Gold Reaches $1700.00 (Why I buy gold and silver redux).

With Gold breaching the $1700.00 mark on the opening of the Asian markets on Monday I thought it might be worth re-posting my position on precious metals.  The continued and accelerating deterioration of conditions in the Euro zone combined with the down grade of Treasuries (soon to be followed by a down grade of municiple bonds will only push PMs higer still).  When (not if) gold breaks Sinclair's $1764.00 mark look for the move to go parabolic, and game over for stocks and bonds.

Gold and silver values (not prices) are only a reflection of the rapidly evolving new reality.

There will always be those who will deny that the entire western financial system is F.U.B.A.R. You know the term, denying it, finger pointing or making excuses for how we got here won’t change the facts. There is no intention from any of the politicians or bankers of doing anything to fix the problems at their root cause, OTC derivatives. The European Union has outlawed naked CDSs (credit default swaps) which is at least an indication that they are trying to do something. Whether it will prove too little, too late or not, time will tell. The chances of anything like that happening in the US are absolutely ZERO.

To say it is very late in the game is a gross understatement.

The times of any kind of normal conditions, however you might want to define them, are gone and they’re not coming back any time soon. One needs only look at the FACT that before the crisis of 2008 the Federal Reserve was buying between 10% and 15% of US Treasuries, now they are virtually the only buyer and by this action alone they are consigning the Dollar to its doom.

Only by adjusting our attitudes and actions to this new reality is there any hope for getting to the other side with any semblance of intact wealth and security. This applies at both the individual and societal level

The system has already failed, act accordingly. There are no political champions waiting in the wings with the will or ability to fix it. Even if there were, there exist no means that could be applied that would not in the short term cause an even more severe economic dislocation than we are already faced with. Even if there were some practical solutions left (and there aren’t), neither the banks nor the politicians would allow them to be applied because it would diminish their power.

We have embarked on a third war in the Middle East and it will be impossible to disengage as the chaos spreads. Kind of reminds one of the Uncle Remus story of the Tar-Baby. It is utter madness and no good can come from it. The revolutions and wars in the Middle East are not pro Western and not pro democracy, they are anything but.

Look back at what the price of commodities were 2 years ago and what they are today. By the time we reach the next election they will look like bargains by comparison.

If you are holding physical bullion and food stocks hold on to it as it will be the only insurance you will have and you’re going to need it. Show some pity for those who would deride you for holding insurance, they will be the first victims of their own hubris, but be careful, for as the rug is pulled out from under them they will blame you for their situations and many of them can and will resort to violence.