Welcome To The Golden Minerals HUB On AGORACOM
Golden Minerals is a junior silver producer with a strong growth profile, listed on both the NYSE Amex and TSX.
Message: Three Gold Positives
Under current conditions, gold should be soaring. First off, the FDIC just came out with their latest report below this afternoon and bank profits plunged 86% in Q2. Furthermore, these same banks set aside an all-time record high of $50 billion to cover upcoming losses. This news will be buried quickly.
Secondly, like PM's, agricultural commodities have sold off sharply recently without any deterioration in fundamentals. In fact, according to the latest farm reports below, supplies are falling sharply. Thus it is likely that the usual Wall Street culprits are behind their fall. Food inflation remains intact.
Thirdly, Russian President Medvedev warned today that Russia "may respond to a U.S. missile shield in Europe through military means." Tomorrow as well, a U.S. warship (further provocation) will be delivering relief supplies to a Russian controlled Georgian port. We will see if the U.S. ship is allowed entrance or if the Russians are allowed to board it to inspect the cargo as they have declared they will.
Fourthly, as a bonus, we have Hurricane Gustav supporting crude oil prices.
Regards - VHF
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FDIC: 117 troubled banks, highest level since 2003
AP Business Writer
(AP:WASHINGTON) The number of troubled U.S. banks leaped to the highest level in about five years and bank profits plunged by 86 percent in the second quarter, as slumps in the housing and credit markets continued.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data released Tuesday show 117 banks and thrifts were considered to be in trouble in the second quarter, up from 90 in the prior quarter and the biggest tally since mid-2003.
The FDIC also said that federally-insured banks and savings institutions earned $5 billion in the April-June period, down from $36.8 billion a year earlier. The roughly 8,500 banks and thrifts also set aside a record $50.2 billion to cover losses from soured mortgages and other loans in the second quarter.
"Quite frankly, the results were pretty dismal," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said at a news conference, but they were not surprising given the housing slump, a worsening economy, and disruptions in financial and credit markets.
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The Grain Markets Are Getting Ready to Rip
Agweb
8/25/2008
I’ve got to admit it—it’s kind of fun talking to grain marketing specialists these days. They’ve got nothing but good news. And Mike Woolverton from Kansas State University is no exception. You ought to hear what he’s saying about soybeans! And corn. And wheat.
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In brief, he’s looking for strong wheat markets through this fall and winter. Corn will also be strong and will go back and test the summer highs. And for soybeans, it’s a run for your life situation—nobody knows how high they’ll go.
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Just back from USDA’s Outlook Conference, Mike has a lot of fresh information. For instance, guys up in North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin are saying the corn just flat isn’t going to make it. “It’ll run headlong into problems with frost.
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“In addition, though, it’s dry not only in the eastern Corn Belt, but the entire Corn Belt. As a result, corn prices will continue to go up. The harvest lows are already over—and we haven’t even gotten to harvest yet!” Woolverton says.
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Mike says everybody is wondering where USDA got it’s estimates. But wherever they got them, they’re going to have to change them—and of course, they’ll go down.
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All in all, corn prices are headed back up. He says they’ll make a run at the $8 highs. They may not make it, but the ride will be thrilling.
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Soybean prices are going through the roof. “The crop is way behind and we have a low carryover. In addition, there was less expansion in Brazil.”
And as far as wheat goes, Mike is again bullish. “We have a shortage of good quality milling wheat. It’s dry in Australia and even drier in Argentina…..plus they’re also having trouble with cold weather there—temps in the teens while jointing.”
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Woolverton says there is a huge basis on soft winter wheat. “No one wants to store it as they need the bins for corn. So we could see a lot of this ending up as feed wheat.”
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Longer term, Mike isn’t expecting a collapse in the grain markets any time soon. “It would take two super sized crop years to cause that to happen, and the odds are just against it. Too, we’re seeing some other interesting things out there like South American farmers cutting back on fertilizer.
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“And here in the US, the ethanol thing just won’t go away. EPA is fully committed to ethanol. True, we have fewer plants being built but existing plants are here for the duration. Ethanol may not be THE solution, but it’s certainly part of it. Thus, it’ll provide a solid base of demand.
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“But while grain prices will remain a lot higher than in the past, there will be wide fluctuation,” he concludes.
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