A bit off topic, but I know a lot of you listen to Puplava...

I was listening to Saturday's show last night, and was a bit surprised by his rant against Canadian Banks and the Canadian markets. I don't hold any shares in any major Canadian banks or in the TSX Group. I am quite prepared to believe that they do immoral things, and that these things are not regulated as well as they should be. But a lot of what he said was illogical, his take on the Canadian market seems completely naive, and his plan of protest seems a waste of time at best. He offered not one scrap of evidence to support his thesis, and, most questionable of all, (in my mind) cited Stockwatch as the best place to get information.

I'll have to listen again tonight, but some initial thoughts:

1) Stockwatch frequently publishes rumour. Sometimes there's truth in the rumour, sometimes not.

2) Level 2 shows who the deal makers are, not the buyers. TD Waterhouse/CIBC Mellon/Scotia McLeod/RBC Dominion could be buying for anyone who has an account with them, or for themselves.

3) Settlement data probably is available somehow, but settlements usually take place two days after the deal has been brokered. In other words, as far as I know, you couldn't find out who bought what until two days later.

4) He seemed to mix up his markets and market caps of companies to an incredible degree. At some points he seems to be referencing IPO's of juniors in venture cap markets, and in others, he seems to be referencing large cap companies on the major exchanges. This a bit like comparing street vendors with department stores.

I'm disappointed in Jim. I thought he had a lot more common sense than this.