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I made good on my threats today, and took everything down to the 30% level on my personal accounts. 

I was up an average of almost 5% across a number of different portfolios and I finally said “enough is enough.”   I am keeping 30% invested, with the equal expectation that we could hit a precipitous downdraft in the precious metal sector at any time, just as we could shoot past $2,000 gold in an eye-blink.  

I care no more, as at this point risk avoidance has become very important to me.  If that means I miss the next $200 in gold on 70% of my portfolio, well so be it.   It’s very possible we could see a break past $50 in silver as well, and again, I’ll have no nonsense from any of you about it.   Really, I mean it.  Just shut up now.

And yes, that means I sold large chunks of AAU, AG, AUY, ANV, EGO, EXK, GDX, GDXJ, GG, MVG, NG, NGD, NXG, PAAS, RGLD, SIL and even beloved SLW.

And I blew out the rest of my NUGT as well.

And no, I am not abandoning the PM’s as a theme now, and won’t abandon them should they continue to skyrocket in flight to many more afternoon delights this late summer.   I am willing to wait for them, however, and to examine “other areas” whilst they frolic about like mad sturgeon on lady’s night at the Aquarium.

One of those “other areas” includes my old friend, Mr. Skiffles — SKF.  Along with his rebrobrate alchoholic brother, FAZ-tard, I believe Mr. Skiffles will be getting some nice exercise this second half of the year.  One of the reasons is the behavior of BAC, and now, most recently, the troubles of GS, and it’s Waspy rival MS.  

Another is the critical structural problems of Europe erupting again like plague boils on the carcass of its major banks.  This is a contagion that may yet again bolt across the Atlantic and may even explain the impolite selling vigor in some of our larger institutions.  Will the Fed be there to save their lying souls once again? 

Too big to fail, you say?   Maybe, but while “fail” might rhyme with “bail,” I wouldn’t be too sure equity holders won’t be left holding an empty bucket this time around.  Be warned, friends, storms approach.

Peace be upon you.

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Ah, alack and alas! The world is melting down again, and I think we can say we’ve entered into a bear phase, ovah heah, if not a full blow bear market.  I’m not going to show you the charts, as I haven’t annotated them, but we’ve got bear crosses on the major markets and the Transports — up to an including my beloved UPS are leading the way down.

Like in mid-2008, we are showing signs of a true Dow Theory bear episode, and who knows how long this one will take to exhaustion?  We’ll have to play it by careful ear as we did in 2008-09, when I was a painful two and one half weeks early in getting back in.

In the meantime, like a fine-toothed cyborg marinated in Gatorade, the price of gold (POG) continues to break to new highs despite everything else melting around it.  Silver, too, is being dragged along, if at a slower pace, which is driving our Gold:Silver ratio higher… to 45x at last count.  You may recall when silver got to 72x the POG during the last extremis… I don’t think gold will break that far away from silver again…. but if it does…

I am continuing to take this opportunity to either sell or hedge my miner positions here, as I think they are not eager to participate in what may be the last rally for gold for months.   This gives me pause, and it should you as well.

On the other hand, I continue to see setups (AUY, NGD) in the mining space, so I will endeavor to keep an open mind.  One thing I am assured of, however, is that I should be trimming my non-metal positions, no matter what happens in the PM sector.  The regular market has become a toxic swamp, and you are better off picking up limited short positions (like SKF that I bot today).

Stay alert, and I will try to do the same for you.

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[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1iUKCFHWzg&NR=1 450 300]

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I finally broke down and watched my first Republican Presidential Primary Debate tonight.  It was still a struggle to pay attention, despite my “political animal” tendencies.  There were just too many flotsams and jetsams out there that needed to be weeded out to get the ball rolling a little quicker.  I assure you, I would take a paring knife to that list if I were the grand GOP Puzzlemaker, instead of just some mouthy guy spouting my opinions on a lightly regarded stock blog.

The two biggest losers tonight had to be former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum.  Here’s the thing — could you even tell the two apart?  Yeah, I know Rick is the Catholic firebrand and Pawlenty is the cool laconic Lutheran (or whatever they are in Minnesota), but physically they are very comparable, and charisma-wise, well…. I find myself wondering how Pawlenty ever got elected in Minnesota in the first place.

Did his dad own a department store chain, too??

With those two nobodies yanked, the next to go has to be Newt Gingrich.  Smart, no question, but way too unlikeable.  His negatives have to be up there with Hillary Clinton, and its all reflective of the smug know-it-all defensiveness that characterized his every delivery tonight.   No, he’s gone, and please Lord, soon.

That leaves us with the ever entertaining pair of Ron Paul and Herman Cain, who, in a perfect world, would be named Benevolant Dictators of America, because you’re pretty damn sure neither of them would abuse the power.  That said, neither are really ready for prime time, even as both of them gave some of the best answers of the night.  I will never agree with Paul on a foreign policy basis, but I like his libertarian views on civil rights, etc.   Herman Cain is just a whip smart bidnessman and you know he’s honest to a tee — perhaps too honest to be in politics, unfortunately.

That Huntsman creep I don’t even countenance.  The guy worked for Obama for a couple of years and we’re supposed to hire him as Big O’s replacement?  I’m figuring that dude must have shitte tonnes o’ green to burn, because I haven’t seen that much of a no-chance candidacy since the terminally morose Ralph Nadar ran for the Greens.  Huntsman, you’re fired too.

That leaves us with the lovely Michele Bachman and der Mittster.  Michele is lovely to look at, and I really respect her convictions, but there’s something about her that seems a little too frozen.  Maybe it’s here eyelids?  I dunno, but it’s odd how she speaks at the tv’s like she’s reading from an invisible teleprompter or something.    I have to sadly conclude that if she weirds out a rock-ribbed conservative like me who supports much of her platform, she’s got less chance than even Sarah Palin in the general.

That leaves Mitt, whom, as you know, I’ve been cool on since he announced.   I want to like Mitt, because I have some friends who would lay down their life for the guy, and these are not idealistic schoolgirls, but experienced deal guys I’m talking about.  However, as you know, I just have a hard time getting around the whole Romneycare thing.  Well, after tonight’s performance, I began to thaw a little bit on old Willard Mitt.

I thought he gave some really nice answers on many of the business and fiscal questions, and I really got the sense that his calm confidence (contrasted against Santorum’s near-mania at times, for example) really are a nice fit for the current state of malaise in which we find ourselves enmired.

So, for now, I’m feeling like I could pull the trigger for Mitt.  But let’s see what Saturday brings, as I also have a soft spot in my heart for Texans and their way of doing things.  Perry could be the one, as well.

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As The PPT members already know, I dumped a bunch of silver and gold today, but not by any means a portion more than 25% of my horde.  The ones I saw as either ripe or annoying (IAG), I cut down first.   I ended up selling anywhere from 1/3 to 2/3rds of my stashes in AG, ANV, IAG, EXK and NGD.  I also got rid of all of the rest of my DGP and NUGT positions, just to take the leverage off.  I sold no SLW or RGLD, but I may get rid of some of that tomorrow.

In the meantime, gold has taken a little air out, and silver along with her, but nothing extraordinary has occurred yet.  I will be monitoring the situation through tomorrow afternoon and let you know what I’m thinking, if anything.

Best to you all.

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[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x60uLIfHJk 450 300]

Classic Dawg

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Beaten, bludgeoned, and swallowed by an African Rock Python (only to be regurgitated, and then beaten again), I stand before you gob-smacked and riven.  I’ve been selling off in drips and drabs this week, in anticipation of a pullback in the gold market, and a lesser refrain in the silvers.   I guess I should feel relieved I got rid of some exceptionally over-weighted positions in some super-volatiles like AAU and AG.

I had even  sold some RGLD yesterday — ever so reluctantly.   It’s a testament to the kind of day I had when my losses in RGLD were some of the lowest of the day at a mere 4.54%.   Many of my juniors were in the 10%+ loss range, with my beloved EXK leading the pack of ass-biters at a loss of over 14% by day’s end.  In the end, I guess I feel a bit lucky that — thanks to my increased cash proportions and my tiny hedges on SLW — I only lost a tad more than 7% for the day.

But let’s not kid ourselves, this was a shock and a murder, and I left myself vulnerable when I should have been hedging.   I know now that when my “Spider Senses” are tingling enough to make me want to cut back on some heavier positions, I should take that cue to hedge out more of the portfolio at the same time with at least sold calls.

Looking at the longer term charts in gold and silver it’s still difficult to say whether or not we are going to feel the great sucking sound again on the miners or whether we will bounce out of this dreadful day.  In some cases — RGLD for instance — we haven’t even filled gaps yet from earlier in this week.  What’s more, it looked like it could consolidate at these mid 60’s levels for a bit longer.

As for yesterday’s purchases, they were all unmitigated disasters — especially BWA — the Borg.   I’d thought I was a bit early there, and sure ‘n hell if I wasn’t. I was down well over 7% in that “toe dip” position, so I thank Jupiter’s Stone that I “went small” in the initial buy.  UPS was also down a bit over 3%, but I think the franchise name held that company up today.

Bollinger Crash Trade candidates were all over the decking today, but I think the tastiest may be the Emerging Market i-Shares play, EEM, whose twin, VWO, was the largest “buying on weakness” name today, according to the Wall Street Journal.   I believe I shall be taking advantage of that one tomorrow, for the pop play.

Off to go drown my sorrows in a half gallon jug of Hugh Hendry Blue Label Gin & Jooce (sic).

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[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm6PGh2fvTg 450 300]

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Listen to me very quietly and carefully — You need to be on your toes at all time and keep a cool head like Jimmy Dean in a meat locker because half of what’s going on is designed to scare you into a blue paralysis that will render you immobile, and thus, malleable.

The market thinks you’re putty, see?  That’s why we’ve got guys begging off, folding their tent, going to cash, putting that roll in a coffee can and burying it on the back 40, right next to the bomb shelter packed with MRE’s.  They say “no mas!”

I say “oversold.”   I say that some of the wilier tells in the mining industry — like ANV and CDE, NG, MVG, BRD, and yes, even beaten down old XRA all jumped ahead 3.5 to 6.5% today.   What’s more, they all stayed up even after the selloff in the precious metals themselves (gold and silver) later in the day.

This is my signal to hold fast and watch the market closely.   I still think this debt deal quails the dollar, either by lack of confidence in the foreign markets or by dint of Bernanke printing press (Jackson Hole Conference right around the corner).

So I’ll continue to bide my time here, beer and NUGT‘s  in hand, and wait and see what spooky stories the market brings us tomorrow…

All the best to you, my fearless ones.

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Gettin’ Back To Lawn Guyland Form, Ovah Heah

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This is going to be quick because I’m not sure how long this modem is going to hold out.

My apologies, but in my past forays to “Summer Noo Yawk” I’ve never had any trouble getting on line via the wireless.  This time around, however, we are having “modem troubles” (the wireless network is fine, it’s the ‘net access which keeps blinking off).  Yesterday, I was able to make one brief comment about Le Monsieur’s cawfee troubles and then I was unable to get back on the rest of the day.

I am going to cross my fingers and hope that this transmission gets through.

With regard to today’s title, my point is, I often seem to do better in my portfolio when I am away from my home.  I can’t explain it, and perhaps it’s all just coincidental, but it seems like whenever I’m out and about, I have special market guardian angels stamping down the price of the dollar, or boosting the price of the precious metal markets for one reason or another.  I continue to believe that this Kabuki Theater debt ceiling deal means nothing at the moment, because the world’s bond traders see it for the political sham it is.

They also see Ben Bernanke running the printing presses like mad, which is why the dollar keeps dropping like Emma Stone.  I have little doubt that we’ll see a drop to the old “Sub $73 lows” on the dollar index and quite possible will see new lows before the false debt ceiling dance is concluded. I hope you held onto your DGP and your other mining assets, particularly RGLD, SLW and ANV.

For those who are confused about this political dance — I remind you, the debt ceiling itself does not matter, it’s the resolution of the debt debate that matters.  Bond traders may not care about an artificial ceiling argument, but they do care about the U.S. attending to an out of control debt situation.   The 30-year bubble in Treasuries could come to an eventful end here if the world decides our sovereign credit is no longer creditable.   You might want to look into TBT as an alternate in that case.

Best to you.

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