Oldtent Archives 2009

winter here is usually jan, feb, mar with some very warm days interspersed. nov, dec, and april usually have a few cold days. you can ride a motorcycle here year round if you pick the days. night riding here is not a good idea in the winter. frost on a slick asphalt road at night can increase your blood pressure very quickly.

we have weather fronts come through from the north, desert southwest and the gulf coast. sometimes the temperature can change dramatically through the week. riding around in a top down convertible with six inches of snow on the ground may seem unusual in some places but not here. aggie probably has a few similar stories.

rno

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq: The US State Department said Friday it was investigating reports that three American tourists have been detained by Iranians while hiking near the border in the self-ruled Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

Two Kurdish officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information, said the Americans apparently were arrested after entering Iranian territory without permission.

US helicopters were buzzing overhead and many US Humvees had moved into the Kurdish city of Halabja to search for the Americans, said a Kurdish border force official.

http://tinyurl.com/m542aa

and there are some BIG fish that should be already under but the FDIC is playing games

FDIC Malfeasance Continues

Wire flash: Corus Bankshares, Inc. Update: Reportedly Q2 -$9.07 v -$0.30 y/y - tier 1 capital ratio: -2.1%

NEGATIVE Tier 1 Capital?

The FDIC should have closed these clowns months ago.  Now we’re going to (again) take it in backside as a direct consequence of the FDIC’s refusal to do their damn job!

“Prompt Corrective Action” is not a suggestion - it is the law!

Why is Sheila Bair not out of a job for refusing to follow the law?

Why is not Treasury’s Geithner not out of a job for refusing to follow the law?

Why do we have Washington DC continuing to dissemble and BS while these firms implode one by one, taking down the FDIC’s insurance fund - money that we should not lose as taxpayers if they would do their damn jobs!

This is going to hit the taxpayer - again - for billions in losses, and there is no reason to believe that this same problem does not exist in literally hundreds of other banks including some really big ones.

Mark my words - this crisis is not over and the next explosion in the credit crisis is going to come from Washington DC, not main street.

It’s up to 5 now, partner, for this fine Friday and final day of July ‘09……and 69th for the year.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Harvey, Ill.-based Mutual Bank was closed by regulators Friday, the 69th U.S. bank to fail this year amid the ongoing credit crunch. Mutual Bank had $1.6 billion in assets and $1.6 billion in deposits as of July 16, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said, and its failure will cost the federal deposit insurance fund $696 million. Garland, Tex.-based United Central Bank has agreed to assume the failed bank’s deposits, the FDIC said.

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JBI

Did you say (minus)  -6.4%. That’s depression.

http://tinyurl.com/kq887g

The midgets are roiling and moiling! 

 Was just on CNBC with Dennis “dickweed” Kneale. Said real GDP is something like -6.4% without gov’t spending.

Yep I guess we get alot of the same weather.  It’s wonderful to get tomatoes so early!  Now if we could grow avacadoes that would be heaven.

Cheers

Thanks for your comments and thoughts.  You guys know what’s going on.  You can imagine how good it was to meet with frr and get a glimpse into his diverse life experience, which I won’t do the injustice of trying to recount here.  Just take my word that he’s got volumes of meaningful experience, understanding and history.  Whether it’s laughing over lunch, trading a tough market or fighting in the trenches, he is the kind of person you want to be with.

Samb, you’re right, there’s absolutely no reason to get down about life.  We each have our Divine purpose, to let our true selves shine, no matter what nonsense occurs around us.

Not long ago I mentioned that upon reading the book “Ask and It Is Given” a huge revelation in the book (emotions being the key to understanding happiness) changed my life, past, present & future.  I urge everyone to read it and to listen to the Abraham-Hicks CDs.  The unbelievably marvelous things that have happened in my life since reading the book have been no coincidence, including what is transpiring with the three Czech pilots I’m coaching, using that same material as the basis.  They are soaking it up, even though it’s so foreign to them.  They relate to it, their life experiences and gut tell them it’s correct.  Today’s conversation with one of them was mind-blowing.  There’s a revolution going on and we’re all part of it.  A new phoenix will rise out of the ashes.

“Picking tomatoes in December”  That’s wild Okie!  We have frosts a couple of months before that.  I thought you guys had extremely cold winters?  Maybe they start later or maybe it’s worse farther north?

I know that late freeze action.  I’ll be lucky to get a half a dozen pears off of our tree.  Investing and gardening, probably add blackjack to that list. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNQRfBAzSzo

Regulators shut banks in Fla., NJ, Ohio, Okla.

1 hour, 24 minutes ago

(AP:WASHINGTON) Regulators have shut down banks in Florida, New Jersey, Ohio and Oklahoma, boosting to 68 the number of federally insured banks to fail this year amid the pressures of the weak economy and mounting loan defaults.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the banks: Integrity Bank based in Jupiter, Fla., with $119 million in assets and $102 million in deposits; First BankAmericano, Elizabeth, N.J., with $166 million in assets and $157 million in deposits; Peoples Community Bank, West Chester, Ohio, $705.8 million in assets and $598.2 million in deposits; and First State Bank of Altus, Okla., $103.4 million in assets and $98.2 million in deposits.


Good job, gentlemen! Just an awesome thing to see two Goldtenters reaching out to each other. Thanks for sharing the experience and photos with us. Cheers!

JBI

These are wonderful moments as are your photos and many trip reports. I salute you and your Divine purpose. No matter how bad it may come to get, there are enough good people, such as yourself that I simply can’t get down on life. Thank You, Samb.

Hello Frr …so you guys went through all that to meet….Way to go….Very happy to see this …very happy…

Today I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow GoldTent member, a real gentleman with class.  He was kind enough to drive a couple hours to another country and get a hotel room just to meet with me, someone he knew only through the internet.  Last night he kept the casino staff company until the wee hours of the morning and relieved them of more than enough of their excess revenue to buy me lunch.  The perpetual smile on his face suggests that he’s been ‘playing things right’ for a long time.

Thanks, frr, for an enjoyable few hours of your company and conversation, which ended too soon.  I look forward to seeing you again.

lunar @ 5:22 am on July 29th, your friendly comment is far better suited to frr; I’m just a happy, enthusiastic student of life with plenty to learn, a neophyte in comparison to frr.  You just might have the opportunity to meet him in Geneva on September 5th.

Posted: Jul 31 2009     By: Dan Norcini   

Dear CIGAs,

The Dollar had the stuffing slapped out of in today’s session and as it collapsed, gold shot up and through several resistance levels rocketing all the way back to $960 where once again bullion bank selling entered the short covering frenzy to stem its upward progess. This level is gaining more and more technical significance as it is evident that they are attempting to hold the line here on gold. Should the yellow metal be able to maintain its footing above this region for two consecutive trading sessions, the momentum fund algorithms are going to kick back in and drive it higher; perhaps as high as $978-$980. The key will be whether or not the US Dollar can hold above CRITICAL DOWNSIDE support near 78.40 on the USDX. Failure there and 76 is a shoe in for the greenback and no amount of bullion bank price capping efforts will be able to keep Ol’ Yeller from heading up to $980. If 76 on the USDX fails, gold will at $1,000 before you can say, “oligopoly”.

AS you can see on the hourly chart, there is a spike high that was made early this week near 963. Bettering that on a closing basis will be the first feat that the yellow metal must accomplish to make a push towards $978 – $980. I must say that today’s sharp climb higher is very impressive from a technical perspective as it pushed gold back above all of the major moving averages on the WEEKLY chart. It is evident from the ferocity of today’s climb that a good many guys got caught flat footed on the short side and were violently squeezed out.

On the monthly chart, the previous month high near $992 is all that stands between gold and 4 digits but first it has to muster a monthly close above $980, which was the highest monthly close ever on the continuous chart.

Because today’s price action occurred at the end of the month, I want to see more upside confirmation early next week. You often get so much book squaring and position balancing at month end that markets can make pretty wild price movements but even at that, I am impressed at the strength that developed today in gold. Coming in so unexpected a manner, it makes today’s move all the more impressive.

The mining shares seem to be confirming the move higher in bullion at this point in the trading session. Once again the HUI is doing battle with the most stubborn 360 level that has been holding it in check on a closing basis. A close above 360 for the week will put 400 on the map as a realistic objective but the day is yet young so we will have to see what happens, especially in the last hour of trading where we often see shenanigans occur.

Bonds are back to working within that large range trade they have carved out over the past few weeks with 121 on the top side and 112 on the downside. This time around it appears that 114^15 or so seems to be the current floor. That level will take on more technical significance next week while 121 still stands as a formidable topside barrier.

It is odd today watching the bond market machinations seeing that gold is solidly higher as is copper, which continues to soar to the heavens as well as stronger crude oil and grains. One would think that the higher CCI (Continuous Commodity Index) coupled with the weaker dollar would see bonds moving lower in anticipation of increasing economic activity as least as far as commodity prices go, but the exact opposite is occurring. Once again I am at a loss to understand exactly which side of this deflation/inflation battle has gained the upper hand today because of this mixed signal but with equities moving higher, a weaker dollar, and higher commodity prices, it is difficult for me to give any credence to the deflationary move in the bonds. Then again, it might be a simple case of month-end short covering given a bit of an extra kick by the lousy GDP data. We’ll wait until next week for this muddy water to clear up a bit further.

One last thing – as I write this the Dollar is hanging on to 78.40 by the skin of its teeth so things might get interesting before the day is over. I think the feds are monitoring this level quite closely as they can read the chart significance of that support level.

Click chart to enlarge today’s hourly action in Gold in PDF format with commentary from Trader Dan Norcini

garden produce we seem to be in the same zone of weather influences as you are. After all, we are not too many nautical miles apart across the Salish Sea. We too harvested our first tomatoes of the season this week. Have a good weekend. Equiz.

Yeah …Like ya tell the bookie ..after he tells ya your even for the week..Ya say “Thanks I can use the dough”…Haaaaa

you got mail.

rno

we have to plant our gardens in stages. some veggies just don’t make it through the hot part of the summer no matter how much water is applied. we often get a freeze in early november but it’s not rare to pick tomatoes in december. the big problem here is a late freeze. very seldom do we get to pick peaches and apricots off our trees. if it can stand the heat (okra, watermelon, cantelope, squash, tomatoes,and cucumbers), we can grow lots of it.

rno

If it’s as cold this winter as it’s been hot this summer, we’re going to be in big trouble! 

PS  It’s great for the garden.  Took the first tomatoes yesterday, way early.  Sometimes the summers here in the NW are so crappy we only get a few before the weather wipes em out.

you saving some of that heat for february?

rno

   Apparently the US has lots to sell ….. they   even placed a full page ad in the Toronto Star …..