Exchanging the Secret Handshake
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The guy on the right in the picture above is counting on the stupidity of his majority peasant populace to pull off one of the grandest day-time thefts in recent years — the 50% devaluation of his country’s currency by fiat Executive declaration. Like the crazed-with-power dictator in Woody Allen’s classic comedy Bananas who declared “All children… under the age of 16 years old.. are now…. 16 years old,” El Pizza Face above is “declaring” that every unit of currency (the “bolivar“) is worth one half of what it was worth yesterday… just “because.”   

What’s even funnier is he’s now saying that retailers cannot raise prices in response to this devaluation, upon pain of seizure.  How long do you think retail businesses can stay open charging 50% under cost of goods?   One wonders also how long even the economically illiterate majority of Venezuela will stand for such blatent skulduggery?   I’m guessing for about as long as the food stores hold out.

Meanwhile back here in this country, we’ve got that pesky Constitution getting in the way of any similar grand plans to immediately double the money supply.   But our leaders want to get in on the free-gov’t-money-for-votes-racket too,  so they’ve got to come up with more creative methodologies.  

Luckily, they’ve got a compliant Federal Reserve whose number one priority is saving themselves and the badly damaged fractional reserve banking system.   That means the Fed’s alleged “guiding missions” of maintaining low inflation and a high rate of employment take a back seat to the Darwinian imperative — “survival at all costs.”   This is good news for the dear leaders in Congress and the White House.

What’s more, our leaders have got the rest of the world using our currency as reserves.   That means, for this brief shining moment in history, our leaders can do what Hugo Chavez only wishes he could do — print fresh new bails of cash via deficit financing with little to no apparent consequence to our national economic status.

For now. 

But Mother Economics is even more of a caustic wit than Mother Nature, and much like these soi-disant world governors who are being served flaming slices of “Humble Baked Alaska” with these record-breaking cold temperatures, so too will our Congressional and Fed Capos reap multiple facial hatchetings to their long beards for this extended abuse of global trust.   The dollar may not halve in value over night like the Meatball’s Bolivar did, but it’s breaking down all the same.  

Today’s action has us back in the congestion zone again, which is a sticky swamp as of late.   This means good news for commodities and other real things as the clarion bell of inflation is being rung once again.   Answering the call is your one and only “Stock of the Year” pick Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) [[SLW]] , now clearly BTFO’ing to new 52-week highs.   I like it on a pullback, as it has a reputation for filling gaps.

While [[GLD]] is moving up in a stately patrician manner, [[SLV]] and its turbocharged brother  [[AGQ]] are playing catch-up, and will likely out-perform in the near term.   Same holds true for the other precious non-gold varietals like [[PTM]] and the two platinum-palladium miners [[PAL]] (which is a rocket ship headed to the sun, Icharus-style) and Stillwater Mining Company [[SWC]] .

Don’t forget all the junior burritos I’ve given you in the past.   Allied Nevada Gold Corp. [[ANV]] , Eldorado Gold Corporation (USA) [[EGO]] and IAMGOLD Corporation (USA) [[IAG]] head the list, but the “Nth Factor” — NovaGold Resources Inc. (USA) [[NG]] , New Gold Inc. (USA) [[NGD]] and Northgate Minerals Corporation (USA) [[NXG]] are roaring too, along with Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (USA) [[IVN]] , Rubicon Minerals Corp. (USA) [[RBY]] , Exeter Resource Corp. [[XRA]] and many others.   

If I had to pick another “launch to the sun” like Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) [[SLW]] I think it would probably be [[EXK]] .   It reminds me of SLW in the old days.     Hold on to your capital people, they will try to appropriate it in multiple fashions going forward.  

Best to you all.

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