Financial Sense Newshour for Storm Watch

Jim is pleased to welcome back Felix Zulauf, president of Zulauf Asset Management AG and Co-CIO of Vicenda Asset Management AG in Zug, Switzerland. Felix and Jim cover a wide range of global macro issues, including today’s deflationary environment versus the inflationary 1970’s, Japan as the likely catalyst of the next global crisis, why the bond market is in trouble, and that gold could decline before another buying opportunity. Felix also does not believe that the Fed will ease off its QE program in 2013.

Jim is pleased to welcome Ronald Marcks, who under the penname Jens O. Parsson wrote “Dying of Money” in 1974, as double-digit inflation was heating up in the US. In his book, Mr. Marcks wrote of the German inflation of 1914-1923, and the rise of the American inflation of the late 1960’s into the 1970’s. Jim and Mr. Marcks discuss the parallels of Weimar Germany to what is happening today. They also discuss the phenomenon that every burst of monetary inflation has been followed by a stock market rise and boom in prosperity and every contraction by a stock market fall and recession. Mr. Marcks sees a “latent inflation” in the US, as the money supply has increased much faster than prices for the last three decades.

Jim welcomes Evelyn Browning Garriss, Editor of the Browning Newsletter. Evelyn details the wild spring weather of 2013 in the US, with record cold, record heat, floods and drought all hitting different parts of the country. She sees summer heat-waves coming to much of the country heading into a stormy fall in the Atlantic region. Evelyn discusses the ideal conditions likely for a severe hurricane season; favorable winds (lacking last year) and very warm south Atlantic water. In the West, she notes this is the fifth consecutive year of a dropping water table on the Colorado River, and some form of water rationing could be coming.

Jim welcomes Nicholas Eberstadt, a political economist and a demographer by training, who holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at American Enterprise Institute. In his book, Nicholas details the exponential growth in entitlement spending over the past fifty years. As he notes, in 1960 entitlement payments accounted for well under a third of the federal government’s total outlays. Today, entitlement spending accounts for a full two-thirds of the federal budget. He makes the case that while this spending certainly drains our federal coffers, it also has a very real, long-lasting, negative impact on the character of our citizens.

Jim welcomes back Martin Armstrong of Armstrong Economics. Martin and Jim cover many important topics, including Washington’s need for more revenue, the future of the European Union, the current outlook for gold, the Cyprus banking situation, the pension system in the US, and how Congress is working hard to exempt itself from Obamacare. Martin also touches on economic trouble brewing in Europe, Japan and Argentina. As to the banking system, Martin advises to avoid large banks involved in proprietary trading and stay with the regional banks.

Jim welcomes Simon Mikhailovich, Co-Founder of Eidesis Capital LLC in New York City. Jim and Simon cover a number of topics, including gold, why people should own it, and the difference between paper and physical gold. Simon also discusses the safety of your bank accounts in the future as governments look at the “Cyprus Model”, including the US. Simon talks about the coming “wealth taxes” in Europe, as governments desperately search for revenue amidst weakening economies. Simon  calls gold “the most under-owned asset class in the world” and believes the real bull market in gold has not yet begun.

In this week’s first Big Picture topic “Wash, Rinse and Repeat – that was then, this is now” Jim looks at a repeat of the Petro Business Cycle pattern for the fourth year in a row. The familiar economic scenario features a strong start to the year, then the LEI’s roll over and the economy starts to slow, which is followed by more Federal Reserve stimulus, which leads to a strong finish to the year. Wash, rinse and repeat. The next topic, “Has the glitter faded? Why gold prices can go higher” is in response to the weak precious metals market. Jim continues his thesis that you don’t need a Doomsday scenario to see rising gold prices in the future. This topic also leads into Jim’s in-depth conversation with John Kaiser on gold in the next segment of the program. Jim also answers some of your Q-calls in this segment.

Jim welcomes Puru Saxena, Editor and Founder of Money Matters and Puru Saxena Limited in Hong Kong. Puru believes that the Chinese real estate bubble is on the verge of a major bust, which will not bode well for China, or Asia. He believes the thirteen year bear market in stocks is over, and a multiple year bull market in equities has begun, especially in the US. Puru sees the dollar as the most liquid and secure currency in the world and does not foresee a dollar crisis. Due to supply and demand factors, he does not favor commodities, as prices will be under pressure in the near to medium term.

In this week’s edition of the Big Picture, Erik Townsend and Ryan Puplava sit in for Jim and discuss three different topics. The first, “The Significance of Cyprus- US Dollar on the cusp of a surprise?” deals with the events in Cyprus in the context of helping to stregthen the US dollar. Combining this banking fiasco with central banking printing around the globe, the US dollar looks primed to stregthen, which most do not expect. They discuss the implications for stocks, gold and commodities if this were to happen. In the next Big Picture topic, “Triple Top or New Secular Bull Market?”, Erik and Ryan discuss the issue, and make distinctions between economic recovery and stock market strength. In the last topic, “Still Waiting for Armageddon?” Erik and Ryan look at those still waiting for a disaster in their “bunker”, and stress that no matter when, or if, the calamity arrives, investors need to have a financial plan in place and not be paralyzed by fear. They also discuss the possibility that there could be a bond market melt-down, but that stocks might benefit.