Tuesday, December 10, 2013

“This Will Bring Down The Entire Financial System”

from King World News
With continued uncertainty around the globe, today a man who has been involved in the financial markets for 50 years, and whose business partner is billionaire Eric Sprott, warned King World News about what will “bring down the entire financial system as we know it.” He also discussed what this means for investors around the world. Below is what John Embry had to say in this powerful and timely interview.
Embry: “Monetary debasement has accelerated everywhere. This was discussed so beautifully by Egon von Greyerz on KWN late last week. If in fact gold and silver prices were not being suppressed and they were reacting to what is happening in the paper world, the prices for both metals would be a minimum of double where they are today, if not more….
Continue Reading at KingWorldNews.com…

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The Best Opportunity To Profit From Gold In 15 Years: Alacer Gold (TSE:ASR)

After steadily returning an average of 18% a year for the past decade, gold is headed for its first annual loss since 2000. All told, gold prices have fallen over $450 an ounce since January -- a 27% decline in just under 12 months.


In part, the gold market is suffering thanks to the economic recovery. Since gold is usually seen as a "safe haven" investment, an improving economy puts downward pressure on gold prices. Other headwinds include low inflation rates... surging equity values... and an overwhelmingly bearish sentiment facing commodities altogether.  (more)

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American International Group Inc (NYSE: AIG)

American International Group, Inc. provides insurance products and services for the commercial, institutional, and individual customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments: AIG Property Casualty, and AIG Life and Retirement. The AIG Property Casualty segment offers casualty insurance products that cover general liability, commercial automobile liability, workers' compensation, excess casualty, and crisis management insurance; industrial energy-related and commercial property insurance products, which cover exposures to man-made and natural disasters; aerospace, environmental, political risk, trade credit, surety and marine insurance products for small and medium sized enterprises; and various forms of professional liability insurance products. The AIG Life and Retirement segment offers a suite of products and services to individuals and groups, including term life insurance, universal life insurance, accident and health insurance, fixed and variable deferred annuities, fixed payout annuities, mutual funds, and financial planning.
AIG could be forming a head and shoulders (H&S) pattern. Please take a look at the 1-year chart of AIG (American International Group, Inc.) below with my added notations:
1-year chart of AIG (American International Group, Inc.) First, AIG created a nice trendline of support (blue) over the last 9 months that broke in early November. As the stock has tried to rally, that previous trendline of support became a strong resistance. The break of the trendline means a break in the previous trend, but it doesn't necessarily mean a lower move for the stock.
However, AIG has now created a key level of support at $47 (green). That $47 level is also the possible “neckline” for AIG's potential H&S pattern. Above the neckline you will notice the H&S pattern itself (red).
Remember, patterns such as an H&S need to confirm to have the meaning that they imply. Confirmation of the H&S would occur if the stock were to break below its $47 support. If AIG does break that level, the stock should move lower from there.

The Tale of the Tape: After breaking trend, AIG could be forming a head & shoulders pattern. Although a trader could go long at $47 expecting a bounce, the stock's pattern would seem to imply an eventual breakdown. If that happens, a short trade should be entered on a break of that $47 level.
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‘Dr. Doom’ warns Canada’s housing bubble about to burst

It’s the doctor versus the governor in the ongoing debate over the direction of Canada’s housing market.
On the pessimistic side there’s Nouriel Roubini, the man known as “Dr. Doom” for his pessimistic outlook on the global economy. He recently pinpointed Canada’s housing market as a bubble set to pop.
Canada is in the company of other housing markets that Roubini (known as one of the few to correctly predict the U.S. housing crash) says are showing “signs of frothiness, if not outright bubbles,” including Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
More optimistic is Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz, who reiterated again last week that he doesn’t see a bubble. Instead, he believes there will be a gradual slowing of sales activity in the years to come.
“The bank continues to expect a soft landing in the housing market,” he said, repeating calls economists have been making for the past several months.
So far, predictions on both sides are proving to be incorrect as Canada’ housing market continues to defy expectations. That’s despite rising borrowing rates being offered by the banks and government moves to tighten mortgage conditions to prevent a U.S.-style crash.
“2013 was a year of pleasant surprises for Canada’s housing market,” BMO Capital Markets senior economist Sal Guatieri said in a recent note. “Far from extending last year’s deep sales dive on mortgage-rule turbulence, the market pulled up sharply and is cruising at an above-normal altitude.”
Even the major cities expected to drag down the data, namely Toronto and Vancouver, have outperformed, BMO notes.
In Toronto, Canada’s largest city responsible for about one-fifth of national sales, BMO says activity is up 20 per cent year-over-year for the months of August-to-October, as prices continue to climb.
That’s despite ongoing calls for a crash, particularly in the condo market where overbuilding of units has been an ongoing concern.
“The number of newly built, unoccupied condos is not high when normalized for population growth,” Guatieri writes. “For the most part, markets are balanced, but sellers rule and bidding wars prevail in certain pockets where listings are scarce.”
In high-priced Vancouver, which many believe has the greatest risk of a housing collapse, the market has bounced back strong from a dip in sales earlier this year.
Sales were down 33 per cent at the worst point earlier this year, but have since “pole-vaulted” 50 per cent to “near normal levels,” says BMO.
“Buyers held the upper hand last year, but the pendulum has swung toward balance today,” Guatieri says, predicting housing prices to fall slightly as mortgage rates continue to creep higher.
Overall, Canada’s housing market is rebounding across the country with sales up about 8 per cent in October compared to the same time last year, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Preliminary data for November also shows continued strength in sales.
Both the cautious and the extremely pessimistic camps have yet to be proven correct in their calls for Canada’s seemingly unpredictable housing market.
Eventually, one side will claim victory.  Which one remains anyone’s guess.Please share this article

The Triple Net REITs: A Bold New World Of Durable Income


star trekAs most of you know I have been covering the Triple Net REIT sector for years and as the category has evolved there has been considerable debate as to whether the once niche sector can sustain the growth. Thanks to the wave of M&A (merger and acquisition) activity, the Triple Net REITs have mushroomed into dominating capital markets platforms that thrive on external growth.
[Read HERE]
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Here’s why oil is going up: Strategist

Iran is going to pumping more oil once sanctions against that country are lifted. Yet, despite the potential for more supply, crude oil prices are up in the past week.

CNBC contributor Andrew Busch, editor and publisher of The Busch Update, says the real story is more about demand than supply.

"Global demand is going up because the global economy is doing better," says Busch. "When you have an event such as Iran saying it will pump as much as possible and they don't really care what OPEC says about it, and you watch the price of oil go up, you know something else is at play."

And, Iran may not be able to increase its share of OPEC's total output, currently at 30 million barrels per day. (more)

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