[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m2FIQzal9U&feature=related]

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The knock-out makes the fighter a star, but there’s a lot of steps leading up to the fatal punch, that money maker.   It all starts with foot-work.  Ali had the greatest footwork this side of Sugar Ray Robinson, and he defined footwork as a defensive weapon in the famous rope-a-dope strategy, that combined an amorphous passive-aggressive upper body roll with a sly shuffle-dance against the ropes that literally sucked the power from the brutish giant, George Foreman, on that signature humid night in Zaire.

I advocate a similar strategy to assist in absorbing the brutal retaliatory flurries that will inevitably arise from this tidal bull we presently enjoy.  Roll with the punches.  Bleed some shares if you must — 10%, maybe even 20%.    I would not go beyond 30% at this juncture, however.   Keeping cash on hand is one thing, keeping too much of the nasty stuff and missing the rocket launch that is coming is another.

I hope this post will be timely, if in fact today’s hesitation leads to something more stomach churning.  Most important is that you do not lose your focus while the roller coaster whips you about.  

In the end, you must ask yourself the rational question:  Has any single component or fact set changed in the paper money destruction thesis?   If not, you must carry on to the predictable end.

Hint — We’re not there yet. 

EXK, SLW, PAAS, MVG on silver.   IAG and ANV and RGLD on gold.  AAU and NGD and PGZ are for your higher risk plays.  All of these on the expected dips in the next few days.

Pax.

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[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et02g9OQ-LM 450 300]

The Witch Tells All, at Last

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As I write this, silver is up another buck.  You review the above and you have to say to yourself — “What if all this bullshit about JP Morgan is really true?”

I said to the Monsieur tonight that I had largely discounted all the rumours (sic), all the tall tales.   But, my gosh, what the hell is going on here?   Silver has all but broken free from it’s traditional dollar anchor. 

What’s more, silver’s broken free of it’s golden companion.  This is very interesting… but is it sustainable?

Truly, I know not, to be honest with you.   I know that silver has been historically undervalued, most recently as a result of the great photograpy scam.  If you follow the industry news, the effect from a switch to digital photography has been largely absorbed.  

So is this the final breakout we’ve been anticipating for so long?  I dunno.  I’m leaning towards “no, not yet.” 

But this is why we are holding on tight to the core.  Prices are out of synch, and the dollar is near bounce levels.  We’ll know soon enough whether we ought to shed anything. 

Right now, it’s a day to hold your tickets and enjoy the show, no matter the direction.  I continue to like everything I’ve already mentioned, and more.

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My fellow Americans… on this dark, dark day, when your PM positions have pulled back an egregious and insufferable one to two percent, I say to you, do not despair!

Do not feel compelled to jump on the gerbil wheel of drunken Chinamen.

Do not wander over hill and dale for the next Great Internet Bullshittery. 

And do not even bother getting short anything.  The Ben Bernank will shower all with increasingly feeble greenbacks.   Some will feel warm.  Some will point to value.   It will matter little.

Today, you must ask not what the dollar can do for you, but what you can do for the dollar.  At $76.25 or so, you can cheer the dollar on, and celebrate it’s deceased feline trampoline action by indulging in a select group of excellent names.  

They be SLW, PAAS, EXK, NGD, AAU, ANV, EGO and MVG.  

One other thing.  If you are worried about 5% moves one way or the other, and trying to catch every inflection, this game is not for you.   We are riding a wave of pure cement, and you are too small to challenge the intractable.   You will be entombed like a random concrete pourer on the mighty Verrazano.  

That is all, be well and healthy.

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UP goes silver and gold!

Sorry, I only have a minute or so, and it took me a while to fix the pic (if it is fixed!).

Looks like the dollar is heading to at least $76 where it should bounce (no guarantees).  That should give you an entry into some of my wild babies, like SLW, ANV, RGLD, PAAS, and maybe even AGQ if you have the gumption.  

I also like IVN and of course NGD and almost any silver here.  Buy quality if you can, however, so only do HL and CDE small, if at all.

I continue to become enriched, thanks to the above.  Have you participated?

I will try to re-cap my DC adventures later tonight.  Bizarre town, this is. 

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I apologize again for only being among you in rare circumstances these past few days. Except for a brief glimpse at The PPT and the regular iBankCoin panopoly today, I had little time to visit and surely none to roll out a post of any quality.

You see I was getting ready for my Washington trip.   Washington, DC, the seat of the Federal Maw, that is.   And oh what an egregious trip it is, as I’m off to see an actual Federal functionary.  A cypher.  A paper pusher.  A true honest to goodness Level 15 bureaucrat.   Assistant to the assistant secretary of Tax Payer Deflowerment and Refurbishing. 

I attend with a client, and I must say I’m morbidly curious.  I’ve never actually had to correspond in person with a Federal government employee (at least none that didn’t have to be elected first).  We are actually going to see this particular green eye shade public pensionairy about an interesting subject that I wish I could share with you here, but cannot.  It would make for a good story, let me tell you, and maybe I’ll roll it out a year from now.  

Until then, I will be busy as Paul Ryan in a forest of red tape and pork loin.  I will try to Blackberry in, and perhaps post from my hotel tomorrow evening, provided I’m not eaten by some brand of obscene government-provisioned and taxpayer fortified bed mite.

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What’s that you say?  Wasn’t it a shame to see all the lily-livers jumping off the bus at 3:00 pm today?  Well yes, I admit it was.   But I must also say it was quite amusing, as I was in meetings all afternoon and only got to review the tape in 20-20 hindsight.  It’s amazing to watch the experienced, hoary old gold and silver bulls shake the noobs like a passel of defeated rats fleeing the maze.  Here’s some advice next time the dollar is melting down and you feel trapped into pushing the panic button:

Be the maze.  Don’t listen to the dufuses and the short termers, but think about how you are constructing the web, the maze, the golden thread spun up around their misbegotten strategies.  You are the maze, and they cannot gnaw their way out, as you are a maze constructed of the finest cement… not maize.

Attend to the dollar this evening:

We could bounce here again, for sure.  But the way the rest of the stochs are looking, it doesn’t look like a bounce is imminent.  I think we’ll see a snap of this long term support line, and then there will be the deluge.

For now, let’s stick to high quality names, though I like crazy stuff like AAU, IVN IAG, NGD, EXK and even AGQ.  However, there is one silver stock that stands asportfolio  royalty — the mineless and therefore sinless, SLW.  Remember this reminder chart I published just over two weeks back?

Did you indulge?  Those who follow me on The PPT did, as do those who are watching my pick in the March Madness Tourney.  All found SLW and were comforted:

Thank you indeud for you patience and indulgence, as always.

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The Genius Max Shapira’s Greatest Creation

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Certain people were a bit embarrassing today.  Some of you, whom shall remain nameless, lost your composure and micturated on the couch in response to the first over-large pull back in the silver names in over a month.  It was quite appalling.

Make no mistake, I am prepared to lay down the law.  I must insist that if you are to remain a gentleman (or lady) of the Precious Metal Investment Set  you shall comport yourselves at the highest levels of decorum, sang froid, and steely equanimity.   If you become too annoying and whiny, I’m afraid we’ll have to usher you onto an ice floe and send you off to the deepest Antarctic.

I don’t know how many times I’ve told you on these pages that this bull is not an easy ride.   I’ve also assured you that over time, the bumps will smooth out to extraordinary gains, and you will forget about the vague discomfort you felt at these zero-G space drops we’ve endured while indulging in the precious.  

Gosh knows, these day I take my comfort from the fact that, while SLW may lose a dollar or two in a day, and maybe as much as $5 in a week, I purchased it originally at under $5 (and some under $3!).

But know this –even back in the day, when SLW was trading in the low single digits, it would lose a quarter, or even fifty cents in one fell swoop, and send my guts to the taffy pull whilst afflicting me with the greatest self doubts and personal recriminations.  Please recognize that these conditions do not change for the precious metal investor, they are simply the way things are, and a cross that must be born by hearty folk on the road to sweet reward.

So buck up, and indulge in Max’s Sweetest Elixer — the Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage — perhaps the best “bang for your buck” Kentucky bourbon whiskey you will find in this Golden Age of Bourbon.   It will certainly allay your nervous condition, and marry you to a longer term outlook that will serve you well on the Golden Highway of Sound Money returns.

My best to you, and I promise I will not be a stranger tomorrow.

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