1. The decision to allow Lehman Brothers to fail, after which solving the $1.26 Quadrillion derivatives crisis became impossible.
2. The ISDA's decision this week that a 75% Greek bond haircut was not a default, but rather a voluntary credit event.
Sinclair discusses both of these events, and why they will both have historical consequences and impacts below.
From Jim Sinclair:
The history of this period will focus attention on two economic clutch type events. These events will have mandated the need for the construction of a new monetary system utilizing a virtual reserve currency traded only by central banks. This reserve currency will be related to gold via a global Western world M3.
An economic clutch type event is one that by its occurrence allows the world to shift gears and change into a new economic velocity and direction.
The first economic clutch event took place when the decision was made that the US Federal Reserve and US Treasury would not support a rescue of the prestigious investment firm of Lehman Brothers. By doing this, they threw that institution and all of its transactions in which it was the deficit other party into default via bankruptcy.
Before then the entire OTC derivative debacle had a simple but extremely controversial solution. The tactic would have been similar to the means of nullifying the effect of the historic failure of the Savings and Loan Institutions during the last great housing recession. This at hand solution was to net the entire global derivative problem into a singular institutions named the Derivative Bank. At that time all OTC derivatives which were established would be returned to the instance of establishment when obligations netted almost zero. It was the institution of Lehman as a bankruptcy that removed the ability to net out to near zero from the daisy chain of global derivatives. To bring the daisy chain of OTC derivatives to net the winner would have to place their paper winnings into the pool and the paper losers would have placed their paper losses back into the pool. This would have reduced the entire loss to only part of the earnings on the banking institution from 1991 (the birth of the derivative use globally) rather than the more than now 20 trillion dollars worth of liquidity required to fund the winners who have benefited mightily from that windfall we financed.
The forced flushing of Lehman Brothers is therefore the economic clutch event that brought quantitative easing to provide the rescue funds to finance the winnings of the global Western world financial system. The downshift was from 5th gear to 1st gear that nearly blew up the world economic engine.
We now have had the 2nd Western world economic clutch event that will shift the gears directly from the plodding along in 1st gear economically into reverse gear, therein blowing the transmission and engine simultaneously. This event is the ISDA blessing of the credit event which reduced the value of Greek debt to its holders by 70% without triggering a default. They have now made it virtuous to walk away from the once lest risk loans, loans to Western governments. Such a walk away is now deemed a credit event, not the dirty D word, default.
A pattern of action has been set in place now which takes QE, the gift from Lehman's economic clutch event, to QE to infinity, the direct result of the Greek economic clutch event that was declared via the International Swaps and Derivative Association. These Gods of Mammon declared 70% of the Greek sovereign debt to be valueless without guilt, sin or consequences.
Replacing the lost value from the sovereign credit event (non-default) in this paper selectively to the banking system makes unlimited creation of liquidity an act of virtue and blessedness.
To assume that other nations facing the same problems will not wish the same treatment is madness. To assume the private sector facing the same problems will not demand the same treatment is madness. Therefore QE to infinity is now deemed an act of virtue and blessedness.
A 70% haircut in the value of the Greek sovereign debt does not constitute a credit event defined as a credit default according to the most powerful financial entity on the planet, the ISDA. This group is more financially influential than governments today. This decision by the revered members of the Association's Determinations Committee has acted to prevent the notional value of all the credit default swaps, an OTC derivative, from becoming real value as would occur if the CDSs were called upon to function.
The ISDA has, according to MSM, taken offense to being described as secretive in its proceedings. The ISDA said minutes of the meeting of the committee would not be publicly distributed as the decision was unanimous.
What has occurred in what is now described as "the successful handling of the Greek problem" by the ECB is in fact a total disaster for mankind in its introduction of QE to Infinity as the blessed settlement to a problem that now is more severe than it was prior to the Lehman event. That problem is that the mountain of OTC derivative has not been attended to, but rather has grown to include the size of all Western world sovereign debt as it is all western sovereign debt that is now threatened by an event of default on a national level. That will simply occur regardless of whatever the ISDA says. Much of it will not be paid, period.
This enfranchised QE to infinity sets a floor via Chinese gold acquisitions to any reaction in price. Alf Field's price objective of gold at $4500 is by this 2nd economic clutch event now in the crosshairs of the gold price.
Gold prices staying high have now been guaranteed. Further to that, those intelligently managed gold producers internationally will shift to dividend payers of note, transforming the gold industry into the utility type equity of the future. Opinions expressed to the opposite are simple exercises in economic ignorance.
Gold's price reactions, when they do occur, will be violent and very short lived. This is fact.
Respectfully,
James Sinclair
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13 comments:
So, if Italy decides to walk away from its Western debt as well, can the ISDA continue to give its blessing? Will it sanction Italy's decision also as "voluntary credit event, not default?" Once you have two nations that do this, won't that give the green-light to EVERYBODY? How nice to live in a world of never-ending Immaculate Conceptions.
;-)
“The people cannot delegate to government the power to do anything which would be unlawful for them to do themselves. ... whenever the Legislators endeavor to take away, and destroy the Property of the People, or to reduce them to Slavery under Arbitrary Power, they put themselves into a state of War with the People, who are thereupon absolved from any farther Obedience, and are left to the common Refuge, which God hath provided for all Men, against Force and Violence. Whensoever therefore the Legislative shall transgress this fundamental Rule of Society, and either by Ambition, Fear, Folly or Corruption, endeavor to grasp themselves, or put into the hands of any other an Absolute Power over the Lives, Liberties, and Estates of the People; By this breach of Trust they forfeit the Power the People had put into their hands, for quite contrary ends, and it devolves to the People, who have a Right to resume their original Liberty.” --John Locke
Principal operative phrase ... 'By this breach of Trust, they forfeit the Power ...'
In negation of Constitutions and Common Law, the very foundations underlying 'official' authorization is removed and by construction, the offices so existing are thereby abdicated! Thus, the occupiers of those offices are LAFUULLY, mere usurpers and pretenders.
Pat Fields
Where is the debt forgiveness for the average person now that government debt is being forgiven?
Doc or anyone else, any idea how many ounces of physical silver are currently available for sale through all sources in the U.S. including the Mints, wholesalers and retailers, dealers?
Okay, I'm going to be ignorant. If the ISDA declared Greece a default, the banks selling the CDS's would have to pay up, like AIG, not lehman, they would have to get bailed out. Lehman was a deflationary event. After Lehman was hung out to dry and deflation was setting in, the Fed and Treasury got scared and bailed out all of Wall Street starting with AIG, that was the QE event and inflationary and the metals responded to the upside.
Refusal to pay by the ISDA will be major league deflationary and make greek CDS's worthless. Any one buying one then bought worthless insurance since the sellers never had any intention of paying. They now lose money on both ends, 70% off their bond, and all money from their insurance premium. That in the short term is deflationary. People are not going to get their money, the banks are propped up, but they have turned to stealing with bogus derivatives and not paying any interest. This is all deflationary. That means there is no certainty the metals will go up. Even if inflation has been 100% (prices doubling) the past four years, silver and gold has gone up 5 and 4 times respectively. They are already ahead of the inflation curve. Now if you read this far, what am I saying? I'm saying yes, the QE stage is set and metals could go higher,(I am very long on silver) but they are already ahead of the curve in my opinion. Make your own decision, but in the short term this all points to deflation. QE will be stealth since the metals will explode otherwise, I agree with Jim that QE stage is set, but I do not see how this decision to not declare a default is inflationary. Could use help on this-my2cents-
The real issue is cost of sovereign debt. Without insurance there must be a re-set of price.
In essence the only buyers of this debt would be traders and central banks until the re-set occurs. Anyone holding sovereign right now, will risk catastrophic losses once the exits get hit.
I think we will continue to see the metals go up in price but there will be a lot of volatility. QE will continue to be disguised so it lessens the chance of a PM price explosion The threat of manipulation will remain ever present. They cant afford another deflationary crash because it would wipe out the banks. They want to keep people vacillating between deflation and inflation so it doesnt swing too fast in either direction.
Here is a plan.
On Monday I'm going to the bureau of public records and change my name to Demetrious Evarkio.
On Tuesday I going to take a few molotov cocktails and hurl them at a public building or two.
On Wednesday I'm going to my bank, declare my Greek-ness and tell them my mortgage is not in default. It's a credit event, and demand a 100% reduction in payment. The ISDA tells me I can.
On Thursday I plan to bask in the radiant glory of debt-free-ness.
On Friday I plan to wake up to the reality of a world gone nuts.
On a more somber note, ISDA left a bolt hole open. The PSI contingent has not been heard from and they might change this to a default.
We are not out of the woods yet.
Sovereign debt is currently not hedged 100% and used for collateral at par like it is AAA rated, which it is not. See any problems here? Major ones.
7:04 - the argument over inflation or deflation for the price of PM's isn't so cut and dried. Relative wealth is what's important. So, in a period of debt destruction, where holders of debts realize their assets are gone, the PMs have no counterparty with which this can happen. In an inflationary environment, PM's cannot be diluted through currency debasement. Buy PM's for inflation AND deflation, because relative wealth is what really matters.
My fellow humans
This is why BLYTHE MASTERS was sent to Germany to head up the ISDA.
Just to be clear...I'm in no way religious, but as I stated in another post.
He who would willingly bring hardship and injustice upon the weak and venerable, WILL be judged.
Crazy Canuck 2012
CAN I GET AN AMEN!!!
Amen Crazy. Pat, you never cease to amaze me with your knowledge. Keep stacking and get the garden ready. Time to plant taters ya'll. Get seed potatoes (plant whole about 4 inches deep)or just some from your cupboard that's sprouting (cut pieces so two sprouts are on each piece, let sit for 24 hours and plant with the sprouts facing up). Keep your soil loose around the taters and water until damp (not soggy). When about 6-10 inches high, add a mix of straw and soil around the plant until it covers the bottom leaves. Do this again when the plant grows another 6-10 inches. After the plant flowers and the flowers/stems begin to die back it is time to harvest (90 to 110 days).
Good luck,
2 OZ.
Amen!
Anon 12:51, you forgot..........
Friday afternoon, wake up in undisclosed prison with penis in ass and balls on chin.
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