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What happened in the markets today?  Are you kidding me?  What do you think? Let’s not quibble about what is what.

We know what.

But today I have something different.   A piece from a brilliant work of historical fiction I’ve been reading whilst on vacation.  The book is called Glory in the Name by James Nelson.  It’s about the Confederate Navy in the Civil War and I recommend it highly.  Anyway, the one part I’d like to recreate here (with the indulgence of the author) is a description of the “model Southern Gentleman” circa 1861, just as the shells were lobbed at Fort Sumter.  

The words are from a patrician gentleman from Charleston, SC, who was educated at the U.S. Naval Academy, but who saw his duty with the Southern Cause in the final decision to attack Fort Sumter, in his city’s harbor.  In his own words, a Southern Gentleman speaks of his hometown:

It was where Samuel had learned to be a gentleman, and more to the point, a Southern gentleman.  Courteous to the last.  Studied, urbane.   Personally disciplined — a gentleman, he was taught, did not show womanly weakness of any sort.  Passionately loyal to his country and his state.  Unwilling to suffer even the hint of insult.  Tolerant of the lower classes, appreciative, even, of their labor, but always aware of their place, and his.  Kind to slaves.  These were the things that that made the Southern man, and the instruction was so thorough that those traits became a part of Samuel Bowater as much as his height and the color of his eyes.

Is that not the Monsieur?  How long as the South been awaiting his steady presence, I ask you?  Be thankful, small plebs, that he is kind to slaves.

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Mein gott, I cannot say enough about how well we’ve done today.  Let’s speak no more about it, as it may be seen as “bragging.”

Best to you all, Jacksonian stalwarts.

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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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Bottoms Up! 

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On the imminent demise of the buck today, I loaded up with stupid amounts of AGQ, NGD, PAAS, MVG and SVM today, not to mention another 25% of RGLD.

The dollar is dying, I am quite confident of it.  Take advantage of all opportunities to at least mid-$76 on the DX-Y.  

That is all, really.  Short, sweet, simple

And sweet again.

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And Yes, Rex Grossman Was Screwed, Too
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Didn’t take long for the first of my semi-facetious predictions to fail did it?  Well it did, and my Giants, despite winning today over a semi-revitalied Rex Grossman-led Redskin team, were drubbed out of the playoffs by the Green Bay Fudge Packers, who beat them this week and dah Bears (see above) today.

There’s nothing like just missing the playoffs to make for the worst of all possible worlds.   Despite a 10-6 record, my team will be on the sofa next weekend, and — adding insult to injury — will likely keep the Angry Leprechaun, Tom Coughlin and his offensive (in the literal sense) coordinator, Captain Kangaroo Kevin Gilbride in the driver’s seat for at least another year.   The final coup de grace — we’ll get a crappy “playoff level” draft pick because there will be playoff teams that have worse records picking behind us. 

I guess I will become a Jet fan for the few short weeks for it to take them to snuffed out by Eli’s older brother or some similar such ignonimy.  Gosh knows there’s no one in the NFC honorable enough to root for, and I am beginning to really despise the Packers, I’ll have you know.

But never as much as Dawg Killah and the Eagles, no fear.

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As for me, I ended the year up a gigantaload.  So much so, compared to year end 2009, that you’d probably not even believe me, so I won’t boast about it.  Suffice it to say that I was still piling on win in huge amounts even on the last day of the year, despite being about 40% hedged and having about 30% in cash.   Ironically, my largest single gain on December 31st was Monsieur’s FTK, which I do believe I shall keep for a while, ovah heah.

I also believe AVL — the old Avalon Metals now on the Amex Exchange — will continue to shine it’s bizarre functional-if-rare metallic lights on my precious laden portfolio.   I will have more to say on the rare earths as we move forward– I am digging diligently as you read this…

Without question silver will continue to shine, and SLW, PAAS, SSRI, MVG, SVM, CDE, HL, and yes EXK will continue to shine.   I will let you know when I will begin piling in on a leveraged basis soon enough.  I think the dollar remains on the edge of the knife (it is rallying as I type this), but until it breaks, I will remain positioned as I am.

We will also look into the ags, and I think it is time to re-recognize the farmer Jacksonians — ANDE and MON again, as strong picks going forward.  TC and TCK, the molybdenum brothers, should also perform here.

I haven’t posted the Jacksons as of late, but if you were to have held them since this blog’s inception (May 1st, 2009), you’d be up 125% right now, and that’s with a negative return on both MON and TBT, both of which I urge you to continue to accumulate this year.  

Stick with me kid, we are going places in 2011….

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The Turkey Gods are here.  Tremble, all ye who remain Ursine in attitude.

How do I know? Simple.   I merely whip out my prodigious folding money clip and scan the Benjamins, Grants and Jacksons for signs of wear and tear.   Sure as shootin’, there’s been beak-damage done to all the eyes of my papery dead Presidents.

The Turkey Gods love to eat dollars, but they especially love the vile jellies of moldering dead American War Heroes.   And yes, historical termagents, Ben Franklin was also a war hero.

Said heroes are not to be confused with “The Ben Bernank.” He is the hero only of the Currency Crusades, a tilter at windmills and the paper dragons of deflation. Soon, his unsmiling bearded mug will adorn the $10,000,000 dollar note, Zimbabwe-style.

Tonight, the dollar is below my “drain level” of $78.20 — currently trading at $78.13, after hitting lows tonight (Sunday evening) of $78.08.   I believe this is the “all clear” signal, and will be pushing the rest of my chips all in.

Not sure how many of you caught my large pickup in junior gold stock IAG, as announced in The PPT, the other day, but I grabbed a lot of December 17.50’s well below $17–.   I think that will continue to work.

However, I think the big silvers will be the one’s off the chart next week.  If you were contemplating the rulers — SLW, PAAS, SSRI or even the ETF, SIL, then this week is the time to grab hold before the end of the year.

The one I really like in the more speculative area, however, is EXK.   I also like SVM and MVG in the more speculative range.   CDE and HL — the garbage of the sector, should be handled with care.  No matter, they should all rise through to the end of the year.

RGLD, EGO, and of course ANV, gold juniors all, should also be at the top of your lists, as well.

Best to you all.

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[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM1RChZk1EU 450 300]

The Greatest Hip Hop Video Of All Time… Do you Dispute it?

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And so appropos, no?   Can you dispute I got a million ways to get it?

Who holds the Jacksons, still?  Which of you?  

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I took some silver off today, specifically SLW, PAAS and EXK.  My positions in these were fecund and preposterous.  They were an insult to God, they’d grown to such metastisitic proportions.

So I reset on some.   But I keep all of my SVM, MVG, and SSRI, with an eye on adding again to all of them.

And even more so with the gold juniors.   Some have asked me, “what of IAG?” 

More of it here, good sir?

Yes, good sir, yes, yes.    And NG and IVN at any scant opportunity.   But above all, constantly feed RGLD. 

Outside these of the Precious, only MON, UPS and ANDE are attractive to me right now.  

Go on now, I’ve given you enough! 

Go!

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