iCharts Discussions

[rk_a2003]

Where can I go for silver......Can't wait man.Hope Market trigger all my TSL's soon.

[ajayhkaul]

[vinay28]

As the world's greatest conductor of electricity – manufacturers use silver to make switches and fuses found in washing machines, computers, vacuum cleaners, drills, dryers and ovens.

In addition, billions of silver-zinc batteries are manufactured every year for use in dozens of electronic devices such as cameras, remote control car keys, TVs and watches.

For the sake of accuracy of info only, silver is used only for contact surfaces in electrical and electronic devices/components to reduce resistance. In order to recover silver (and gold that is also used a bit), a german company started recycling of elecronic components a few years ago. This also helps in reducing elecronic garbage, the biggest environmental problem in the present electronic world (plastic, carcinogenic PCPs, etc.). Tatas showed interest in joining hands with them a few years ago (I had some initial role in it) but I don't know what happened later. Also, with silver supply falling, gold is increasingly being used for the same purposes.

[ajayhkaul]

Also, with silver supply falling, gold is increasingly being used for the same purposes.

that would drive up the cost ? There is a company in India doing the silver recovery and the collect e-waste from middle east.

Nevertheless , the short squeeze.... ? why silver has not managed to touch 30 year high? How can we play this ?

[rk_a2003]

Are there any silver ETF's available in the Indian market?

[ajayhkaul]

None that I am aware of .... how about physical metal...heh heh ...buy and bury it under your trading chair

[vinay28]

but don't make the mistake of gifting it to your wife!

[ajayhkaul]

Ha ha .... who wants to be hit on the head with a silver 1kg brick?

[rk_a2003]

No need to worry! she don’t like wearing any ornaments even Gold.

The problem with silver is that...We need to go for physical delivery and need to safe guard again.

[ajayhkaul]

Tale of TWO EMPIRES :

A story of the Super Bowl, America, chariot racing, the Roman Empire, and the destined future…

Super Bowl XLVI made U.S. television history by pulling in the biggest audience, at 111.3 million viewers (source: NBC). The game was seen by close to 47% of all U.S. homes.

It is no wonder that, with this many eyeballs, the average 30-second commercial sold for a record $3.5 million (source: NBC). Rapid inflation here.

For the halftime show, a few more people wanted to tune in because the featured artist was Madonna. That brought total viewers from 111.3 million to 114 million.

The average Super Bowl ticket was $3,982 in the days leading up to the game (rapid inflation). Face value of the tickets ranged from $800.00-$1,200 (rapid inflation again).

During the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire, chariot racing was the most popular sport. The chariot racers were divided into factions—teams—that fans wore the colors of and rooted for: Blue, Green, Red and White.
Under the Byzantine rule, the hippodrome was built, which seated roughly 60,000 fans. An imperial box was created for the emperor and his family. During the interval between races, the crowd was entertained with various performers: singers; dancers; mimes; clowns; and others. The cost of goods rose during the Byzantine regime, the first real form of rapid inflation.

The races provided the fans with an opportunity to choose a team color, which gave the illusion of control in an otherwise authoritarian society, as purchasing power fell due to rapid inflation (source: Barbara Schrodt). The races took the citizens’ focus off the financial problems of society as they looked so forward to their weekend sports.

There was a time during the Roman Empire, roughly between 300 B.C. and 400 A.D., when the number of soldiers skyrocketed to over 300,000, from 20,000. During this time, as more soldiers entered the ranks, their pay and pensions increased 350% (rapid inflation) from 124 Roman denarii (the denarius was the currency at the time) to 438 Roman denarii (source: Kenneth Harl).

In a desperate attempt to keep their reign, the emperors paid the soldiers with a debased currency, which fed rapid inflation. The amount of silver that went into every coin went from 2.19 grams at the height of the empire to just 0.04 at the end; it was also a low grade of silver (source: Martin Armstrong).

The emperors, during this time, made financial promises to the people that clearly could not ever be paid. Besides just the pay itself, there was the matter of future pensions, where there was no money (unfunded liabilities). With government debt out of control, the currency was debased, but rapid inflation was the resulting consequence, which destroyed the Roman Empire.

With government debt in the U.S. at over $15.0 trillion and unfunded liabilities at a minimum of $55.0 trillion (with that number probably larger), we have the same problem the Romans faced many centuries ago.
World GDP in 2011 was $65.0 trillion (source: IMF). There is not enough money in the world to pay for the U.S. government debt and, if we continue to expand our money supply (create money), rapid inflation will be the result.

The issues are not being addressed or the hard decisions being made to fix these problems as rapid inflation creeps in. One day, the market will force US to make those hard decisions.

Worse, over 46 million people are on food stamps in US, with youth unemployment at over 18% (source: SNAP & BLS), while there are the privileged few who can afford to pay for rapid inflation and tickets at the Super Bowl.

History really never changes; just the players change.

To sustain the Roman Empire as it grew and grew, money was printed; the rapid inflation came, the value of money deteriorated, and the empire slowly ceased to be the world’s economic powerhouse of its time.

The same is happening in America right before our eyes. It will be a long process…but at least this time we know who the next world economic power will be. Go East, young man, to a land where citizens are encouraged to own gold…China.

[vinay28]

Apocalypse! Armageddon?

[rk_a2003]

"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce."...... Karl Marx

[ajayhkaul]

I wrote this dated blog that some may recall:

Created On: 05/08/2011 19:53:58
Edited By AJAYHKAUL On: 06/09/2011 16:23:12
'Even in a world ruled by destiny, the morons still stand out. History always seems to find knuckleheads to do her dirty work ...especially when it involves ruining a great empire.' -- Bill Bonner writing about the decision makers (Presidents!) - in the U.S.

'All empires collapse eventually: Akkad, Sumeria, Babylonia, Ninevah, Assyria, Persia, Macedonia, Greece, Carthage, Rome, Mali, Songhai, Mongonl, Tokugawaw, Gupta, Khmer, Hapbsburg, Inca, Aztec, Spanish, Dutch, Ottoman, Austrian, French, British, Soviet, you name them, they all fell, and most within a few hundred years. Reasons? environmental degradation,economic meltdown, military overstretch, domestic dissent and upheaval'
( We can expect the western Good- Bad -Ugly on the US streets soon)

Well , we have it happening in Greece :

GREEK - TRAGIC DEMOCRACY

Hope we never get to see this in our country

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIVdnKc1BDI&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Hungary are heading down the exact same road that Greece has gone. Greece was the first one to experience a full-blown depression, but soon Greece will have a lot of company.

Greece is most definitely a warning sign for the world. If you keep recklessly piling up debt, eventually a day of reckoning comes. It is inevitable.

But Barack Obama does not seem to understand this. He continues to pile another 150 million dollars on to US national debt every single hour. He knows that cutting spending significantly right now would hurt the economy and that would significantly hurt his chances for another term.

Needless to say, Barack Obama is not likely to do anything that is going to significantly hurt his chances for another four years in the White House.

So US continues to roll on toward disaster.

[ajayhkaul]

In a BAD MOOD : WEAK LINK

European banks' bond holdings of struggling euro zone nations Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy have trapped Europe in a vicious circle.

The falling value of the debt puts pressure on banks, which in turn weighs on lending and economic activity, making it tougher to sustain the growth that governments badly need to shore up their finances.

The biggest single group among the 114 institutions under review by Moody,s were headquartered in Italy, followed by Spain, with more than 20 each. Nine were headquartered in Britain, 10 in France and seven in Germany.

Moody's said nine of the 17 banks with global reach are included in the list of 114 financial institutions in Europe.


among 17 banks and securities firms with global capital markets operations, it might cut the long-term credit rating of UBS, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley by as much as three notches following the review. It said the guidance was indicative.

Among the banks that might be downgraded by two notches are Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings, and Goldman Sachs.

Bank of America and Nomura were included in those that might be downgraded by one notch.

The U.S. rating agency said in a separate statement its action on 114 financial institutions from 16 European nations reflected the impact of the debt crisis and deteriorating creditworthiness of its governments.

It cited more fragile funding conditions, increased regulatory burdens and a tougher economic environment for its review of banks and securities firms with global reach.

Moody's salvo follows rounds of downgrades in European sovereign ratings as the euro zone's struggle to keep its weakest link Greece afloat has been driving up borrowing costs and straining finances of other nations.

Last Monday, Moody's cut the ratings of six European nations including Italy, Spain and Portugal and warned it could strip France, Britain and Austria of their top-level AAA grade.

Standard & Poor's cut France's and Austria's top ratings and downgraded seven other euro zone nations last month. It also cut the euro zone's bailout fund by one notch.

[ajayhkaul]

Eric Sprott is a billionaire gold investor. He's got over 80% of his portfolio in precious metals.

And he says you should, too.

One of the first things this famed investor mentions is how the rules have suddenly changed.

Huge reform efforts out of governments. But the problem is our leaders tell us one thing and do another.

What's worse, Sprott says, is the constant manipulation.

If the Fed isn't printing money... it's "twisting" interest rates.

And if it's not the Fed, it's the suckers in Europe that are forced to prop up a country drunk on public spending.

Sprott also said something that needs repeating.

Physical possession is key.

Again... physical possession is key.


In the off chance gold becomes the currency substitute so many investors want it to be, a few shares of an ETF will be next to worthless. If the system melts down, it will start with an implosion of counterparty risk.

In other words, when the banks fail, why would we be so ignorant to think the bank that sold you a gold derivative (little more than a piece of paper and a promise -- just like the dollar) would survive?

The chances are quite good, in fact, that it will be those same derivatives that take down the banks.

You do remember 2008, right?

If/when failure happens, it will be a great day for the folks with a chunk of gold in their home vault. But then again... it will also be a great day to buy a gun.

Most of today's gold investors, though, are speculators. They don't care about protection from a full-on meltdown. They just want to get rich between now and fiscal Armageddon.