually gold and silver will break the chains of the forces that would keep the prices under their control.
Do not take your eye off the ball and again helped to spread the word because everyone can make a contribution in one way or another and at this critical point in America’s history, we all need to do some little thing.
Finally, I realize that the junior gold mining stocks have been decimated and I’ll have more to say about that in the next day or two. But I think we may see a bounce in some of these juniors and one of the first things you look for is to whether or not they can survive for the next six to nine months. Determine whether they have cash or have access to cash. Determine whether they are close to a major producer who may want to pick up their asset at some point in the future. And remember that the more gold and/or silver that has been discovered on any given property will determine the company’s value.
There is one more thing that I want to say and I think we all need to participate in this endeavor if this country is to turn the corner and evolve from the depths of our collective despair. The government needs to bail out Main Street America before it does anymore bailing out of Wall Street or the banks. How ironic that these two entities, the ones that created the mess for all of us, are being supported before the American people are supported.
The Change in the Air works only if you put pen to paper or fingers to computer and write your congresspeople. There is strength in numbers. We need to save the housing industry first–that means keeping you in your homes regardless of what the cost.
D. Stewart Armstrong
Consultant to the Junior Mining Sector
Posted by D.Stewart Armstrong in Articles