Greece isn't the problem, Italy is!
Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis Nov 05, 2011 - 11:46 AM GMTBy: Bob_Kirtley
Despite surviving a confidence vote (153-145)on Saturday which helped calm a revolt in his Socialist party, this is a hollow victory for the Greek prime Minister, George Papandreou
However the opposition leader, Antonis Samaras, who had demanded Papandreou resign to make way for a new government which would include members of any political party is non to pleased, as his proposals were rejected.
Sooner or later general elections will be required in order to allow someone with the backing of the people, to take charge and make crucial decisions.
As we see it, the importance of this Greek tragedy is over shadowing a much larger problem, which is the financial mess that Italy now has to resolve.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was hanging on to power on Friday despite the current rebellious nature of his own party, as they push for action regarding the growing economic crisis. It is alleged that Berlusconi has already lost the numbers he needs to survive as prime Minister of Italy.
The warning signs are in the yields. During Friday's sell-off of Italy's bonds, the 10-year yields for were driven to their highest levels since Italy changed over to the euro, hitting 6.40%. This is something that we have mentioned from time to time as it is a problem that really could be too big to bail, resulting in absolute calamity for the financial markets, the euro, world trade and could be the death of an already fragile recovery.
The bottom line to all of this is that fiat currency is worthless and is currently looking for somewhere to die. Hard assets will retain their value, at least to some extent, as the euro, dollar, pound, you name them, fall from grace.
We have made our survival plans which are firmly rooted in the gold and silver space.
Gold and silver are holding up well, with gold trading around the $1754/0z level and silver trading around the $34.00/oz level this week.
Our projections for gold to trade at $2000/oz this year remain in place regardless of the battering that we are going through.
Volatility is the order of the day and will get worse, shaking out those who have not the stomach for such a ride. The only certainty that we can see is that the oscillations in all sectors will become wilder, as trigger happy traders move at the push of button on news, rumour, gossip, white noise and their very own hunches, as they look to make a buck.
Start your survival planning today, even though you maybe cash constrained, look to ways to reduce your everyday expenditure in order to generate a little capital. Use that capital to acquire assets of value. Our preferred strategy remains unchanged and is prioritized as follows:
- Physical gold and silver
- Associated mining stocks
- Occasional trades in the options market
There is a general consensus regarding investment whereby a small percentage of your wealth, say 5% to 10%, should be in precious metals. As good as this advice might be, we can only ponder where the lion's share of our wealth would reside. None of the alternative market sectors appeal to us. We are extreme in this respect, and we own no other stocks, outwith the metals sector. Our stance is far too extreme for most people, but this is our fight and we must set our defense accordingly. We all need to take stock and implement plans that are unique to our own predicaments and strengths. We expect those who start now to fair better than those who remain oblivious to the rather grave difficulties that lie ahead.
Chin up and have a good one.
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