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

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We’re getting into the gambling season, boys and girls.  Not just the annual March Madness, which is pure nirvana for we college hoop fans, but we’re also starting to talk Derby Prep racing, and even some golf course skins.

What better time, then to start pushing “all in” while everyone else is scurrying under rocks and diving for cover?  Listen, I have friends in Japan, people I went to school with, so I don’t mean to disregard this great tragedy, or diminish it’s human impact.  But if you think the market is turning because of Japan, or becase of Wacky Quadaffi, or for any other exogenous reason, you need to start thinking about a good index fund, and maybe concentrating on your brackets.

Listen close, as this may be one of the last few times you’re blessed with the benefit of my counsel.   You have very little time left to get your portfolio right, and I’m a very busy, busy man.   You’ve been running around, like a man in a wifebeater tee shirt with an insane clown posse tatto on your right shoulder, and you’ve been buying “the hot thing,”  “the sexy thing,” and let’s face it, “the easy thing.”  This game is not meant to be easy.  It’s meant to be a bare nekkid, blind folded race through a maze full of knee-high bear traps snapping away at your bag.

It’s time to stop screwing around.  This market is very close to getting that last bit of string pushed out, and you are better off closing out all your positions and going to cash like Scottie than continuing to chase every fleeting fancy sparkler in these latter waning days.

Needless to say, I’m not going to cash, though I did raise some today.  How?  By selling out the remainder of my non-PM, non-core plays.   I made the exception by keeping a little bit of hedged MON and UPS, but everything else that does not glitter or end up in the tank of my car is now gone.   And even my earl plays are very minimal.  I’ve got a little bit of ERX and a little bit of PBR and a smidgeon remaining of OXY.   Everything else — gone.

I will likely take some of that cash and use it for some additional leverage, probably for in-the-money calls on GDX, GDXJ and SLW.   These are more liquid PM option plays, and I don’t plan to be in them very long, but I will know when to climb into them.  It will be when the hammer below breaks through the glass flooring that has become so brittle… so brittle:

Print this page out, tape it to the top of your moniter, and refer to it frequently whenever you get the urge to purchase something frivolously. 

My best to you all, really.

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Listen up kids, I don’t do drugs.  

No, really.

No, I get high on… silver highs.   New one’s especially.  ‘Fact, I might even OD on breaking all-time highs, but I am doing wind sprints and having my sons jump out of random closets at me— “Cato-Clouseau-style” — in order to get my adrenaline glands in good condition for the eventuality.

Cause I’m pretty sure it’s coming.   Tonight we have new 31-year highs at $33.12, which is making me very happy.  Mind you I started buying physical silver at about $4.50 an ounce, and have never sold any of it.  That’s over 630% since 2002.  I wish I could say the same for my silver stocks, which I’ve traded perhaps with over-zealous vigour (sic).  In truth, they’ve been even more volatile than the commodity price itself.  

My favorite silver play continues to be the royalty play Silver Wheaton — SLW— which does not dirty its fingernails with crude dirt-scratching but instead secures royalty payment in silver at a certain price in exchange for financing miners.   Would you screech out loud if I told you that SLW had arranged to be paid in silver at the equivalent of less than $5.00 an ounce?   That’s like taking a time machine back to 2002 and rifling the unsuspecting corner numismatic storedfront for less than appreciated 100 oz. ingots, only to return to February 2011 and have them assayed for over $33… and counting.

Can you see why I’m so excited about royalty plays?  They are, in fact, leverage for the leveraged price of the precious metal, as that is what the miners do — they allow one leverage on an increasing precious metal price.  The royalty play is one step higher up the chain of amped return.  Is there risk of default and other mining related problems?  Of course, but like a bank, a diversified portfolio will absorb some of that volatility.  

 Remember this SLW  chart from a couple of weeks ago?   The two arrows are the places where I’ve made recent buys.  We’re still not back to our old December highs, but I think we’ll be there, maybe as soon as this week.  

 Royal Gold — RGLD — is another royalty play, this time on the gold side, and with an even more diversified portfolio than SLW.   That’s another Jacksonian you want to own.

I also like EXK, AGQ (be careful with this one), PAAS, MVG, SVM, AG, CDE (small), and SSRI.  Another great catch all for all of these (or most) is SIL, the silver miner ETF. 

For gold, the old standards, ANV, EGO, RGLD, IAG, GDX, GDXJ, NGD  are recommended, and newcomers IVN and AAU to taste.  I continue to believe also that the rare earth metals will resume their volatile climbs, and I like AVL and QSURD best.

Nothing going on in the U.S. stock markets tomorrow, but the precious metal, U.S. dollar and futures markets should be fun.  Ciao for now.

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You See Kid, It’s All About the Proper ‘Stache
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Well, the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets lost… and many a friend, relative and associate is in mourning tonight.  I can almost feel their pain.  It’s tough to get so close to the Superbowl and then lose in a disjointed effort like that.  But the Jets should take heart, as they’ve a team to build on.   As well, the Steelers have indubitably the best defense in the league, and perhaps the best coach.  

 And let’s face it,  for the Jets to win a third playoff game on the road would be considered by some to be a near miracle.

I say “near,” because of course my own beloved Giants have performed that 3-Road Game Playoff Win feat, and topped even that by beating “the Unbeatable” New England Patriots.  You remember the Giselle Bundchen-related Patriots?  The team who had gone unbeaten in every game in the 2007 season…

Except the one that counted, I mean.  Heh.

No matter, the industrious Steelers pulled off the same carny trick the year after, albeit against a far inferior opponent.  Nevertheless, Mike Tomlin is great, Ben Roethlisberger is a loathesome pig, “Go Packers!”  and let’s move on…

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You want to know what I think the dollar is doing here?  I think it’s getting ready to rumble.  It’s been drip-sell, drip-sell, drip-sell for weeks now, and yet gold and silver have been pedaling in air, rather than soaring.   That means gold and silver, in their heavy, shiny brains know something.   This is what I think they know:

We might get a scrape below $78.00, but I think that’ll be the dog and the frog.  You’ll know the dollar is done diving because the market will crack like a ten week old egg left over from a third grade science project.  It’ll be smelly.  Are you prepared?

Everyone is asking me when I’m going to buy you-name-it– SLW, EXK, GDX, ANV, EGO etc., etc. 

Listen to me when I tell you that when its time to buy these things again, you will NOT want to do so.  Hear me?  Stop being so damn anxious and go have a clove cigarette and a warm paraffin foot bath or something.

In the meantime, here’s where I see EXK, you greedy little pigs, you:

Now remember that’s a weekly chart up there, so things will move slower than we’re used to seeing on the daily, and that distance to the buy is a site farther than it looks.  It might be three or four weeks from now.  So chill.

And here’s a bonus for you dynamite-strapped rocketeers out there.   If you try this, play it small because it’s wilder than boar hog afflicted with a case of cannibal crabs.  You see how much it was up on Friday?  Well don’t believe it.  This suckers going down just like it did last time.  Here’s my take:

That’s all for now.  Play tight and play defense this week.

Good luck to the Green Bay Packers, a real “good guy” team.  I might even root for Pittsburgh, but then, I have a daughter, soooo … no.

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[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3QYLJ8zH5E&feature=related 450 300]

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In certain Northern Mid-Western climes, the citizens have become so mushily liberal that — in their overwhelming compassion –they have confined their hapless professional football teams to a regulated indoor environment.

As a result, no one in these left-leaning regions need suffer for their gridiron art in the fashion of Lombardi, Hornung, Robestelli, and other Hall of Fame stalwarts of the past.   Come game time, both players and fans can loll about at room temperature, consuming multiple jumbo franks and 64 oz. Mountain Dews without fear of nippy nose or chilly tootsies.   

Real tough guy stuff, no?    You’ll find it no wonder, then, that these teams haven’t won a Superbowl in… well…

Forever.

I bring this up in order to levy well deserved shit to Chief Admin Jeremiah and his wussified, faggot-assed (not that there’s anything wrong with that) Minneapolis Metrodome Vikings.

I mean, if you are going to be pussified about going to see a game in the weather — despite your arguably holding a home field competitive advantage (see “Packers, Green Bay“) —  then by all means build youself a cozy indoor stadium so you can spare yourself the chilblains on your vanilla layers of Midwest portly.   

But do us all a favor, eh, Minnesota?  Please get yourselves some architectural engineers that will factor in the possibility of snow accumulating on the roof, eh?  You know, just in case it gets warm enough to do so every now and then?

Thanks so much.   Your friends,

The N.Y. Giant Fans With Three Superbowl Trophies and, Not Coincidentally, an Open Air Stadium

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It looks as if The Bernank (sic) and his antics will continue on, at least for the beginning of options week here.   Like a good neighbor, I will be reducing my positions again, trimming here, trimming there and braiding the remains for a nice Christmas streudel rope to be given out to wassailers and other visiting Folk o’ the Yule.

I will probably get rid of the last remnants of my IAG calls, which have been less than satisfactory these last few weeks.  I will likely retain the underlying stock, however, and only be trimming my outsize positions (ANV, SLW, EXK, GDX) to raise some cash for the new millenium, where the chief currency will be penny farthings made up of plastic doll’s buttons.

Again, this is not the long term strategy, and I will not be taking down my core, only my oversized accumulations, which have done so well since September especially.  More tomorrow, if I can get out of my driveway.

Best to you all.  And keep an eye on BIOS and ENTR.   These old stalwarts seem to be making a move again, as do non metal Jacksonians ANDE , TCK and TC.

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Oh crap, that’s not water, is it?

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Time to throw some water on the charade, ladies and gents.  Time to get back to some sensible economic thinking and, more important, practice.

Are you familiar with the 1099 fiasco attached to the recent Health Care Legislation?  Rather than wax bombastic on the errancy of the bill, it’s probably better I just lay it out here:

Section 9006 of the health care bill — just a few lines buried in the 2,409-page document — mandates that beginning in 2012 all companies will have to issue 1099 tax forms not just to contract workers but to any individual or corporation from which they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year.

The stealth change radically alters the nature of 1099s and means businesses will have to issue millions of new tax documents each year.

This is just one provision of the 2,500 page healthcare law that was snuck in by conniving tax eating Dems looking to play hardball with the millions of American businesses.   That the 1099 provision would be an inefficient saddling of our business community with tonnes of useless paperwork is not even the most egregious quality of this directive…

No, the worst of it is that it reflects a fundamental distrust of the American business community.  A distrust so inbred and incapable of “change” that it results in laws that will not only throw sand in the cogs of our great commercial structure,  but will also create larger barriers to entry for the small business entrepreneurs that have ever been the font of innovation and new employment in our economy.

These are the kommisars, my friends.  They have come to take control, via oversight of your healthcare, and now of your commerce.   Tomorrow I may speak about the bill they are currently bruiting about that calls for a 1% transaction fee on all financial transactions, even simple banking measures.  

No worries, however, that 2% roundtrip tax on the deposit and withdrawl of your weekly paycheck is merely in keeping with “fiscal responsibility” and “deficit reduction.”   Because, as we all know folks, that’s the Democrats’ main priority, right?

Don’t tell me there’s no difference, folks.  

MORE ELECTION COVERAGE TOMORROW AND TUESDAY… stay tuned! 

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Gold’s holding up.  I will look to lighten on some of that massive ANV call position, probably tomorrow.   I will annouce any sales in The PPT and then in this blog.    Best to you all.

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[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufn_pUVzZBg&feature=related 450 300]

(The 1970’s are back in California, at least)

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It ain’t easy keeping up with my family for a long weekend mini-vacation let me tell you.   It seems we did it all this time around– the full blown resort/ winery grand loop/ top-eating halls/ Napa-Sonoma scenario, and even added in the occasional valley balloon flight and a “little” family party at a relative’s Fairfax home in the hills.   I think we also greatly depleted the stock of the district, so it’s a good thing that harvest is a little late this year.

Because let me tell you — they’re going to need more grape jooce (sic) when we finally vacate the air space.

Going into this week I am going to exercise some caution.  I still have a little bit of my ANV and SLW hedges left and I may add to them perhaps get some GDX and even GDXJ covered calls.  Both gold and silver are magnificently stretched here and I’m looking for a respite at least.    I woulodn’t be surprised if that respite went hand in hand with a similar pullback on the SPX.

To that end, I may trim my sails on some of my stock positions also, including TCK, TC and ANDE — the non-precious Jacksonians.  I will keep all of my MON as that seems to have a counter-cyclical trend to its trading recently.

Besides, it’s a long term hold play, and I’d be comfortable adding lower, so why sell some now?

I am bone weary and getting up early tomorrow to take on the San Fran Airport.   I will try to check in via Crackberry, but until then bon chance!

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