The Gold Thread

I read for at least 3-4 hours each day. Often, I read the entire comment threads of subjects that interest me. The comment thread on a blog is the cumulative voice of like minded individuals excluding trolls and lunatics. Sometimes I stumble onto a comment that absolutely captures the essence of a subject.

Central bankers hate precious metals. They cannot counterfeit gold and silver. Gold and silver represent real money- not the shit they print. So without further adieu, I want to present a comment I stole from Dave in Denver's blog, The Golden Truth.

Buckler writes: "It is interesting that many of the same people who are now abandoning stock markets because of their 'volatility' over the last few years are the same people who become affronted at the slightest mention of the possibility of precious metals price manipulation. A moment's serious contemplation should make things clear. The precious metals and gold in particular have always been the 'alternative' to government promise based on and created out of thin-air money. As such, the precious metals have always been Public Enemy No. 1 as far as the money manipulators are concerned. Anyone who aspires to intervention in an economy and the political power that it gives is and always has been an enemy of gold. As long as there is a central bank manipulating money and interest rates, all markets are manipulated by definition. To imagine that the precious metals would be overlooked is ridiculous."

The same with Jim Grant, publisher of the Grant's Interest Rate Observer letter and perhaps the only gold advocate with enough respectability to be frequently invited to speak at respectable forums, like CNBC. Grant may have remained this respectable by refraining from too much pointed criticism of the financial powers.

But interviewed this week on CNBC by Maria Bartiromo, Grant got very pointed indeed. The Federal Reserve, Grant said, "is in the anti-capitalism business. ... The Fed ought to get out of the manipulation business. ... They ought to forswear the intervention in markets." Grant strongly implied, for what may have been the first time, that among the markets being manipulated and intervened against is the gold market. The interview is six minutes long and it's posted at CNBC here:

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000080414