Silver to be used as Auto Catalyst

Silver has just notched another usage to add to its already many industrial uses. Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. said this week that it has developed an autocatalyst that replaces platinum with the more affordable silver. This is a good thing for silver investors as this will take more silver off of the market each year. Auto catalysts are used to control pollution from motorized vehicles and demand is expected to continue to increase as pollution laws continue to become stricter.

Here are some recent articles and press releases regarding the new silver auto catalyst.

Bloomberg.com
TradingMarkets.com
Reuters.com
Yahoo.com
CanadianSilverBug

Interview With Jim Sinclair

This interview with Mr. James Sinclair is straight to the point. You will learn the truth first hand about the current state of and the future of the U.S. Dollar, Gold and the current and future outcomes of the credit derivatives crisis.

This is a highly recommended listening event. Enjoy.


Interview with Jim Sinclair

Silver and Sterling Mining: What's Wrong With This Picture?

6 Month Chart of Silver ETF (SLV)

6 Month Chart of Sterling Mining Company (SRLM)

There is something wrong with this picture. See if you can find what it is.

While the price of silver is pushing to new highs, the common shares of Sterling Mining Company (SRLM) are sinking in a reverse relationship to the price of the metal it is in the business of prospecting and producing.

I find this odd for a couple of reasons. While silver prices are rocketing higher, SRLM is not showing any positive price action. This smells fishy to me as Sterling appears to be on the verge of being one of the premier silver mining companies in the world in the near future.

Sterling Mining Company has strengthened its status as one of the world's few primary silver producers by restoring the Sunshine Mine in North Idaho's "Silver Valley" to production. The Company acquired the rights to the mine and related assets in mid-2003, and officially commenced initial production in December of 2007.

Along with the Sunshine Mine and exploration properties encompassing over 25,000 acres in North Idaho's "Silver Valley" and neighboring Montana, the Company is exploring and developing properties totaling over 62,500 acres in the historic Zacatecas Silver District of Mexico.

Some recent Sterling Mining Highlights include:

Sterling Mining Company Geographically Diverse Project Portfolio

• The Company's core projects are situated in two of the world's most geologically prospective silver-mining districts, Idaho's renowned Coeur d'Alene (Silver Valley) district and Mexico's historic Zacatecas silver-mining district.

Low Geopolitical Risk

• The Company's advanced projects and newly expanded portfolio of silver properties are situated in politically stable regions with a strong mining heritage. The United States and Mexico are signatories to free-trade agreements and have laws and legislation governing investment in their mineral sectors.

Strong Technical Management

• Sterling Mining has assembled a strong technical and management team to achieve its growth plans in the United States and Mexico, including many Sunshine Mine veterans who contributed their expertise to restoring the Sunshine Mine to production.

Current Highlights

• Commenced initial production at the Sunshine Mine in late 2007.
• Assembled a team of more than 120 employees at the Sunshine Mine by year-end 2007, including many Sunshine Mine veterans.
• Secured a listing with the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "SMQ," reflecting a strategy to raise Sterling's global profile and shareholder base. The company's shares began trading on this resource-based exchange on October 2, 2007.
• Began processing Sunshine vein ore from the Mine's Upper Country development in the newly refurbished mill in September of 2007.
• Sterling common shares began trading on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "SRLM" on August 14, 2006. The company is also listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE:SMX).
• Completed a successful financing of US$24.7 million in August of 2007.
• Retained the independent engineering firm to complete a NI 43-10 technical report which identifies a reserve of 23.48M oz and a resource of 231M oz.
• Completed the 5,700-foot Sterling Tunnel Project, and also renovated the Silver Summit Hoist and rehabilitated the Silver Summit shaft to the 3,000-foot Level to complete the Sunshine Mine's secondary escapeway system.
• Expanded landholdings in the United States and Mexico, while continuing to explore priority projects independently or through industry joint ventures.

In the meantime, this may be a great opportunity for those who wish to load up on some shares of SRLM at bargain prices.

Disclaimer: I own shares of Sterling Mining Company (SRLM) and stand to make profits on a rise in the common shares of this company. Do your own due dilligence before you make any investing decision including this one.

Cobalt Breaks U.S. $50

The price of cobalt continues it's gains as it breaks through the U.S. $50/lb mark.

Click Link below:

Current Cobalt Prices

Cobalt Prices Continue To Rachet Up

Cobalt price reaches U.S.$ 49.25/LB.



Cobalt prices have continued to move steadily higher in a trend that has seen the price of Cobalt almost double since January 2007. Cobalt mining companies and cobalt resource companies stand to reap the rewards of these higher prices if they persist.

One such company is Caledonia Mining (CALVF). Although Caledonia Mining is a penny stock, it's potential to become a major player in the industry seems to be real. As I previously wrote about in this article "Cobalt and Caledonia Mining (CALVF)", Caledonia has a massive cobalt deposit called the Nama Cobalt Project.

This property alone has an estimated resource of 114,561,560 lbs of cobalt plus other base metals including copper and nickel.

Caledonia recently signed Cobalt Off-take Agreement with Large Chinese Refiner. The price of Caledonia shot up on the news in heavy trading from 10 cents to 20 cents U.S. It has been consolidating it's gains and is now trading at around 15 cents U.S. per share.

CALVF - Caledonia Mining Weekly Chart

CALVF Daily Chart - Caledonia Mining

CALVF consolidating after breakout.

Shoshone Silver on the Road Next Week

Shoshone Silver Mining has announced that they will be on the road next week promoting the company.

I recently posted a review of Shoshone Silver whereby I stated that Shoshone Silver is an undervalued stock. I maintain that this is very true. This is a stock that is not well known yet, but it has been around for a long time and has an excellent collection of silver and other precious metals properties around the country and in particular in the Silver Valley.

Here is the Announcement:

SHOSHONE SILVER AT WORLD MONEY SHOW, ORLANDO AND CAMBRIDGE HOUSE CONFERENCE, PHOENIX

Shoshone Silver Mining will be participating in the upcoming Mini Silver
Summit being held in conjunction with the World Money Show 4 p.m. Feb. 5th
at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Liz Wilhite, Investor
Relations, will be presenting for Shoshone. Liz will be available to
discuss Shoshone with current and prospective investors from February 5 - 7.
Information about Shoshone will be available at the Silver Valley Mining
Association Booth, #811 throughout the show. If you would like to speak
with Liz about Shoshone please look for her at the SVMA booth or call her at
(208) 512-3009 to schedule a meeting. Details about the World Money Show
may be found at http://www.moneyshow.com/msc/twms/exh.asp. Attendance is
free.

Shoshone will also be attending the Cambridge House Conference, Booth 211,
held at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel on February 9th & 10th. Lex
Smith, President, and Liz Wilhite will be available at the booth.
Information about the conference may be found at
http://www.goldshow.ca/ch_phoenix2008.html. Attendance is free with
pre-registration through the website, or $25 at the door.

Contact:
Investor Relations
Liz Wilhite
liz@moechine.com
(208) 512-3009
(208) 752-1070

Shoshone Silver Mining
info@shoshonesilvermining.com
(208) 752-1070


For more information please see our website at
http://www.shoshonesilvermining.com

CALVF: Can you say "BREAKOUT" ??????

With the announcement of a Cobalt off take agreement with a large Chinese refiner, Caledonia has broken out with a massive one day rise of 64%. This chart is highly bullish. Are you on board?

Caledonia Mining (CALVF) - Time to Capitalize on Cobalt?

I recently wrote about Caledonia Mining and it's Nama Cobalt Property. By my calculations, I determined that the value of the Nama deposit alone was worth over $6 billion U.S. I also noted that Caledonia had many other properties that would take the value of CALVF well over the $6 Billion mark.

Today, Caledonia released news that they had signed a Cobalt Off-take Agreement with Large Chinese Refiner.

The stock has responded quite favorably and as I write this, it is up over 60% in price. It closed yesterday at $0.103 per share and has traded as high as $0.20 per share, a 100% gain in 1 day.

I previously mentioned that "It has had two massive run ups in share price. In 1986 it rose from under $1 to over $7 in just over 1 year. Then in 1994 it rose from under $1 to over $9 in less than 1 year.

Now, as a shareholder of CALVF, I wonder how high it will run on this latest development with it's Nama Cobalt Property.

As I close out this post, I note that Caledonia Mining Corporation (CALVF) is trading at $0.177 per share. This is a one day rise in price of over 71%.

South African Power Crisis Affects Gold Miners in Bad Way

The ongoing energy crisis continues to get progressively worse hampering the precious metals mining companies that rely on a regular supply of electricity to conduct their operations. While this is very bullish for gold, it is not bullish for gold mining companies operating in this area.

South Africa Power Crisis Deepens,
Risking Its Economy, Investments

By ROBB M. STEWART
January 25, 2008 11:56 a.m.

JOHANNESBURG -- A power-supply crisis in South Africa that has frustrated individuals, thrown business into the dark and forced the suspension of mining activity risks denting the country's economic growth and dampening the appetite of foreign investors.

The scope of the crisis was highlighted Friday when the government said it was treating the situation as a national emergency after some of the world's largest mining companies, including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. and Anglo Platinum Ltd., said they had halted operations across South Africa because the state power provider couldn't ensure the supply of electricity.

Gold Fields Ltd. said it had been told by Eskom Holdings Ltd., which generates roughly 95% of the country's electricity, that the supply of power couldn't be guaranteed for between two and four weeks.

South Africa, the continent's economic engine, has been knocked by two weeks of rolling blackouts that have halted business for hours at a time each day, caused extended traffic jams and added further pressure to the already shaky government of President Thabo Mbeki.

Story continues here.....

Silver Weekly Chart Shows Bullish Possibilities

Silver appears to have broken out of an ascending triangle. This could signal the beginning of another strong run up in prices similar to the September 2005 to March 2006 time frame.

Daily Chart of CALVF

Caledonia continues to be under pressure of downtrend. Seems that buying is coming in at the $0.10 level which is strong support.

Cobalt Prices Reach U.S. $48.50

Cobalt continues it's upward price movement.

GOLD & SILVER Weekly Charts

VIX

The VIX is also known as the Volatility Index. This is normally associated with fear in the market place. The higher the VIX, the more fear and thus the higher the volatility.

Taking a look at the daily and weekly charts of the VIX shows some interesting trends.

After hitting a low of 9.39 in December of 2007, it has been steadily rising after breaking out of a bullish downward wedge.

Recently it has been consolidating and appears to be on the verge of breaking out higher again.




This can be seen on both the daily and weekly charts. While there is a chance that this breakout will fail, if it does break out higher, we can expect much higher levels of volatility in the stock market which in the case of today's market, I would expect much lower prices for such indexes as the S&P 500, NASDAQ, and the DJIA.

Caledonia Downtrend Remains In Tact

CALVF Daily Chart

CALVF - Caledonia Mining Chart - Weekly

Cobalt and Caledonia Mining (CALVF)

Cobalt prices have been on the rise lately. In fact, they have increased from around $15/lb to over $45/lb since November 2006. This chart only shows activity through December 2007, but if you check the current sales price at BHP Billiton, you will see that they are currently making cobalt deliveries at $46.25/lb. Not a bad increase. In a little over a year, cobalt prices have basically tripled. This should be good news for cobalt mining companies or cobalt miners with significant cobalt resources.

(Update 1/10/08, Cobalt price is up to $47.50 today)

One such company is Caledonia Mining (Symbol: CALVF)

CALVF currently trades at U.S. $0.113 per share. Obviously it is a penny stock.

Caledonia has a diverse compilation of properties that include gold, base metals and diamonds.

Caledonia's cobalt property is called the Nama Cobalt Project.

The NI-43-101 technical report concluded that the combined Indicated Resource for Anomalies A and C at Nama is estimated as 121,874,000 tonnes with a weighted average grade of 0.047% Co and 0.043% Cu. The Nickle portion is approximately 0.015%.

This is only one of Caledonia's many properties. This property alone has an estimated resource of 114,561,560 lbs of cobalt, 104,811,640 lbs of copper and 36,562,200 lbs of nickel. At today's prices of $46.25/lb for cobalt, $3.27/lb for copper and $13.26/lb for nickel, this is a total value of $6,126,020,985 U.S. dollars.

Caledonia has fully diluted shares totalling 590,273,165. This would put a value of current resources at $10.38 per share just for the Nama project.

This does not include its currently producing gold mine, the Blanket Mine, that has proven and probable gold of nearly 500,000 ounces with inferred gold resources of nearly as much.

Nor does it include its other gold, diamond, platinum and other base metals projects.

Take a look at this long term chart of Caledonia and you will see it has the potential to explode in price in a short matter of time.



It has had two massive run ups in share price. In 1986 it rose from under $1 to over $7 in just over 1 year. Then in 1994 it rose from under $1 to over $9 in less than 1 year.

The question is, does it have another run coming? I don't know. But, I do own 69,300 shares of CALVF and would love to see it make another big run. Be sure to do your own due diligence as these are numbers that I calculated based on information on Caledonia's web site. Remember to invest at your own risk. Penny stocks can make huge gains but can also make you lose all or substantially all of your investment as well.

New Explanation of What's Going on in the Markets Today

I recently wrote a piece about SIV's or Structured Investment Vehicles in which a commenter anonymously posted that I didn't know what I was talking about. This following video is quite funny and right on point.

Enjoy this excellent explanation of SIV's:

John Stossel of ABC News Interviews Ron Paul

This interview with Ron Paul gives a basic overview of how the U.S. Government would be run if Dr. Paul were elected President:

This is worth the 5 minutes it takes to watch:

RON PAUL INTERVIEW WITH JOHN STOSSEL OF ABC NEWS

Making Money with Drop Shipping

If you are looking for a start up internet business that you can afford and you are low on capital to fund your new venture, you may be the perfect candidate for drop shipping.

For those of you not familiar with drop shipping, it is really quite simple, in concept at least. The basics are this. You choose to sell items on your online store. You list the products for sale on your web site or online store. Then, when someone makes a purchase from your store, you simply forward the information to the drop shipping company, and they ship it to your customer on your behalf.

The choices of what to sell are almost endless. Whether you choose to sell sexy lingerie, motorcycle parts, or wedding favors is entirely up to you.

The advantages of this are that you don't have to carry any inventory. No inventory means no inventory carrying costs. In other words, you don't have to invest in a bunch of stuff that you may or may not sell. This also allows you to list a large amount of products on your site as the drop shipper is the company who has to carry all of the inventory.

The disadvantages of this are that you are completely reliant upon the drop ship company to fulfill your orders. This is the worst part of the arrangement. Unless you have a very reliable drop shipper that keeps all inventory in stock at all times, you will end up in some annoying situations that can cost you time, money and ultimately lost customers.

If I had to recommend to you you the most important thing of all when it comes to starting a drop shipping business, I would say without a doubt that choosing the best drop shipper is of crucial importance. If you do this, you will avoid endless hassles with the drop shipper as well as your customers. This will enhance your business by providing timely shipments and communications with your customers and help bring back repeat buyers.

Mess with your customers and watch them disappear in a flash. It is very hard to get a new customer but it is very easy to lose them. Not only that, but time is valuable and messing around with back ordered products is a waste of your precious time.

Why I Believe Shoshone Silver Mining is Currently Undervalued

Review of Shoshone Silver Mining Company(OTCBB:SHSH)

Why I Believe It Is Currenty Undervalued

Ticker Symbol: SHSH
Date of this Report: 12/12/07

As of September 30th, 2007, there were 19,396,679 shares of common stock issued and outstanding fully diluted.

As of September 30th 2007 there are 80,000,000 common shares authorized.

Web site address http://www.shoshonesilvermining.com/

Current Share price: $0.26 as of 12/12/07

Current Market Cap is $5,043,137

History
Shoshone Silver Mining Company was founded by the late Irvin Scheller in 1969 as a silver exploration, development and production company based in North Idaho. Shoshone operated its three Lakeview District Mines and Lakeview Mill successfully producing silver, gold and base metals for much of the two decades that followed. As silver prices declined into the early 1990's, Shoshone closed much of its production and shifted its policy towards acquiring new properties and diversifying its interests.

Irvin Scheller believed there was great but unproven potential in the Lakeview District. Due to Mr. Scheller's efforts, Shoshone obtained its initial Lakeview holdings from Sunshine Mining.

Past Producer
Not only is Shoshone Silver Mining an exploration company, Shoshone is a past producer. Shoshone was an active producer from approximately 1970 to 1990. The following properties were producing mines that can be put back into production quickly.

Conjecture Mine: Active from 1913 to 1956
Idaho Lakeview: Active from 1916 to 1956
Weber-Rainbow: Active from 1890 to 1981
Keep Cool: Active from 1927 to 1954

Click Here to view the Complete Summary of Past Production With Quantities of Minerals Mined

Current Projects
Shoshone Silver Mining is a silver exploration company and most likely a near term producer of silver from multiple sources. In addition to exploring for silver, they hold properties with exploration potential for Gold, Zinc, Lead, Platinum group metals, Copper, and Uranium and Gallium. In all, Shoshone controls over 6000 acres of land in the western US and Mexico, and has no long-term debt.

The following is a summary of Shoshone Silver Mining current projects: (Click on a property or property group for more information)

Shoshone Silver Property Summary
Properties by Class: Showing Number of Acres & Types of Metals

Lakeview District 1,100 acres containing Ag, Au, Cu, Zn, Pb
Zacatecas, Mexico 3,284 acres containing Ag, Zn, Pb
Silver Valley 552 acres containing Ag, Cu, Pb
Platinum Group Metals 700 acres containing PGM, Ag, Au, Cu, Pb
Arizona Gold 460 acres containing Au
Montana Gold 120 acres containing Au
Nevada Uranium 860 acres containing U, Ga

Current Estimated Reserves
Only three of these properties (Bilboa, Lakeview, Conjecture) have any type of estimated or proven and probable reserves from what I can find. Here they are:

Bilboa, Mexico:

Preliminary sulfide resource estimate from January 2007 shows the following resources (Shoshone’s portion):
Zinc - 54,320,000 Lbs
Lead – 33,460,000 Lbs
Copper – 3,640,000 Lbs
Silver – 2,186,100 oz
(Calculations based on Shoshone’s 25% ownership of the project

Lakeview Mine:
Silver 285,442 oz
Does not include copper, lead and zinc values

Conjecture (Conjecture Mine Estimate Information)
Silver 8,330,800 oz
Zinc 42,360,000 lbs
Lead 7,060,000 lbs

Totals From Bilboa, Lakeview & Conjecture:
Silver 10,802,342 oz
Zinc – 96,680,000 Lbs
Lead – 40,520,000 Lbs
Copper – 3,640,000 Lbs

(Note: These are the calculations that I came up with based on the information I reviewed. Please do your own calculations and due diligence and do not rely on my figures. These figures are based on estimated resources from the company’s website, Chester Mining Company’s website and from it’s joint venture partner’s web site, Minco Plc., as interpreted by me)
At current prices for silver, zinc, copper & lead, the above resources alone are valued at approximately $360,000,000.


Lakeview Mill
Shoshone owns the Lakeview Mill that is located on its Lakeview property. There will be no major costs associated with building a mill to process ore. They have just completed a renovation of the 100-ton per day facility and made many upgrades. As of September 20, 2007, it has just been put back into service. The mill is currently processing previously stockpiled material mined in the Lakeview District. Shoshone is continuing to upgrade and expand its flagship Lakeview mill and expects to continue processing this stockpiled ore through the beginning of the 2008 season.

The facility will also be available for the custom milling of ores produced by other companies in and around the Lakeview district as it was in the past. Shoshone plans to aggressively market this service to regional mining companies. This is very valuable, as Shoshone will not have to raise capital to finance the construction of a mill to process their ore.

Investment Portfolio
An additional feature of Shoshone is that it holds an active portfolio of investments in other mining companies primarily from the Silver Valley. Following is a list that shows Shoshone’s current investment portfolio as of their most recent filing.

The following summarizes the number of common shares owned and available for sale at September 30, 2007: (Click HERE to view the most recent 10-QSB)

Chester Mining Company (CHMN) 2,500 shares
Gold Crest Mines (GCMN) 687,050 shares
Kimberly Gold Mines (KMGM) 321,500 shares
Merger Mines Corp (MERG) 10,000 shares
Metropolitan Mines Limited (MEMLA) 6,000 shares
Mineral Mountain Mining & Milling (MMMM) 5,000 shares
Sterling Mining Company (SRLM) 19,334 shares

This gives Shoshone additional upside potential via its precious and base metals stock holdings. Many of these companies are traded on the pink sheets or bulletin board. Sterling Mining was recently listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Late Stage Exploration
Shoshone Silver’s Bilbao silver and base project in the Zacatecas Mining District is in late exploration stage with its JV partner Minco PLC. (Minco site Bilboa Project Details HERE)

(Bilboa Information from Shoshone HERE)

From Pink Sheets to OTCBB
On August 23, 2007, Shoshone Silver Mining was listed on the OTCBB operated by NASDAQ. This is a move up from the pink sheets that I see as a positive moving forward.

Summary
In Summary, Shoshone Silver Mining (SHSH) is a precious metals exploration company with a portfolio of past producing properties as well as other carefully selected properties with new exploration potential.

Shoshone’s Bilboa project is a late stage exploration project with its joint venture partner Minco Plc.

Shoshone has an operating mill so no financing is required to build one. Shoshone is currently processing stockpiled ores from their Lakeview Mine in their newly refurbished Lakeview Mill for future cash flow. Shoshone plans on profiting from contract milling activities for other local mining companies as they did in the past.
Shoshone has an investment portfolio consisting of common stock in other precious metals mining companies that provide potential for upside appreciation in value as well as a liquid asset that can be used for cash flow as needed.

Shoshone has no long-term debt or off balance sheet arrangements. Shoshone’s current market cap is very low compared to the value of its estimated mineral resources, existing mill and infrastructure, existing portfolio of investments, many properties with historical production and future exploration potential.

Disclosures:

I currently own 57,200 shares of SHSH

No one has paid me to write up this report or send it to anyone. This review is an independent report by me and the opinions expressed are mine alone. All information used to compile this report was gathered from sources linked to throughout the article. I make no guarantees as to the accuracy of the information in this report but I have compiled it in good faith to the best of my ability. Do your own due diligence. I am interested in seeing the price of Shoshone common stock increase in value, as it would bring me personal financial gain. Shoshone Silver Mining is a penny stock and the risks associated with investing in penny stocks are many. Then again, the rewards can be great.

Michael H. Harader, CPA
Scottsdale, AZ

Don't be a Sheep

Americans in general are a bunch of idiotic sheep. Or to put it another way, we are a country full of many sheeple with a growing number of other non-sheeple citizens who are shedding their wooly coat and realizing how bad our government really is.

I am thankful for Ron Paul and all of his supporters who truly love freedom and the Constitution. If you know some sheep that have not shed their coat, do them a favor and point them in the right direction.

Now please enjoy this excellent tribute to Ron Paul and the sheep of America performed by Steve Dore.

Awesome New Ron Paul Money Bomb = The Ron Paul Tea Party

Remember reading about the Boston Tea Party? It was a protest by American citizens over oppressive government taxes. The citizens of Boston literally dumped large amounts of tea into the Boston Harbor.

We are going to have another tea party. Only this time we will be dumping millions of dollars into Ron Paul's presidential campaign. Join us today!

Just in Case you missed the 1st Ron Paul Money Bomb

Here is your chance to get in on the next one. Why not show your patriotism by supporting the only candidate who supports your freedom and constitutional rights.

Sign up to contribute $100 on November 11th, Veteran's Day.

To sign up, click here

Have You Signed Up Yet?

Join the thousands of other Americans who support Ron Paul by signing up for the Ron Paul Money Bomb!

Nearly 15,000 others have already signed up to contribute $100 to Ron Paul this November 5th.

Be a part of history as we raise an amazing amount of money for the Ron Paul campaign in 1 day.

About

Market Bust is an online resource for alternative opinions on the markets. This includes stocks, bonds, precious metals, derivatives, SIV's, futures, options and much more.

If you would like to contact us, please send an email to: marketbust (at) gmail (dot) com.

What is an SIV and Why should you Care?

An SIV is a Simian Immunodeficiency Virus. This is a virus that is very closely related to the AIDS virus HIV.

But this is NOT the type of SIV I am referring to.

The new type of SIV is potentially much more dangerous than any strain of virus. The new SIV is a Structured Investment Vehicle.

Structured Investment Vehicles are a funny name for "derivatives". Derivatives are financial instruments that derive their value from the value of something else.

Why should you give a rats ass about SIV's? Because they are the cause of all of the financial madness now occuring in the market place regarding credit problems, freezing of commercial paper markets, subprime losses at banks and hedge funds related to subprime loans, bailouts of banks and other businesses and much more.

The problem with SIV's is three fold.

Number one, they are huge in size. Estimates range from 20 trillion to 450 trillion dollars of them sloshing around on or off balance sheet across the globe.

The second problem is that they are not regulated and do not have a liquid market if any market at all.

The third problem is that they are valued using a process called "mark to model". This simply means that the institution that owns the SIV can claim whatever value their "model" assumes they are worth. This is all well and good until the entity tries to sell them. That is when the model breaks down as there are no buyers willing to purchase them at the model price.

What happens next is the realization that they have no value at all. This inevitably leads to massive financial trouble and the dreaded SIV takes the institution down the drain.

Mortgage Lenders Continue to go Bankrupt

As of today, 149 mortgage lenders have gone bankrupt since late 2006. This is an incredible number of lenders to go out of business in such a short period of time.

It appears that no one is left to offer sub-prime loans anymore. This will have very serious consequences on future home prices. If no one can get a loan, who will buy the home?

To keep up to date on the latest closures and mortgage implosion news visit The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-meter.

Is the Fed Secretly Easing while telling the world they are not?

While the Fed is advertising the Federal Funds rate at 5.25% officially, behind the scenes it appears they are doing something entirely different. Imagine that, a private banking cartel in charge of the United States money supply saying one thing and doing another.

It is kind of like our goverment telling us the CPI shows inflation is under control while behind the scenes they are using "magical hedonical adjustments" to make it appear however they wish. They say that food costs are going down when we all know better.

Has the Fed Already Eased?
Posted by David Gaffen

The active conversation among the panicky revolves around whether the Federal Reserve should move to cut interest rates before its meeting about a month from now, but the slide-rule committee, through open market operations, has kept the effective funds rate way below its target for several days now. Is this, in and of itself, an easing? (Read more here)

U.S. Warned to "Learn from the Fall of Rome"

In as shocking turn of events, an actual employee of the Federal Government, has issued a grave warning to the United States of America. This is no low level employee of the U.S. Federal Government either, this is David Walker, Comptroller General of the U.S.


Learn from the fall of Rome, US warned

By Jeremy Grant in Washington
Published: August 14 2007 00:06 Last updated: August 14 2007 00:06

The US government is on a “burning platform” of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned. Read more here.

Will China Purposely Crush the U.S. Dollar with Nuclear Force?

China has all of the power when it comes to pricing the U.S. Dollar lower. Accordingly, they have now issued a "nuclear warning" to the United States regarding the value of the U.S. Dollar and how it relates to the value of the Chines Yuan.

It is clear that China has the power to decimate the value of the U.S. Dollar and in the process of selling off U.S. Treasuries, send U.S. interest rates much higher. This would quite possibly have a huge impact on the already fragile U.S. Real Estate market as well as the credit markets, derivatives, etc...

I'm Scared

Dollar Falls to 26-Year Low Against Sterling

TOKYO, July 18 (Reuters) - The dollar slid to a 26-year low against sterling on Wednesday due to worries about the U.S. subprime mortgage sector and after British inflation data boosted expectations for higher interest rates there.
Sterling rose as high as $2.0492 , getting a boost after data on Tuesday showed that the annual core consumer price index in Britain rose to a decade-high 2.0 percent in June.

(more...)

Dollar hitting new lows against the Sterling is just one more notch in the dollar decline. Are we due for a short term rally soon? I don't know, but long term dollar fundamentals stink and I expect the dollar will trade much lower than it is now.

I'm

New Lows for the $USD?

The U.S. Dollar is testing new lows right now. If it is not able to hold above this critical support level, expect the precious metals to head much higher from here.