Silver Dips Below $30

QE3, like the other QEs, is nothing but a way to inflate stock prices. It does nothing for the economy, although some folks will feel better if their retirement funds appear to be growing. What they do not see is the hidden tax called inflation. For every dollar of share price increase, they are likely to see at least a dollar of loss in their purchasing power. It is a fools' game, IMHO, and the best way to win it is not to play. The more games that are played with the US dollar, the less of them I want to own and the more PMs I want to own. They cannot print gold or silver out of thin air like they can fiat currency. Anything that is unlikely to be ruined by government bungling seems well worth owning.

Also, when foods and other basic necessities are inflated, it isn't just a problem here in the US. Many commodities are priced around the world in US dollars, so as the dollar declines in value from over-printing, the prices of most commodities rise to compensate. This can be devastating in those parts of the world where people spend much more of their incomes on necessities. When the prices of flour, sugar, rice, beans, and cooking oil rise, those who simply can't pay any more for them have to go without. This can be a tremendous source of anger that can boil over into violence.

As a scientist, I literally cringe every time the Fed or BLS come out with some new way to calculate that inflation or unemployment are better than they really are. Scientists have respect for the truth and do not see it as something that is pliable with the demands of politics. If good political decisions are to be made, then let them be made with the support of the best data that we have and not on self-serving political whims that benefit the few and not the many. The 1st thing one does in order to solve a problem is to ascertain that there IS in fact a problem and not simply pull the wool over our own eyes with bogus numbers until we can no longer see the problem. Failing to see a problem does NOT make it go away.

funny how the majority of people here probably gotten their "financial education" from reading the Guide to Investing in Gold and Silver by Mike Maloney or the equivalent lol, I keep hearing the same things repeated...

My financial education is an MBA from Abilene Christian University. I am not stacking PMs personally, but I am in the market for a few collectibles that are driven by the PM markets. I find the dialog here interesting and respectful. Rather refreshing, actually!

Thanks, Lars, but only Sheeple react to things this way and why the heck are they even allowed to vote, anyway? They are apathetic to the point of being comatose so why worry about voting? Just continue to chew the Cud and watch reality TV.



Never read that but am BIG on financial common sense. Most of that was given to me by my parents and grand parents, all of whom lived through the 1930s depression. My parents were just kids then but the grand folks were adults. I used to ask them LOTS of questions about those days and loved learning from their experiences.



Thanks, JMK. I learn a lot from your posts too. This is what this site is really all about... learning by sharing. Good stuff!



Unless we are consuming 100% of our incomes, we are all stacking. Some stack currency and some stack PMs. Currency is handy stuff and I have my share of it but I really prefer the shiny stuff to fiat paper. History seems to be on the side of PMs as well, given that abused fiat systems all go broke eventually... and they ALL get abused at some point because they can be abused.



I would be OK with that, Mac, as long as they were REAL numbers and not some baloney that was dreamed up to make some politician or other and their policies look better than they really are.

The unemployment numbers are a classic example of how not to collect REAL data. These numbers are based upon a survey that gets mailed out to about 150,000 employers... out of millions of employers. I am pretty sure that a lot of these surveys are not answered at all or if they are, are not answered factually. The really strange part of this is that the US Treasury collects a HUGE amount of data in real time from ALL employers due to tax withholding. The US Treasury also publishes this data and virtually anyone can have access to it. If the BLS or the Fed, for example wanted REAL data on unemployment, all they need do is ask the US Treasury. The US Treasury KNOWS this stuff and it is both current and accurate. Because neither the Fed nor the BLS has any interest in this data it is pretty clear that they do not want facts. If they did they could very easily obtain them. Instead, they have to "calculate" what the rate of employment is and then "adjust" it after a few months when no one cares anymore about 2-3 month old info.

Anything can happen. Who knows anymore. This thread has been quiet due to silver's upward prices I guess

Ok....so I switch on the news and see gold and silver skyrocketing and headlines screaming that Bernanke has pulled the trigger on QE3.

Then I read his statement. NO WHERE does it say they are implementing QE3. In fact it repeatedly says that 'the bar is higher to implement non traditional (QE3) fiscal policies. And then gives 4 reasons why it might not be a good idea, but conceeding that at the present time there is, probably, no damage from the previous QE's.

Bottom line, Bernanke waffaled around both sides of the issue and the bulls took what they were starving for. I.e. absent positive statements to the contrary 'qe is baked in the cake'.

Bernanke is on record as saying that he doesn't have to implement qe3 to move the markets. All he has to do is suggest it and they edge higher.

And isn't that all he has been doing now?

Ed, of course it is perception. ALL classic supply and demand data show a drastic decline in the purchase of PM's. All show a glut of silver on the market. All show that the much anticipated Indian "gold buying season" is going to be a serious wash this year; with the watered down Rupee. I have read reports which say that a Goldsmith in India can not even buy raw gold with which to ply his trade. That it takes about 7 months of GROSS wages for an Indian goldsmith to even buy half an ounce of Gold.

Interestingly this morning I talked to a number of other dealers and they all read Bernanke's text and they all came to the same conclusion we did.

One last thing. Since when is it a good idea to buy when the price goes up? But that is precisely what many of the commentators are saying. Sometimes I think that is what is keeping the price up. Too many "bought HIGH, and are now afraid to sell LOW".