Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Interesting items on the silver front - a pretty good amount has been pulled out of the registered silver inventories as silver fights over 28 - heading back to 30 ? Additional silver and gold data and news and the best from Harvey's blogspot...

http://www.silverdoctors.com/


GATA’s Chris Powell: ‘CFTC Has Been Told the Silver Manipulation is a US Gov’t Operation’

Posted by The Doc on August 7, 2012 08:48

GATA’s Co-Founder Chris Powell discussed the FT’s report that the CFTC is dropping it’s silver investigation on tonight’s Capital Account with Lauren Lyster.

Powell’s thoughts regarding the FT’s propaganda that JPMorgan has NOT been involved with silver manipulation:
‘If the silver market is not manipulated today then it’s the only market that is not manipulated, and I would have to congratulate silver traders for finding the market that’s not manipulated.   Of course we think differently.  There’s 2 issues about that Financial Times story. The first question is ‘is it disinformation- is it a plant by people who would like the silver shorts to be let out of their predicament a little easier by discouraging the longs in the market from thinking that the CFTC was ever going to set that market right?‘

When Lyster asked Powell about Bart Chilton’s denial of the FT report (which SD broke Sunday night here) Powell responded that
‘Bart Chilton as you mentioned said ‘there hasn’t been a decision yet’.   I don’t expect the CFTC to come up with anything here, they’ve been going on with this for almost 4 years, if they couldn’t find something by now they’re not going to find something.
I think they have been told, finally, candidly, the silver manipulation is a US Government operation.‘

Full MUST WATCH interview below: (more…)









http://www.silverdoctors.com/another-1-8-million-ounces-of-registered-silver-withdrawn-from-brinks-vaults/


Another 1.8 Million Ounces of REGISTERED Silver Withdrawn From Brink’s Vaults

A whopping 1.76 million ounces of silver were withdrawn from Brink’s dealer vaults, and another 688,000 from Scotia customer vaults Monday as COMEX silver inventory volatility and massive withdrawals continue.

Registered silver inventories are now down to just 35.3 million ounces, the lowest level in months ahead of next month’s delivery month.


and.....

Silver Spikes to $28.34

After jumping to $28 in the overnight Asian session and consolidating during the first 5 hours of London trading, silver spiked through $28 to as high as $28.34 on the COMEX open.
$28.50 is now in focus and once $28.50 is cleared silver should target $30.   Consecutive closes above $30 will initiate big moves from those who have been on the sidelines.
Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, silver remains in its 2 month old range trade, but a break out from this range (we believe to the upside) is nearing.


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http://harveyorgan.blogspot.com/2012/08/german-economy-implodingeurope-also.html

Gold closed today down by $3.20 to $1609.70 by closing comex time.  However at the same time, silver seems to be bucking gold's trend as this metal rose by 33 cents to $28.08.  We are now in the midst of the summer doldrums with our major European politicians on holiday.  Thus do not expect any action until September. Today we saw poor industrial production numbers from Germany and also from the rest of Europe.  Factory orders were also down badly in Germany.  Many stories to cover today but first let us head over to the comex and assess trading there today.

The total gold comex OI rose by 1391 contracts from 389,679 to 391,070.  I can assure you that our CME boys are not too happy seeing OI contract as well as volume.  The August delivery month saw it's OI fall by 43 contracts from 2960 to 2917.  We had 18 delivery notices filed on Friday so we lost another 25 contracts or 2500 oz of gold standing.  The September delivery month saw its OI rise by  114 contracts to 1390.  The next official delivery month is October and here the OI rose by a scant 39 contracts to 28,475.  October is a very weak delivery month as most players who are still in the paper game wish to play December. The estimated volume at the gold comex today was very weak at 88,213.  The confirmed volume yesterday was also weak at 86,691.

The total silver comex OI fell slightly today from 124,503 to 124,143. Whereas gold has lost many of its OI players, we cannot say the same for silver.  The August delivery month saw its OI fall from 7 contracts to 6 contracts for a loss of 1 contract.  We had zero notices filed on Friday so we lost 1 contract or 5,000 oz of silver standing.  The next big delivery month is September and here the OI fell by 716 contracts from 56,474 to 55,758 but these players rolled into December.  The estimated volume today at the silver comex came in at 37,667 which is fair.  The confirmed volume yesterday was atrocious at 23,735.

*  *  *  

We had considerable action inside the gold vaults today.

The dealer over at Brinks received the following;

1.  2699.97 oz

The customer received the following deposits:

i) 321.50 oz from Brinks
ii) 160,750.000 oz from JPM (exactly 5.000 tonnes of gold)

total deposit:  161,071.50 oz

We had the following withdrawal from the dealer Brinks:

a) Out of Brinks:  13,260.15 oz

We had the following withdrawal from the customer at HSBC:

200.47 oz

And we had a dandy adjustment of 36,240.275 oz  where the customer leased this amount of gold to the dealer.

I am very suspicious of the 160,750.000 oz of gold deposited at JPMorgan.
Some of you have commented that maybe these are 5,000 kilobars.  It would add up excect I do not see that many settlements using kilobars at the comex.  I still say that this is paper gold entering the system.
The CME reported that we had 109 notices filed for 10,900 oz of gold.  The total number of notices filed so far this month total 6999 contracts or 699900 oz of gold.  To obtain what is left to be served upon , I take
the OI standing for August (2917) and subtract out today's delivery notices  (109) which leaves us with 2809 notices or 280900 oz left to be served upon our longs.

Thus the total number of gold ounces standing in this delivery month of August is as follows;

699900 oz (served)  +  280900 oz (to be served upon)  =  980,800 oz   or 30.506 tonnes of gold
we lost 2500 oz of gold standing.

end


*   *   * 

Again we witnessed considerable action in the silver vaults.

The customer at Delaware received the following deposit:

i)  225,034.738 oz

and that was it for deposits.

We had an avalanche of withdrawals:

First the dealer withdrawal at Brinks and it was a dandy:

i)  1,761,597.40 oz  (Brinks)

And now the customer withdrawals;

i) Out of Brinks; 49,967.43 oz
ii) Out of Delaware:  53,442.665 oz
iii) Out of HSBC:  995.65 oz
iv) Out of Scotia:  687,682.86 oz

total withdrawal by the customer;  762,088.60

total withdrawal by both customer and dealer;  2,523,686.
(this represents around 504 contracts in silver)

The CME reported that we had one delivery notice for 5000 oz.  The total number of notices filed for this month total 146 for 730,000 oz.  To obtain what is left to be served upon, I take the OI standing for August (7) and subtract out today's notices  (1) which leaves us with 6 notices or 30,000 ozThus the total number of silver ounces standing in August is as follows:

730,000 oz (served)  +  30,000 oz (to be served upon) =  760,000 oz

end


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other non redundant news of note....


Chevron's Largest California Refinery "Immediate-Extreme-Health-Hazard" Fire Emergency

Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/06/2012 22:17 -0400



UPDATE: *CHEVRON RICHMOND REFINERY HYDROCRACKER EXPLODED: KPIX-TV, REFINERY SHUTDOWN, CAN PROCESS 244,000 BBL/DAY
Chevron's Richmond refinery, the largest refinery in California, is under a Level 3 Hazardous Material extreme immediate warning with local authorities advising local citizens to "to shelter in place, go inside, close all windows and doors, turn off all heaters, air conditioners and fans. If not using the fireplace, close fireplace dampers and vents, and cover cracks around doors and windows with tape or damped towels." As KTVU2 comments, it appears massive and out of control currently. Live KRON4 stream embedded.
  • *2 DISTINCT PLUMES OF SMOKES OBSERVED EMITTING FROM CVX REFINERY
  • *CHEVRON SPOKESWOMAN SAYS NOT SURE WHAT CAUSE OF FIRE IS :CVX US
  • *CHEVRON RICHMOND REFINERY HAS EVACUATION ON EMISSIONS: FILING



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The German Economy Caves, And Eurozone Bailouts Take On New Dimension

testosteronepit's picture
Submitted by testosteronepit on 08/06/2012 20:56 -0400


Wolf Richter   www.testosteronepit.com
Last year, German exports rode to a new record, jobs were being created in massive numbers, real wages rose, housing and real estate boomed, the federal budget was nearly balanced, and consumers felt good and spent money. There were moments in 2012 that made people dream of a repeat performance—despite the havoc that the Eurozone debt crisis has been wreaking.
Whatever was happening, Germany would be able to make up for declining exports to the Eurozone with strong exports to Asia and the US. Internal demand would remain solid. And this illusion of durable economic strength and fiscal virtue has tainted the discussion about saving the euro, bailing out debt-sinner countries in return for austerity measures, and keeping the European Central Bank in check.
But now the crisis has moved from Germany’s front yard to its doorstep and is about to enter its living room. Beer sales, for example. That the German Federal Statistical Office tracks them shows just how crucial a staple beer is. Alas, beer sales to customers in Germany dropped 2.3% in the first half over the same period last year, and ominously, exports dropped 2.9% [for the worldwide beer phenomenon, beer consumption per capita, and where the growth really is, read.... Beer, A Reflection Of The World Economy?]
Auto sales got clobbered in July, dropping by 5% from July last year, and by 16.5% from June, knocking year-to-date sales, which had been holding up well, into the red (-0.1%). Auto sales have been a fiasco in the Eurozone for a while. In Greece, where they’d been plummeting for years, they plummeted again in the first half, by 41.3%! In Italy, by 19.7%, in France by 14.4%, in Belgium by 12.7%. But until July, Germany had been spared. No more. Of the big brands, only Audi (Volkswagen) was up (+14.3%). The others got hammered: Opel (GM) -18.6%, BMW, Mini -17.9 %, Mercedes -14.6 %, and Ford -4.4%. Even VW, market-share leader and on a phenomenal worldwide roll, was down 1.5%.
Retail sales, which had also been doing very well, stalled. And the closely watched Ifo index for July deteriorated so sharply that Hans-Werner Sinn, President of the Ifo Institute, admitted, “The euro crisis is having an increasingly negative impact on the German economy.”

Germany’s manufacturing industry is now in a rout. Output and new orders dove in July at a rate not seen since April 2009, the depth of the great recession. It was the 4th month in a row of lower production volumes, and the 13th months in a row (!) of declining new orders—a terror for future production. The overall PMI index crashed to the lowest level since June 2009. Exports were hardest hit, particularly to Western Europe, Asia, and the US, the three largest markets in the world! The decline in exports was steepest since May 2009. And there is talk of “job shedding.”
These trends harken back to the financial crisis, when export orders fell off a cliff, causing GDP to plunge 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2008 and a horrid 3.8% in the first quarter of 2009. Annualized, those two quarters amounted to a double-digit decline in GDP—the worst two quarters in the history of the Federal Republic. The German economy lives and dies by its exports.
Yet my contacts in Germany remain “relaxed.” There’s no malaise or panic. “In the countryside, everything goes on regardless,” wrote one of them. Restaurants are doing well. People have jobs, wages are going up. Inflation has backed off. The recent feeling of optimism, after years of pessimism, is still hanging in the air. People are bidding up rental properties and plowing their savings into brick and mortar. Well-educated Greeks and Spaniards are heading Germany in search of work. For them, it’s nirvana. The German government, through various organizations, is trying to rope in its expats in Silicon Valley and lure them back with special incentives to fill the shortage of qualified talent at home. Clearly, the numbers I mentioned haven’t yet made their way into the perception of day-to-day reality.
The public debate about bailing out Spain or Greece, and about Draghi’s plan to go on a bond-buying binge, is taking place to the backdrop of a sweetly humming economy. But the ear-piercing screech of the German export machinery as it shifts gears will change the debate—and the political will. German exporters, a super-powerful lobby, will push for all-out “do-whatever-it-takes” flooding of the Eurozone with money. On the other hand, if prospects of layoffs or forced part-time work (Kurzarbeit) are hounding consumers, their appetite for bailing out southern countries will fade altogether—and so will Germany’s ability to do so.
Meanwhile, Eurozone heads of state, top politicians, unelected kingpins, and bureaucratic honchos threatened everyone in sight with the demise of the euro. And then Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti went on attack. An ‘attack on democracy.’ Read....Escalation of the Extortion Racket: Now It’s ‘The Dissolution Of Europe’ Not Just the Eurozone.
Argentina, an alternative path for indebted Eurozone countries? Not so fast! Since late July, a new set of words has been showing up in articles about the economy. Shrinks. Slows.Stagflation. These chilling terms describe the consequences of what some nasty economic indicators have in store. Read....Argentina: The Big Shrink, by Bianca Fernet.  

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Europe's Beggars: Bluffing Their Way To Unity And Propserity Via Hijacking And Extortion

Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/06/2012 22:32 -0400


Ten days ago, when predicting what may and likely will be the outcome of the August ECB announcement, we said that it is virtually certain that it will follow in the trailblazing footsteps of what Mario Monti did at the June 29th meeting. To wit: "The bottom line here is that Draghi most likely pulled a Mario Monti (and his hanger on Mariano Rajoy), and spoke up before pre-clearing with Buba's Weidmann. Draghi thinks that, like Monti with Merkel at the June 29 summit, he can bluff the Bundesbank into submission, and Germany will agree to monetization, especially if markets have risen enough where nothing out of the ECB next week leads to a market plunge. The problem is that as we patiently explained, Monti got absolutely no concessions our of Merkel, as was seen in the bond yields of Spain after the June 29 summit." Sure enough, the market soared in the days after June 29 as well, giddy with optimism that Germany would never settle for being bullied publicly and had implicitly agreed with the Monti and Rajoy. Euphoria promptly turned to despair as it became quickly clear that Monti had bluffed without preclearing with Merkel and Buba. Fast forward one month, and what we expected to happen is precisely what did happen.
During an all-night European summit in June, Mario Monti, the Italian Prime Minister, gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel an unexpected ultimatum: He would block all deals until she agreed to take action against Italy's and Spain's rising borrowing costs.

Ms. Merkel, who has held most of the euro's cards for the past two years, wasn't used to being put on the defensive.

"This is not helpful, Mario," Ms. Merkel warned, according to people present. Europe's leaders were gathered on the fifth-floor of the European Union's boxy glass headquarters in Brussels, about to break for dinner.

"I know," Italy's premier replied.

The nine-hour confrontation between Italy and Germany that night led to a compromise that wasn't the sweeping action Mr. Monti wanted. But it has helped pave the way for a possible intervention by the European Central Bank to stabilize the teetering bond markets of Italy and Spain—a high-risk step that could be Europe's last chance to save the euro.

The Italian-German conflict has also exposed a deep philosophical fissure at the heart of the euro zone: Are painful reforms and austerity in countries such as Italy and Spain enough to restore confidence in the common currency, as Germany has insisted? Or do they need Europe's collective financial support while they fix their economies, as Mr. Monti argues?
And therein lies the rub: Germany, which arguably got the long end of the Eurozone stick for a decade and now has the best economy (albeit rapidly deteriorating, which as we explained before is why the periphery's leverage is collapsing with every passing day), got the best deal of all European nations. As such, it is relatively easy for it to preach fiscal responsibility, reform and austerity: after all it itself does not have to succumb to what it preaches.
The periphery on the other hand, realizes that it is unable to engage in painful bouts of fiscal reform: by the time any one cycle is complete, the electorate will be so furious, the politicians in power will have been long swept away, replaced by socialists and other anti-austerians, who will undo everything that has been done (see France). Thus, for them the motivation of game theory is vastly different: short-term stop gap measures at all costs, while praying a Deus Ex Machina appears on the doorstep and fixes all problems. Naturally such a thing will never happen, but when it comes to the mechanism to provide short-term bridging, it is precisely the one that Germany is disinclined to pursue: the ECB's, and the threat of runaway inflation.
After all, recall that it was 4 short months ago that Europe saw all time record Brent high priced in EURs. All it will take for a continent-wide spike in inflation will be another LTRO, or some other ECB intervention.
Germany knows this, and it knows very well that from the periphery's point of view this form of Apres Moi, Le Delugemakes perfect sense, even if it means destroying the quiet, cozy lifestyle of 80 million Germans. It also knows that stopgap measures will achieve nothing, will not resolve Europe's fiscal problems, and that all such interim steps are for nothing.
What it also knows is that it is best to give the impression that the periphery has "won" if it means delaying the inevitable day of Eurozone unwind, even if it means losing face in the court of popular opinion if only for a week or two.
Because as we will not tire of saying, for Germany the only upside from now until the inevitable unwind, funded via Bundesbank's sunk TARGET2 liabilities to the tune of €1-2 billion/day, is to keep pressure on the EUR and see the European currency get weaker at any cost: after all boosting its private, export-driven sector is the only trade off Germany has to funding Europe's unrepayable current account deficits via public funds. Even if it means appearing to be bluffed out month after month by Europe's beggars who are now consistently choosers.

Neither Monti, nor Draghi grasp, that even in a game of Mutually Assured Destruction, ultimately he who has the gold, and the best prospects for survival at Day T+1 is who orders the music.
Sure enough:
Last week, ECB President Mario Draghi disappointed markets' hopes that the bank would act right away. But he said the ECB "may" soon buy bonds of crisis-hit countries that meet certain conditions established by European authorities.

"If I were Draghi, I would feel morally and politically protected in making bold moves at the right moment," thanks to the June 28 summit outcome, Mr. Monti said in an interview soon after the summit. In a conversation on Monday, Mr. Monti described Mr. Draghi's comments last week as a "bold move" that is starting to define the "operational terms" of the late-June summit.

Mr. Monti didn't comment on Mr. Draghi's condition for ECB aid—that Italy and Spain first apply for bond-market support from Europe's bailout fund and sign a list of economic-policy promises. Such a move could be politically risky for Rome and Madrid, since it would likely be construed as tantamount to a loss of national sovereignty.
Monti's assessment of the situation is precisely what we said would happen back in May of 2010 with the first Greek bailout: soon everyone would realize that they can push Germany until the breaking point, but not any further.
"What we ask is that European authorities certify Italy's good conduct by translating that into interventions to keep spreads within reasonable limits. I have often told Merkel that, if this isn't done, she risks finding herself before an Italian parliament that repudiates Europe, monetary stability and the euro and is not friendly toward Germany," he said.
And as we showed over the weekend that breaking point may be arriving faster than anyone expected:
Ms. Merkel, through her spokesman, declined to comment for this article. Yet senior German officials admit Mr. Monti has a point. Investors are fleeing Italian and Spanish debt, even though Rome and Madrid are shaking up their economies. That means Europe needs to do more to help its two large Southern members. But the cautious chancellor fears massive bond-market intervention could trigger a political backlash in Germany—and might not work, according to people familiar with her thinking.

The cognitive bias got so bad even Obama got involved:
Contrary to the bailout fund's present rules, Mr. Monti didn't want Rome and Madrid to suffer the stigma of applying formally for aid or signing a list of policy demands written in Brussels, fearing this would undermine his public standing at home, as well that of his ally, Spain's premier Mariano Rajoy.

At a late-night discussion in Mexico with key European leaders, U.S. President Barack Obama supported Mr. Monti's plan, according to people present. But Ms. Merkel dismissed the idea. Over the past two years, she had justified financial help for other euro nations to skeptical German voters by promising there would be a quid pro quo of tough, internationally supervised reforms. Now Italy wanted Germany's money with no strings attached.

Mr. Obama couldn't talk the euro-zone leaders into agreeing.

Mr. Monti didn't give up.
Here, as we showed over the weekend, is where the weakest link of the ECB plan is: it will mandate that Spain and Italy throw in the towel sooner or alter, and demand a bailout. Because the central planners' attempts to make discounting future events irrelevant and offset purely by loud speeches and even louder promises is doomed to failure.
Yet the events of the evening of June 29 is precisely why not only the ECB, but the entire European experiment will fail:
The evening before the meeting, Mr. Monti hatched a plan to hijack the summit. Unless Ms. Merkel accepted his proposal on bond-market intervention by Europe's bailout fund, Mr. Monti would veto the growth pact—stymieing Ms. Merkel in her parliament.

Italy had previously lobbied for the growth pact, so Mr. Monti's threatened veto—announced just before Europe's leaders were due to sit down for dinner—was a bombshell.

"But we need this result this evening," Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said about the growth pact. "This is a dark moment," EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso said.

The summit was at an impasse. French President François Hollande briefed reporters on the closed-door events, adding that he sympathized with Mr. Monti's stance.


Mr. Monti's blockade lasted until 4 a.m., when leaders finally agreed to a text hashed out by their aides. It promised that Europe's bailout funds would be used "in a flexible and efficient matter" to stabilize the bond markets of vulnerable euro members.

It didn't go as far as Mr. Monti had originally wanted: Italy and Spain would still have to apply for any aid and sign a policy memorandum. But by planting the need to stabilize bond markets in the declaration, Italy had convinced Germany to recognize Italian reform efforts and pushed its approach for tackling the crisis into the spotlight.
We have bolded the key word above: "hijack." That word makes total mockery and sheer irony out what is now the biggest oxymoron in existence: European Union. Because one can not hijack a union. One can not force, bluff or otherwise intimidate borderline willing partners who rightfully believe they are being taken advantage of into submission. It just doesn't work : it certainly didn't work then...
Markets weren't fooled for long. Italy's borrowing costs rose to as high as 6.6% in late July, in new signs that investor demand for Italian debt was shriveling. Skeptical investors know the euro zone's bailout funds aren't big enough to prop up Italy's huge bond market on their own.
...And it won't work this time. Only it will be Monti's this time oddly prescient words that will finally release Europe from the shackles of an experiment that is becoming hated everywhere, both at the core and the periphery:
"I have no doubt that the night before the disintegration of the euro, the ECB will do whatever is necessary to save it," Mr. Monti says. "The question is: Do we need to get to the night before?"
Goldman's alumni Mario Draghi and Mario Monti certainly feel the answer is no. After all there are bonuses for Goldman partners that can be paid only if there is visibility into the future. For Germany, the answer was, is, and will be a resounding yes as explained. The only problem is that, just like Hank Paulson showed, when the time to actually commit and act, the ECB's action of "whatever is necessary" will be proven completely and utterly hollow and futile.
It will also be the moment of Europe's salvation through fire: because after several years of acute pain, an entire continent full of "Icelands" will be reborn, even as America continues to stick its head ever deeper into the sand of denial.

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Greece gets a little breathing room as the ECB allows the Central Bank of Greece to loan Greece 4 billion euros as they lightened the collateral supplied.  However patience is running out on Greece as Germany is basically stating that it will no longer fund them in September:

(courtesy de Spiegel/special thanks to Ed Steer and his commentary)



'Greece Should Leave' Patience with Athens Nearing an End in Germany





The good news is that Greece is not going to go bankrupt -- at least not this month. Despite Athens facing a €3.2 billion ($3.96 billion) bond repayment in August and rapidly running out of cash, the European Central Bank (ECB) last week rubber-stamped a request from the Bank of Greece, allowing it to boost the amount of money it can loan to the Greek government. The move should keep the country's head above water at least until September.
After that, though, all bets are off. The country's international creditors, represented by the troika of the European Commission, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund, left Athens on Sunday, but not before getting the government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to agree to push forward far-reaching reforms and further savings measures -- all of which promise to be difficult to push through in the face of increasing weariness on the part of Greek voters.
Furthermore, there are new indications that the euro zone's biggest paymaster, Germany, is rapidly losing its appetite for footing the bill and that Chancellor Angela Merkel will have difficulties keeping her coalition together in the face of difficult currency challenges to come.
This is another offering from reader Donald Sinclair from yesterday's spiegel.de website...and the link is here.
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