Transcript

Jim is pleased to welcome David M. Walker, former US Comptroller General and CEO of the Comeback America Initiative. David discusses his "$10 million-a-minute" national bus tour kicking off in September to engage Americans about restoring fiscal sanity, and the tough choices we face as a nation. David and Jim discuss the two possible paths forward, either preemptive and prudent, or reactive and crisis-management. David makes clear that the only way to achieve the preemptive path is to hold our politician’s feet to the fire, and demand action before the inevitable crisis arrives.

Jim welcomes back Michael Kantrowitz CFA, Director, Portfolio Strategy & Quantitative Research at Wolfe Trahan & Co. in New York. Michael notes that his research points to higher stock prices this fall and a turnaround in the leading economic indicators (LEI’s). He believes the "Risk On" trade is returning and the new sector leaders will be Industrials, Energy and Materials.

Market Microstructure expert Eric Hunsader of Nanex joins Erik on The Next Level to discuss what really went wrong in the Facebook IPO.

Jim is pleased to welcome back Martin Armstrong from Armstrong Economics. Martin and Jim cover a wide range of topics, including the US banks not passing on interest savings to consumers, the likelihood of stagflation, the real reason you need to own gold, and why the debt markets will implode within three years. Martin sees a true bubble in the bond market, and would buy stocks at this stage. He also estimates a gold price of $5,000 oz. by 2017.

In this segment of the Big Picture, Jim looks at three election-year topics, "Taxmageddon−it’s worse than it sounds," "To QE or Not to QE, that is the question" and "The 2012 Presidential Election- technology vs. confidence."

Jim welcomes Ross Hansen of the Northwest Territorial Mint back to the program. Ross discusses the dawning of electronic money as governments seek more control over individuals and underground economies. He also notes that people are moving into bond funds as a "safe haven" and as a result, precious metal coin demand is down 50-70%. Ross also mentions news from the 2012 Mint Director's Conference in Vienna that China is engaged in counterfeiting major currencies such as the dollar and euro, as well as minted coin products.

Jim is pleased to welcome Simon Mikhailovich, co-founder of Eidesis Capital in New York. Jim and Simon discuss the risk of financial derivatives, and how derivatives will only be reformed after they collapse. Simon notes that the entire derivatives market is unsecured, other than the central bank’s ability to print money, and the US taxpayer’s ability to bail out the banks. They also discuss the recent JP Morgan derivatives trade fiasco, and "what happens when you are the market, and you have no one to sell to."

Jim is pleased to welcome back Douglas Noland, Senior Portfolio Manager at Federated Investors. Doug sees no Central Bank "exit plan" and no end to global money-printing, as central banks receive less bang from each succeeding stimulus plan. Doug discusses the ongoing risks in Europe and the potential credit problems that could face the US as well.

Jim is pleased to welcome back Louis-Vincent Gave, CEO at GaveKal Research in Hong Kong. Louis believes that Greece will ultimately exit the Euro, and the ECB will then ease massively to stem the tide of bank runs in other at-risk European countries. He sees opportunities in US blue chip stocks.

Jim is pleased to welcome back CNBC’s Rick Santelli to discuss how many large states such as California and Illinois are increasing both deficit-spending and taxes, driving out job creators to more business and tax-friendly states. Rick notes that if the light bulbs don’t come on soon for many state legislatures, the lights of commerce will continue to go off, or move to a more welcoming state.

Jim is pleased to welcome Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media. Steve and Jim discuss a number of important topics, from a new gold standard, to tax reform, to Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve. Steve believes the only way out of the mess we are in is a return to free markets and true capitalism. The combination of a low-tax system and a gold-backed currency worked well for much of our history, and Mr. Forbes believes we must return to those basic policies.

Jim welcomes noted technician Charles Nenner to the program. Charles sees further correction in the stock market, with S&P 1325 a critical level. He also believes the gold and silver bull market is still intact, but we could see lower levels this summer. Charles also sees the bond market staging one more significant rally before a 30-year bear market begins. He is also quite bearish on Europe. In addition, Ryan Puplava has this week’s Market Wrap-up and Rob Bernard checks in with the Fixed Income Report.

Jim welcomes back John Williams from Shadow Government Statistics. John believes the real unemployment rate is 22%, not 8.1%, which is why it still feels like a recession. He also calculates the CPI at 6%, not 2.8%, and explains how the government manipulates the rate of inflation. Lastly, John believes the US is still on track for hyperinflation in 2014 as we near the coming fiscal cliff.

In a riveting interview on the banking industry, Christopher Whalen, Senior Managing Director of Tangent Capital Partners in New York joins Jim to discuss the fallacy of "too big to fail," conflicts of interest in the derivatives markets, problems with the 2005 bankruptcy laws, and why politicians let MF Global investors get taken.

Jim is pleased to welcome Jim Rickards, Senior Managing Director at Tangent Capital Partners LLC and author of "Currency Wars." They discuss Rickards’ Senate Banking Subcommittee testimony on the problem of the Fed’s Zero Rate policy and the significant impact on retirement income security.

Jim welcomes back Dr. Marc Faber of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report this week. Dr. Faber believes shorting the markets can be a risky proposition when the global central banks will print money at the drop of a hat. He believes it is very important to stay diversified in this environment. Dr. Faber recommends dividend-paying stocks, gold, emerging market stocks and real estate. (Transcript Included)

When the United States stopped backing dollars with gold in 1968, the nature of money changed. All previous constraints on money and credit creation were removed and a new economic paradigm took shape. Economic growth ceased to be driven by capital accumulation and investment as it had been since before the Industrial Revolution. Instead, credit creation and consumption began to drive the economic dynamic. In "The New Depression: The Breakdown of the Paper Money Economy," Richard Duncan introduces an analytical framework, The Quantity Theory of Credit, that explains all aspects of the calamity now unfolding: its causes, the rationale for the government's policy response to the crisis, what is likely to happen next, and how those developments will affect asset prices and investment portfolios.

Jim is pleased to welcome silver analyst Ted Butler of Butler Research LLC. Ted is noted for his comprehensive analysis on silver price manipulation and has been publishing unique precious metals commentaries on the internet since 1996.

Jim is pleased to welcome back David Rosenberg, Chief Economist & Strategist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates in Toronto. David believes the US recovery is at risk due to three potential sources: rising oil prices, a possible European recession, and major tax hikes in the US. David favors the Canadian and Australian currencies, as well as gold, hard assets, high-dividend stocks, corporate bonds and basic necessities.

Jim welcomes back geologist and Peak Oil pioneer Dr. Colin Campbell to discuss the global energy situation. He believes that oil insiders around the world know Peak Oil has arrived, but don’t want to alarm consumers and shareholders with the truth. Unfortunately for those weary of high gas prices, Dr. Campbell sees this as just the beginning of much higher prices. (Transcript included)