“The thing that I fear is confiscation. Confiscation of my assets, confiscation of my clients’ assets. I fear that this thing could get out of control. I think we’re a year away from the French fully nationalizing their banking system.” Thus spake Eclectica Asset Management CIO and co-founder Hugh Hendry at the Milken Institute’s 2012 Global Conference yesterday. Hugh went on to specifically suggest that Hollande will nationalise the French banking system if elected.
It’s possible he’s right on the first point, but it really is a bit thick for a bloke in his position to start whingeing about seizure of assets. What about the seizure of my bank interest income? Of my pension take-out from draw-down? Of my right to write and read without being watched by an unelected GCHQ?
Here’s a slightly more accurate news story about assets, because it involves recorded behaviour rather than propaganda. Another asset removed from my investment armoury has been the right to buy gold. I got out of the sector because there isn’t a bank left on the planet I’d trust to pay up on a paper tracker. The Slog has posted since God was a Girl about the manipulation down of paper gold’s ‘price versus the upwardly mobile price of the real stuff. It’s just another asset seizure: thus, although the paper gold price has been flattish over the past month, the physical gold market has been witnessing a buying frenzy.
Hong Kong gold imports into China totalled some 40 tons in the month of February, representing a 13-fold increase over the same month last year. Over the last year, Chinese purchases have been eight times higher than they were in 2010. The IMF says 12 countries bought 58 tons or more last month — with Mexico, Turkey, Russia and Kazakhstan being the most prolific.
As I’ve been posting for years, you can’t have demand at that level alongside a flat price: this is a manipulated market. And feeding into the point I’ve banged on about during all those wilderness years of being dismissed as a mad conspiracy theorist, Cheviot Asset Management reckons that for every ingot of real shiny metal, there are 100 open positions in the ‘paper gold’ market.
Like I said last month, get hold of the real stuff…if you can. Because those who would oppress us – and those who can see what’s coming – are buying it like there was no tomorrow….which there may well not be. And those who would convince us that there is a recovery under way haven’t allowed even the President into Fort Knox since 1951. The security and armoury protecting the contents of Fort Knox outstrip those for the White House by some distance. A very telling choice of emphasis, that one. You can sort of imagine two rednecks having the discussion:
“Wha heeyell Jake, can you b’lieve that no ‘count nigra in the White House wants more protection an’ he wants to come in here?”
“Sheeyit Ezekiel, Ah daclayah, I ain’t wastin’ no ammo on some goddam black Commyerneeist.”
“You goddit Jake, an’ ain’t nooo way I’m lettin’ some light-fingered slave inta a place fulla gold. Askin’ fer trouble.”
“You ain’t wrong, Ezekiel.”
Just to round off on asset seizures, I discovered last week that Virgin Health is bidding to take over my local NHS Group Practice. I don’t remember reading/signing up for anything like that. Mind you, I don’t remember anything in the Camerlot Manifeso about barmy GP reorganisations and starving hospitals of funds either. But the plan is simple if one’s paying attention: flood the GPs with money, watch them screw up and get taken over by the Virgins…..starve the hospitals of funds, and then wring your hands and say look, they’re broke – we have to sell them.”
Maybe Andrew Lacklustre isn’t quite as stupid as he looks after all.
Related: Planet Earth to the Establishment…hellooo?
The Slog 