Trading Post (sneaking suspicions edition)

Riverside Resources (RRI.v) up 25.5% at $0.69 on good volumes and making my day. We're in a market which will eventually reward the good companies, the trick is to identify them early and then just wait. RRI is highly regarded by peers and seems to be on a good thing in Az. I own.

Fortuna Silver (FVI.v) up 1.5% at $2.01. This one was up further at the bell, probably because 'hot hand' analyst at the can of corn, Nicholas CampbellSoup, reco'd it with a $4.75 price target before the bell today. Message to CampbellSoup: Take more care with your templates next time, as you left the word 'Silverstone' in there, dumbass.

Ventana Gold (VEN.to) down 2% at $9.57 and the most interesting fear/greed battle of the day out there. Relatively low volumes (compared to Friday at least) suggest that fear is winning out. We did a whole feature in yesterday's IKN Weekly on the travails at VEN, the conclusion being that the company has a significant problem. I just wonder how long it'll be before that problem is recognized, because we're not talking directly about the legal action here. DYODD. Disclosure: Not long, not short. Best call "avoid".

ECU Silver (ECU.to) down a penny at 68c. FWIW I covered my short this morning. Ridiculous stock run by out and out crooks and liars for dumbass people. Half priced GATA next year.

Salazar Resources (SRL.v) down 8.3% at $1.10 on very low volumes. If it weren't in Ecuador it'd be one helluva stock to own. Mind you, if it weren't in Ecuador it wouldn't have those prospective VMS rocks, either. So if one clapping hand falls in the jungle, would a crouching tiger make any sound? YOU BE THE JUDGE!

Election results

In Uruguay, as expected José Mujica won the run-off and will be Uruguay's next President. From the same party as the very popular President Tabaré Vasquez, Mujica made a good, conciliatory acceptance speech last night which included:

"Remember on this night of celebration fellow citizens that are sad and who are our blood brothers. There are no winners or losers. We have just elected a government that is not the owner of the truth and who needs everybody."

That works for me. I still have my reservations about the guy because his abrasive, straight-shooting style is bound to ruffle feathers on the international scene sooner or later (I've heard him in Spanish, you'll soon get the English translations coming your way) but as long as he keeps his electoral promise and is the continuation of Tabaré's governmental line, Uruguay should be ok.

So in Uruguay the President Elect says there were no winners or losers. Meanwhile in Honduras everyone lost.

If you didn't know ECU Silver (ECU.to) was a total insider-feeding scam previously......

....then today's evidence makes it clear to anyone with a working IQ level. This morning, ECU silver (ECU.to) announced its inevitable private placement, with the intention of raising $10.8m by placing 13.9m units made up of a share at 72c and a half warrant at 90c (that adds to the mountainous warrant overhang already at that price).

Ok, fair enough, we knew that it was going to happen. But the brass neck of these people is astounding once you keep reading this morning's PR: Here's an extract:

ECU Silver Mining Inc. (TSX:ECU) ("ECU") announces its intention to issue 13,900,000 special warrants ("Special Warrants") by way of private placement at an issue price of $0.72 per Special Warrant for aggregate proceeds of $10,008,000. A number of large shareholders of ECU plus certain institutional investors have agreed to subscribe for all the Special Warrants.

Stephen Altmann, President of ECU, stated that "This financing is fully subscribed, in large part with existing key shareholders, which is testament to the confidence of our loyal shareholders in ECU's focus to grow the company.

Errr, no, Altmann...it's testament that the company is a scam and rapes retailers for all they're worth. What this scumball is saying to the world is that "a whole heap of shareholders had inside knowledge that we were going to run a placement at 72c, so we gave them ample time to unload their shares on you poor innocent saps and then reload the same positions (with an extra half warrant) at a much lower price." Here's the last 10 days of action in the stock...

...and we can see how the stock has been sold down and down to the PP level by those who knew what price ECU was going to raise cash at. Not only that, but if we look back at the most recent pump move to the upper 80s to 90c range, between November 9th and November 18th (the top of the price range) there were 10.6m shares traded.

I WONDER WHO HAD THE FORESIGHT TO SELL THEIR STOCK AT 18C ABOVE THE LATEST PLACEMENT PRICE, WISTAR?

If the OSC doesn't act on this blatant illegal frontrunning scam it will be condemned forever.

Chart of the day is....

....the gold/silver ratio.

So what would you like for lunch today? A plate of fear or a plate of greed? Faites vos jeux, mesdames et messieurs......

Problem 396: Square, Angle Trisectors, Congruence, Area

Proposed Problem
Click the figure below to see the complete problem 396 about Square, Angle Trisectors, Congruence, Area.


See also:
Complete Problem 396

Level: High School, SAT Prep, College geometry

The IKN Weekly, out now

IKN31 has just hit the streets (well...the mailboxes actually) and includes a report on a small copper junior in Peru, analysis of the risks facing Ventana Gold (VEN.to) going forward and talk about space aliens blowing up the moon.

Venezuelan financials

For those of your versed in the language of Cervantes, this report from America Economia comes highly recommended. It covers the financial system in Venezuela, the exchange rate system from a micro and macro viewpoint, the role of the parallel dollar market, the Central Bank, PDVSA and all related matters.

It's good, solid, balanced reporting that has something for everyone, from the 101 level to the expert insider. Refreshing to see an article based on facts when it comes to the subject of Venezuela's economy instead of the usual soapbox idiocy. Good job AE.

Correct Mish

Mish nails arguments about war, the US economy and the continuation of ridiculous policies from Bush to Obama in this post today. Here's how it ends, but go read the whole thing. Highly recommended, solid argument.

War mongers want war but they do not want to pay for it. Sadly, Obama, Bush, Pelosi are all alike. Thus, Congress and the Administration is committed to having military idiocy and domestic idiocy at the same time.

God do we ever need a balanced budget amendment and a sound currency. We should not fund a damn thing unless we are willing to raise taxes to pay for it. Virtually no one but the war mongers and the military beneficiaries would be in support of raising taxes to pay for this monstrosity.

That The Hawaiian was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is the most insane thing I've heard in ages. As Albert E said:

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.

x

Problem 395: Square, 15 Degree, Equilateral triangle

Proposed Problem
Click the figure below to see the complete problem 395 about Square, 15 Degree, Equilateral triangle, Congruence.


See also:
Complete Problem 395

Level: High School, SAT Prep, College geometry

Two votes on Sunday

Vote one is the run-off for the presidency of Uruguay, part of a normal democratic process.

Vote two is the sham in Honduras. Rather than spill here, I suggest you go over the Honduras Coup 2009 post here that hits on the four main issues about tomorrow's smoke'n'mirrors espectaculaire in Honduras. Apart from making the mistake of giving any credence to an apologist called Boz it's an excellent round-up of things and looks carefully at all sides of the issue. Here's how the article ends

Far from "starting from zero", as President Obama suggested, the situation in Honduras on Monday will stay precisely where it is-- with added sources of conflict provided by what will without a doubt be disputes about the Sunday vote.

UPDATE: Holy crap! Even Foreign Perfidy sees the light (h/t delacour at LANR)

Mining & Blasting, Open Pit Operation - Video

Mining in the area around Marvel Loch dates back to the early 1900's and between 1905 and 1986, 136,300 ounces of gold were recorded as having been mined.
Click the figure below to view the Blasting at Marvel Lock Gold Mine - Video.


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Mining & Blasting, Open Pit Operation - Video

Marvel Loch Gold Mine, Australia

Explore the geometry of Marvel Loch Gold Mine, Australia through detailed Google satellite imagery. Take advantage of the search and zoom bars.
Click the figure below to interact with the Maps and News: Marvel Loch Gold Mine.


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Maps and News: Marvel Loch Gold Mine, Australia

The Friday OT: Radiohead; Everything In Its Right Place

In a recent article in The UK Times (ok, they're going to be Britbiased, but WTF) Radiohead's Kid A came out as the best album of the decade. I agree. It's sad on one level that the best came out in the year 2000 and it's been downhill since then. On the other hand, when I read the article the memories of jawdrop-stunned when listening to it for the first time came flooding back.

This is a non-official video made by some arty type that I found on youtube. It's not bad, but you'll do just as well to listen to the track and flick over to another tab on your interwebs....and i betcha if you do you won't be able to concentrate on any reading until the music stops.

There are two colours in my head.

Trading Post (sand in your eyes edition)

ECU Silver (ECU.to) down 4.1% at $0.70 and here's a map of how this thing gets recommended by its scammy pumpers.
Anybody interested in an ECU.to placement sweepstakes? I say 60c plus half a warrant at 80c....any other ideas out there? i'm still short, BTW. No point in covering til the financing is announced. GO HALF PRICED GATA!

Fortuna Silver (FVI.v) up 0.5% at $2.08 and displaying an attribute of solid companies that I always look for; that of grace under pressure.

Ventana Gold (VEN.to) down 15.1% at $9.50 on heavy volumes. My best bet is that there's more downside to come but I'm not short the stock, let's make that clear. Not long, either, just avoiding as always, be that right or wrong. Fundamental DD and opinion on Sunday, subbers.

Rusoro (RML.v) down 5.7% at $0.50 and getting some just desserts from the scumball trick pulled by Agapov Senior. I'm glad to say that one treasured subscriber got the 57c out yesterday before the real downmove began. Meanwhile note another 4.8m insider sales filed today...that's about 6.2m total (i think). Really disgusting way of treating shareholders, made even worse by the late late filing of trades that date back to September. I hope the normally whussy OSC slaps an exemplary fine on his tush, not the toothless grand or so of always.

Mining PRs and the Ottotrans™, Part 14

Welcome to the latest edition of our occasional series in which we take the gobbledygook news releases published by junior mining companies and translate them into something more understandable. Today's example comes from Longview Capital Partners (LV.to), a company about to change its name to Resinco. So no more bushing around the beat......

This is what they wrote:

Vancouver, BC -- Longview Capital Partners Incorporated has changed its name to Resinco(tm) Capital Partners Inc. ("Resinco" or "the Company") and has a new corporate identity. Shares of Resinco will continue trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol LV until the end of trading on November 27, 2009. On Monday, November 30, 2009 trading will begin under the new symbol of RIN.

The new trademarked name reflects the subtle change applied to Resinco's investment mandate and emphasizes the fact that the Company will be evaluating and executing investments across a broader range of natural resource categories leveraging historical strength in hard rock minerals and precious metals and increasing the scope in the areas of rare-earth minerals, oil, gas, water and renewable energy.

The announcement was made originally by the President and CEO of the Company, John Icke, in the shareholder letter dated November 19, 2009.

"The name Resinco Capital Partners heralds a new beginning for the company," said John Icke. "The identity helps us to communicate our intent to broaden our investment scope within the natural resource sector."

The name change is one of a number of initiatives designed to reposition Resinco for sustainable success.

And this is what it means:

Vancouver, BC -- Longview Capital Partners Incorporated has changed its name to Resinco(tm) Capital Partners Inc. ("Resinco" or "the Company") and has a new corporate identity. The new trademarked name reflects the subtle change applied to Resinco's investment mandate and emphasizes the fact that the Company is fed up to the back teeth as being known as the one that Damien Reynolds drove into the ground by buying crappy uranium juniors in Paraguay.

The announcement was made originally by the President and CEO of the Company, John Icke, in the shareholder letter dated November 19, 2009.

"The name Resinco Capital Partners heralds a new beginning for the company," said John Icke. "The identity helps the market to forget about Reynolds' stupid bets and the chart below."

Quotes of the day

Gordon Brown, British PM, November 27th 2009:

Gordon Brown was today forced to step in and attempt to calm growing panic over the threat of British exposure to Dubai's debt crisis.

".....we can be sure that this is something that is both containable and is localised.”

Henry Paulson, then US Treasury Secretary, 23rd July 2007

"There has been a very significant housing correction. I think we're at or near a bottom there," Paulson said on CNBC television. "I don't deny there's a problem with subprime mortgages but...it's quite containable."

Paulson said the economy was "very, very healthy" despite the problems in the subprime mortgage lending sector.

No further comment necessary.

Ventana Gold (VEN.to): Oh Noes!!! Canadian Analysts Now Forced to Examine Colombia Political Risk Shock Horror

The most used phrase in many Canadian brokerages this morning is "Jeesh...what does this line mean? Hey, anyone speak Spanish round here?" as Ventana Gold (VEN.to), hotpot mining story of the year, announced after the bell yesterday that;

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - 11/26/09) - Ventana Gold Corp. (TSX:VEN - News) ("Ventana" or "the Company") has been advised that Sociedad Minera La Bodega Limitada (or the "Vendor"), the owner of the mineral rights to the La Bodega property in Colombia, is seeking an arbitration in relation to an option agreement (the "Option Agreement") with CVS Explorations Ltda. ("CVS"), Ventana's 100%-owned subsidiary. The Option Agreement provides for CVS to acquire the La Bodega property mineral rights through a series of staged payments as detailed below.

The request for arbitration is an attempt by the Vendor to invalidate the Option Agreement and have the property returned to the Vendor. CVS has operated under the Option Agreement for almost four years without any performance default or allegation of default. The Vendor's request for arbitration is based on arguments that the Option Agreement fails to comply with yada yada continues here

Well guess what, folks? After all my warnings about the total lack of attention paid by Canadian investment houses to the significant risk in that region of Colombia, I'm just going to get our friend the owl to comment on this development:

There'll be details and background in IKN31, out Sunday. In the meantime, here's a hint for all you guys playing catchup on the DD; check how many times the name "Gelvez" comes up in local political and administrative circles in the California/Santander region.

Chart of the day is......

.....gold, the hourly candle.

So it turns out the nasty boogieman wasn't a bomb dropped on an Iranian nuclear facility, or a Hurricane that knocked ot 30% of the US oil supply, but a small, endebted citystate known as Dubai. But whatevs, cos Naseem Taleb's phone must be ringing itself off the wall this morning. Here's what Deuschebank said today...

"The events in Dubai highlight the elevated level of sovereign risk heading into next year, the potential pockets of dollar strength that this can deliver."

.....and I think that's fair enough. It may be a total change in direction (unlikely) or it may be one of the DB "pockets of dollar strength" and from the looks of the gold rebound, there are still plenty of metals buyers out there. But one thing we can certainly do is call stupid on the "dollar is dead" chorus line of bleats, yeah? Because the US Dollar is still the place that money people run to when a problem hits.

UPDATE: Macro Man captures the sentiment well in this post, examining plenty of angles, too. Recommended.

Kosnita's Theorem: Circumcenters, Concurrent lines

Click the figure below to view the Kosnita's Theorem: Circumcenters, Concurrent lines.


See more:
Kosnita's Theorem: Circumcenters
Level: High School, SAT Prep, College geometry

SAT Prep: Exam Pacing Strategy

Video
The SAT Reasoning Test (formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test) is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a non-profit organization in the United States.

Click the figure below to view SAT Math Prep: Exam Pacing Strategy.


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SAT Prep: Exam Pacing Strategy
Level: High School, SAT Prep

Thanks Given to The Mex Files....

.....for the cartoon on display here. Very good.

SAT: How Important is Geometry?

Video
The SAT Reasoning Test (formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test) is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a non-profit organization in the United States.

Click the figure below to view How Important is Geometry on the SAT?.


See more:
SAT: How Important is Geometry?
Level: High School, SAT Prep

Venezuela parallel exchange rate update

With the last few weeks seeing the Bolivar Fuerte (VEF/USD) parallel, or permuta, rate levelling out and trading in quite a tight band (typically between 5.3 and 5.5 to the dollar), I thought this update could take in the longer view chart. So here it is.

(click to enlarge)

Plenty of room to speculate the currency on the streets of Caracas...that must be why there are so many rich middle class that complain about a system that lets them.......hold on....something wrong there.....

Back to today, and with BCV currency reserves at U$33.644Bn and VEF liquidity (M2) at VEF227.13Bn as per the latest bank figures, this gives an exchange equilibrium theoretical of 6.75VEF for every dollar held by the BCV. Or put simply, the BCV head honchos can jawbone and bullshit all they like, cos if they don't stop printing VEF hand over fist the parallel rate will never drop to the pie-in-the-sky 3.6/1 exchange they're targetting.

Guarapitas served. The end.

Rusoro Mining (RML.v); we REALLY don't like late filing of insider trades, vlady

Man attacked by vampire bat

Hey, Agapov you dumbass...you know the best way of getting rid of any shady business family talk around you and your company? DON'T ACT LIKE A SHADY BUSINESS FAMILY.

Here below are the insider transactions filed by Vladimir Agapov yesterday (oh wow...today's Thanksgiving too...hoping we wouldn't notice, you diphead?). They go back to a veeeery late filed September 8th and are all sales. In total the dude has blown out one million, four hundred and fifty-nine thousand shares of Rusoro (RML.v) and only now decides to inform the public. WTF? They add up to CAD$769,000 in gross receipts, by the way. All direct ownership shares too, so the sell orders could only have come directly from you.

This humble corner of cyberspace slaps avoid like the plague on this stock as from today. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice.............

Insider name: Agapov, Vladimir Pavlovich
Issuer name: Rusoro Mining Ltd.
Nature of transaction	Number	Price	Trans date	File date
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-5000	0.4700	08/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-75000	0.4600	09/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-100000	0.4500	10/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4600	14/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4600	14/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4600	14/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4600	14/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4500	14/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-7000	0.4700	14/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4600	15/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4600	15/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4600	15/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4600	15/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4700	15/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4700	15/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4600	15/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-2000	0.4800	15/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4600	15/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4800	16/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4900	16/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4800	16/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4800	16/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4800	16/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4800	16/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4800	16/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4900	16/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-20000	0.4600	17/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-8500	0.4600	17/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-8500	0.4600	17/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-4000	0.4600	17/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-10000	0.4700	17/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-8000	0.4700	17/09/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-22500	0.6000	16/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-8500	0.6000	16/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5900	17/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5900	18/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5800	18/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5900	18/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5800	19/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5800	19/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5900	19/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5800	19/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5800	20/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5800	23/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5700	23/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5800	23/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-40000	0.5700	23/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-80000	0.5700	23/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-80000	0.5700	24/11/2009	25/11/2009
10 - Acquisition or disposition in the public market	-80000	0.5800	24/11/2009	25/11/2009

Chart of the day is.....

...a screenshot from Fox News, brought to you via Felix Salmon.


Works on so many levels. Nice catch, Salmon.

Google Page Rank: Hints

Google Page Rank: Hints on getting a better search engine ranking, Interactive Mind Map.

Graphic organizers are visual representations of knowledge, concepts or ideas.
Click the figure below to see the Interactive Mind Map.


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Google Page Rank: Hints, Interactive Mind Map

Caterpillar 797F, Open Pit Mining Operation - Video

The 797F is the next step in ultra-class mining trucks, designed and built by Caterpillar using components and systems that have evolved through years of rugged mining applications.
Click the figure below to view the Caterpillar 797F.


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Caterpillar 797F, Open Pit Mining Operation

Maps and News: El Chino Mine

Explore the geometry of El Chino Mine, New Mexico through detailed Google satellite imagery. Take advantage of the search and zoom bars.
Click the figure below to interact with the Maps and News: El Chino Mine.


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Maps and News: El Chino Mine

Trading Post (green machine edition)

B2Gold (BTO.to) up 22.5% at $1.20 and today's star turn. Volumes enormous too. Subscribers got the buy call on this stock on November 5th and had all the time they wanted to buy up prices in the 80c range. Happy daze.

Minera Andes (MAI.to) up 4.1% at $0.77. Sure enough, frustration gets the better of me and I let the position held for nine months go, then three weeks later she pops over the 75c barrier. Dem's da breaks.

Riverside Resources (RRI.v) up a penny at 60c and just a cent off its 52week high here. More newsflow today as the company adds to the headcount.

Vena Resources (VEM.to) up 9.4% at $0.35. VEM has had a quite couple of trading weeks but as soon as volume reappears (154k traded today in Canada and 65k in Lima, too....not shabby) the price rebounds. This is good. Very cheap and offering exceptional value. Newsflow catalysts are all that's missing from the short-term jigsaw puzzle.

TheNewCrystallex (EC.v) down 5.3% at $0.73. News from Brazil is that the official inquiry into its shady dealings is uncovering more muck and lies. This is a stock owned by either crooks, idiots or ignorants and it will all end in tears.

Corrupt Peru government update

After the revelations of Peru's ex Housing Minister and Twobreakfasts sycophant Francis Allison yesterday, we now hear from his lawyer that his arrest for false testimony and contraband of U$50,000 (in cahoots with his wife) was "an innocent confusion". So let's think about this. If you too had 50 grand hanging in a bank account in the USA and wanted to get it over to your home country, what are the options?

• Credit card transfer. Yes, but that means you have to pay tax and also declare the origins of the money.

• Wire transfer. Yes, but that means you have to pay tax and also declare the origins of the money.

• Interbank transfer. Yes, but that means you have to pay tax and also declare the origins of the money.

Get the picture yet? I could go on, but let's just skip to..

• Stuff banknotes in your pockets and get on a plane. Illegal, but why do they make these silly rules anyway?

So this Francis Allison, ex-Minister, wife's family in Miami, widely travelled, knows the rules backwards, recently forced to resign due to shady dealings with illegal and very lucrative wiretapping business...... but decides to smuggle the money out of the USA instead of declaring it. If this is an innocent confusion Pol Pot was a peace prize winner. I'll be very interested in finding out just how many points this Allison dude has on his frequent flyer card, too, cos U$50,000 is a chunk, but I'll betcha dollars to donuts that it's the tip of a very smelly iceberg.

(b2) GOLD IS BETTER THAN (ecu) SILVER

Just think, ten days ago the GATA sheep could have swapped a share of ECU.to for a share of BTO.to...same price.

Disclosure: This author is:

• Short ECU.to
• Long BTO.to
• Tempting hubris
  

there's something about Mary

After the O'Grady post of yesterday, I now realize how much time was wasted in writing it. The Mex Files does all it so much better and with succinct turns of phrase, too:

"O’Grady makes shit up."

Thufferin' Thuccotash

Totally OT. Not LatAm, not stocks, not politics and a tiny weeny sliver of economics I suppose. But hey, my blog and I'll do what I want with it. By the way, ten Yuan is a touch under U$1.50, so what with the lack of flesh on a typical moggy I'm guessing that it's a delicacy and not a cheap substitute (tastes like turkey, they say....enjoy lunch tomorrow!). From China Daily:

More than 800 cats, locked up in rows of iron cages in a store in Tianjin municipality, would have been transported to Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and slaughtered had it not been for about 30 residents who rallied for nearly 24 hours, negotiating with the trader and police, to free the animals on Tuesday.

Pet lovers and animal welfare volunteers started pouring into a neighborhood in Hongqiao district of the municipality, 120 km from Beijing, minutes after photographs of the caged cats were flashed on the Internet on Monday night.

The trader said the cats, which he bought for 10 yuan apiece, were to be sent to Guangzhou, slaughtered and served as food at restaurants in South China continues here

What good is a dollar?

This fabbo image...

.....and more of the same style (there's a dragon, a camera, a penguin and a scorpion... the scorpion is my fave) are from this post at Humble Student of the Markets today. Cam Hui adds even more value to the origami with an observation on the dollar that I agree with totally.

Today's must see.

Chart of the day is....

....LME copper inventory, 30 day chart:
The elephant in the room.

You want context? We do context:

So whatever makes you think the Twobreakfasts government is corrupt, Otto?

Francis James Allison (for it is he)

Oooooooooh...just an inkling of mine.

On November 5th (but the news just came out today), a dude named Francis James Allison Oyague was arrested in Miami airport. Now this guy just happened to be Minister of Housing in the Twobreakfasts government until very recently, when he was forced to resign because it turns out he had close links and dealings with a company called Business Track (BTR). By way of quick background, if you remember back to this IKN post in January it turned out that BTR were illegally phone-tapping all and sundry in Peruvian political and biz circles.

So, this Peruvian cabinet minister Allison had been collecting cash from a bunch of industrial spies before becoming minister. He "forgot" to mention the connection at the time, was found out and then resigned.

So that brings us up to this month when the Allison dude was arrested along with his wife by US ICE customs officials for contraband and false testimony as they tried to smuggle over U$50,000 in cash out of the USA stuffed in their pockets. Here's a PDF link to the criminal complaint and it says that:

• The limit of cash they could take out on their person was U$10,000 each

• Allison and his wife knew this and also signed a statement on it

• Officers made a routine inspection and found U$30,250 on the couple.

• Therefore the officers made a more thorough search and found another U$20,000 on Allison's person concealed in his inner jacket pockets.

• The couple were then arrested (they were about to get on a plane to Peru (!) via Panama (!) but never made that final call) and have now been released on U$100,000 bail, which has been stumped up by a 'family member living in Miami (oh, ain't that just da lucky?)

Slush funds for governments anyone? This one could run and run.

UPDATE: Now the top story in El Comercio (and all other media) in Peru

Mary Anastasia O'Grady, winner of this week's coveted award

And before you say anything, it's not the politics, either. Yeah, sure we all know Mary Anastasia O'Grady is right wing and we know her employer is right wing. Look...ok....fine...she's going to try and win one for Dubya and Gipper and although not a personal taste, it's not STFU material. What we're talking about here is a serial ignorance of Latin American affairs that has no excuse possible amongst sentient beings.

• When she writes about Honduras, people who really know about Honduras (eg Rhodes' scholars living and working there) spot the glaring factual errors in nanoseconds.

• When she writes about Bolivia, people who really know about Bolivia (as well as a whole bunch of eggheads) blow away her false statements and blather without even pausing for breath.

• When she writes about El Salvador, her deceptions and lies even manage to evoke the ire of a Lutherian minister who is a leading authority on the country (e.g. invited election observer, many years in country, trusted by all the political spectrum etc etc).

• When she writes about Ecuador, her blatantly false accusations piss off the country's President so much that he slaps a lawsuit on her paper's tush.

And you'll note (to spare us all some pain) I haven't even mentioned Venezuela on that list. So please, Mary Anastasia O'Grady, for once in your life do a bit of fact checking and pretend that your readership are not morons just waiting to get their brains washed, rinsed and repeated.

Either that or just