Big Bull Down in Alaska

At Chippewa Partners we manage the investment portfolio's for many Americans who enjoy a variety of outdoor pursuits.   Here is a great photo of one of our clients taken in Alaska the other day. 

Congratulations Mike on a great bull!

Excuses in America

Can you imagine if Obama's excuses worked at your job?

"Hey boss, sorry I wasn't able to get that work done that you expected of me, all the things I promised to do for you. And I know things look worse than when I arrived. When you initially interviewed me for this position and I told you I was more than capable, I never realized how much your last employee would hold me back. You see, the guy who had my position four years ago just left things in such a mess that I haven't been able to get much done. But if you are willing to let me keep my job for another 4 years, even though I really didn't get into this with much experience behind me, I have a ton of great ideas that I'm sure I'll be able to get to this time around!"

QE3 has begun...........

Yesterday, the Fed reported the first $20.1 billion in net, non-rolling purchases of MBS eligible under QE3 (consisting of FHLMC, FNMA, GNMA and GNMA2, most likely the bulk of them coming out of a certain office in Newport Beach (PIMCO) which has decided to start locking in its monster profits for the year after getting QEternity spot on).

End result: jobs created or saved, ZERO!

Sickness in Economics .....

Listening to this MIT Professor,  James Poterba on CNBC this morning is extremely nauseating.

How on earth do clowns like this justify taking a single dime from their employers?

He couldn't make a forecast, weather or otherwise, if it was raining.

The guy spends 10 minutes telling us what all the problems are in America without offering a single solution.    This guy is all hat, ZERO cowboy.   Listening to him talk about tax code change, rather the lack thereof is  repulsive.

Where's Roy Grohs when you need him?

Friday History Lesson.........

In the midst of the Great Depression, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon famously advised President Hoover to “liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers, liquidate real estate” instead of propping each industry up with tax dollars. This liquidation doctrine would “purge the rottenness out of the system” and make certain that “people will work harder” and “live a more moral life.” Contrary to popular belief, Hoover did not take Mellon’s advice and went forth with his own version of the New Deal that gave relief to farmers and supported wage rates in certain industries. These efforts, which were exacerbated under the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, effectively prevented the market from clearing. The boom of the late 1920s that was driven by the Federal Reserve’s monetary inflation was not allowed to bust. Instead of liquidating the debt and allowing the economy to reach a sound footing, both the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations attempted to manage it back to health. The result was the longest period of unemployment ever recorded in American history.

Ann Barnhardt speaking from the heart.....

I love what Ann Barnhardt is all about.   Here she lays out a couple of predictions I would tend to agree with her on......

Let me make two predictions: 1. Obama will be given all of the questions before the debate and will have canned answers for every question. Given what you have seen from the "media" in this country just over the last few MONTHS, do you have any doubt whatsoever that they would even hesitate to cheat? There is no way Obama could possibly engage in honest debate. He lacks the intellect to speak extemporaneously, much less to debate extemporaneously. The media in this country is now more dishonest than Pravda in the Soviet Union. And you doubt for a second that they will give Obama all of the questions in advance? Come on. 2. Romney is going to get some sort of position in Obama's "second term" regime. Romney isn't throwing an election for free. I could totally see Obama naming Romney to a cabinet or czar position. SECTREAS? Why not? The damage is already done and irreversible. Let Romney twist in the wind as SECTREAS while the economy collapses while Timmy Geithner lands an eight-or-nine-figure spot at Goldman or JP Morgan. My point is, I don't think Romney is just going to quietly go home to LaJolla.

NFL Integrity

Arguing about pension plans, winning, 401(k) plans, losing and money all revolves around the NFL owners.  The "integrity" of the NFL at stake?  Givemeafrickinbreak.

If America gave a shit about integrity of the "real game", say, social security, immigration, tax code changes, SNAP, EBT,  unemployment, housing, lies from the Fed, lies from the Administration, lies from Congress "they" might do something.

It should be a terrific Christmas for the economy, let's hope the football is good!

Clueless.......

War imminent, trillions in debt, rampant unemployment, a political system poisoned - and America is FURIOUS about their football referees.

God help us all.

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

At Morgan Stanley Wealth Management we know how to destroy wealth,  we FACEBOOK it!

Not enough "SKINS" in the game.......

It is a sad commentary that so few Indigenous see the need to do their civic duty. 

 As a Life Member of the NCAI, the groups President Jefferson Keel said it best last summer.

Today as a result, only two out of every five eligible American Indian and Alaska Native voters are registered to vote. In 2008 over one million eligible Native voters were unregistered. I think that Indian country should consider this a civic emergency. We should all be concerned; American Indians and Alaska Natives, tribal, and state and federal governments. There are a number of concrete actions that we can take now to change this situation.

Debasement of the United States Dollar

In a system that depends on lies and the credulity of the citizenry, the greatest lie is that the Federal Reserve's "quantitative easing" bailouts of the banks somehow help our citizens and communities. To clarify this, ask yourself this question: what else could we have bought with the $29 trillion the Fed loaned or backstopped to the banks?

Today, 9/21/2012........

Meyer Rothschild's famous quote: "Let me control a peoples' currency and I care not who makes their laws" has never been more true.

Never try to teach a pig to sing, advised Robert Heinlein. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig. Similarly, never try to convince a central banker that his policies are destructive. After five years of enduring crisis, market prices are no longer determined by the considered assessment of independent investors acting rationally (if indeed they ever were), but simply by expectations of further monetary stimulus. So far, those expectations have not been disappointed. The Fed, the ECB and lately even the BoJ have gone “all- in” in their fight to ensure that after a grotesque explosion in credit, insolvent governments and private sector banks will be defended to the very last taxpayer.

Native Americans for Mitt Romney

The "I'm a Democrat so you're voting for me because you're Native American and you have to pay homage" thing just isn't happening.

If any aspect of society needs change it is the cradle-to-grave mentality found on so many Indian reservations.   If we could get it ingrained in 50 reservations students at each reservation that a private sector job is much greater than a government or tribal government job and that marriage is a precursor to raising children successfully we could actually, maybe, just maybe, get some change.

On second thought, maybe some jobs that aren't involved in the something-for-nothing aspects of casino gaming.   Anyone else tired of seeing tribal members hit age 65 without a retirement plan because they "entertained" themselves while gambling pay-checks away?

The 47% in America........

Here is the graph of the 47% -- a.k.a. "non-payers" -- by state. The ten states with the highest share of "non-payers" are in the states colored red. Most are in southern (and Republican) states. Meanwhile, the 13 states with the smallest share of "non-payers" are in blue. Most are northeastern (and Democratic) states.

Obama Math doesn't work any longer.......

To the millions of parasites who feed off our taxpayer dollars, who expect the government to provide a cradle-to-grave lifestyle, Obama is their man.   Obama loves the American taxpayer.

To him, "Fair = More".

To Dean Parisian, everybody in America needs to have some skin in the game.  A vested interest.  Like a flock of Canadian geese who fly in a "V" formation to make it easier for the flock to advance,  in an easier and smoother manner, all Americans need to have some economic "skin" in the game to make America a better place.

The leeches need to go some place else.    Or have mandatory work requirements.  Mandatory drug testing and EBT cards that can only purchase food staples. Since Obama took office, nothing is better, not a single thing, at home or abroad. And Obama has offered no recognizable plans, no new proposals, no substance at all, for making things better in a second term. 

This presidency is a disaster.

Best quote of the week..............

"The greatest trick central bankers ever pulled was convincing the world that they work for the public and not for the banks."    ..........quote from Brent Johnson of Santiago Capital

Bare

Europeans don't usually have the hang-ups about nudity that America has.  They aren't as fat for one thing.  The fuss about the Duke and Dutchess showing some skin is beyond belief.

The world is covered in blood shed, hate and death and the media wants to play this like a fiddle.

That ROYAL HOTNESS ought to come out with her own line of lingerie. 

Talk about a global audience to sell to.  She could give J.K. Rowling a run for her money.

iPhone 5

iPhone 5 pre-orders passed 2 million mark in first 24 hours - more than double initial sales of the 4S model.

The pipeline of converting student loans into iPhone sales has never functioned more smoothly.

Sunday the 16th of September in Indian Country

Here is a summary of where the world stands:

Unable to reach a compromise over the weekend, South Africa is now in an all out labor strike, with the police again firing rubber bullets at miners with lethal escalation guaranteed.

Back from vacation, the once again penniless citizens of Spain, Greece, and Portugal have resumed protesting austerity.

US embassies attacked, in many cases with numerous casualties, in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, Lebanon, India, Balgadesh, Indonesia, and others.

Japan "appropriating" China-contested islands provoking a firestorm of retaliation including demands for "war with Japan".

The Japanese ambassador to China dying mysteriously .

Netanyahu telling Meet the Press Iran will have a nuke in six-seven months and must be stopped beforehand.

Warships from more than 25 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, launching a military exercise in the Straits of Hormuz.

A third US aircraft - the CVN-74 Stennis - carrier is en route to Iran with an ETA of about 10 days.

And finally, a potential catalyst to light this whole mess on fire, Iran's Revolutionary Guard announcing that its troops are now on the ground in Syria.

As I sat in church this morning and my mind wondered, (it often does that in church, sorry Steven Gibbs) I had some sense of guilt in not trying harder to get more Native American tribes to invest in the precious metals.   You can get them into the circle but sometimes they just won't dance!!  Heavens, some tribal council members still don't even have personal checking accounts.  I have spent years and years and thousands upon thousands of MY OWN MONEY  (Obama wasn't in on this thank God)  trying to get Native Americans and Native American entities to come aboard and have Chippewa Partners represent their interests in the financial markets.   There is not a single Native American money management firm that has been doing this longer than my firm.

It is so sad that "they"  run off to some local insurance agent or some stockbrokerage outfit that doesn't even have fiduciary responsibility for their assets and get creamed.  The stories of financial carnage across Indian Country are almost infinitesimal.   It won't change in my lifetime I don't think.  It is sort of like Pine Ridge and Whiteclay.  Everybody knows what they probably SHOULD do they just WON'T do it because of the politics involved and the money at stake as tribal council members.

The only people who lose is simple.  Indian Country.   Those who need it most.

Life at the very core.............

American Indians had a long tradition of passing their history and teachings through oral storytelling.

Within Ojibwe teachings, there are nine core values that have been passed down through generations by elders to Ojibwe youth.

 

The nine core values are:

Honor the Creator;
Honor Elders;
Honor Women;
Honor Our Elder Brothers (the plant and animal beings);
Be Peaceful;
Be Kind to Everyone;
Be Moderate in Our Thoughts, Words, and Deeds;
Be Courageous; and
Keep Our Promises.

These nine core values are timeless and transcend gender, race or ethnicity. They are fundamentally sound principles that should be followed by everyone.

Come to think of it..........

If you printed $40 on your computer printer, you'd be a counterfeiter. But if you print $40 billion, you're Ben Bernanke.

For you Do-It-Yourselfer's

I was born in 1953.  That year the price of a 1^st class postage stamp was 3 cents.  Maybe I am old-fashioned, maybe I have been around too long, maybe I‘ve made too much money sitting in stocks over many years.  You see, I’m one of those guys what believes stocks solve long-term problems.  You should too.  If you are like many investors maybe you turned off TV and stopped watching financial news as the market corrected  back in 2000 and 2001 from the excesses of the 1990’s.  I know the drivel on CNBC from the buy-this, sell-that crowd drowns out basic, common sense.  To me, and probably to you, the hallmarks of a successful retirement are dignity and independence, the ability to go hunting where and when you want to go and ability to meet the basic needs of life that continue to only go one way in price.   Up.

Today, the average American male lives to be 74, the average female lives to 80.  I know the key to financial independence, perhaps over decades of retirement is an income you can’t outlive, an income that is rising even as your cost of living continues to go up. 

Personally, I think the biggest financial risk to all of us besides losing one’s money, is outliving it, which means owning the stock market is more critical today than ever before.  Remember the cost of living has tripled over the last 30 years, yet few triple their income in retirement?  Risk is the extinction of purchasing power. Safety is increasing your purchasing power.  Last week I paid 45 cents for a postage stamp.  I will bet my cowboy boots the price of stamps is only going one way.  Care to guess which way the price of stamps will go?

The stock market is simply a facility for the exchange of shares.  Just like the markets for fur, guns, traps or fish it is driven by supply and demand.  My friends on the NYSE floor understand fear and greed better than most but they can’t tell the difference between preferred stock and livestock.  When I last checked fear and greed hadn’t changed for around 10,000 years. 

 

Today, capitalism is the organizing principle for most of the human activity on the globe, for no one can stop capitalism.  Here are 10 reasons why the United States stock market is going to continue up much like it has during your entire lifetime, (1) the U.S. has the greatest number of entrepreneurial managed companies in the world, bar none. (2) we have the leading military in the world (3) we have the leading high technology in the world in both hardware and software (4) we have the leading medical technology in the world (5) we have the leading political system in the world (6) we have 25 times more Nobel prize winners that any other country in the world (7) we create more jobs than Japan and Europe combined (8) we have 11,000 companies that trade publicly under some of the better accounting rules anywhere (9) you as an American have the freedom to accumulate wealth and extract out of life what it is you want and (10) the stock market doesn’t care who you are, what color you are, where you went to school, and, (because I grew up in the poorest county in America on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation), it doesn’t care where you came from.

Things are great and they are going to get better.  I feel the 21^st Century started in 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down.  Change is certain.  I am one of those guys that believe you set your goals in life ahead of time.  Mine includes being a free person; freedom is what this country is all about.  The opportunities for success are greater now than ever before.  For the first time in the history of the world all the people who are poor know they are poor.  Success has nothing to do with money and everything to do with how you feel about yourself.  Your net worth is your ability to function.  When I was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point postage stamps cost 8 cents and the Dow crossed 1,000 for the first time.  That same year the microprocessor was invented.  Today, 85% of the scientists who have ever lived are still working!  When I took my degree in Economics the price of a stamp was 13 cents.  Still think you don’t need exposure to the stock market?

The market is a funny place.  It is the only business in the world when things are on sale, people don’t want to buy.  The greatest enemy of long term investment success is not ignorance, it is fear.  You see, fear leads to panic and panic breeds the inability to distinguish between temporary declines and permanent losses.  When people panic they don’t discriminate.  Since all market declines have been temporary and all advances permanent, we know the key to investment success is not found in intellectual babble like beta’s, standard deviations or chaos theory.  It’s time in the market.  Put time on your side.  The single greatest thing you have going for you is time because no one can successfully forecast interest rates over the long term and no one can forecast short to intermediate term stock market moves.  Long term the market always goes up, that is inevitable.  But, why do investors lose in the market and why has the average mutual fund investor only averaged a return of 2.7% per year in his mutual fund holdings?

I don’t mean to be critical, but most people invest through the rear-view mirror.  They buy mutual funds after they have gone up substantially.  They have bought into what I call the Sesame Street School of investing.  They buy into the hottest fund, in the hottest sector, in the hottest country, from the hottest brokerage firm and the one that has the most “stars” next to it in Money magazine.  Then what happens?  You know the drill.  They turn cold.  In fairly short order, a perfectly normal market correction comes along.  The cycle comes to an end.  Investing like that is like enlisting in the Taliban on September 12^th,  2001.  Yes, you are joining the proudest fighting force in the world that day.  Yes, your outfit just pulled off one of the greatest disasters of all time.  But you know what?  You are toast.  Your obituary is written.  It is all downhill. I have no wish to drive this message into the ground like a Cruise missile but I want to make one point very clear.  Pay attention.  At the end of an investor’s life, less than 5% of his total lifetime return will from what his investments did versus other investments.  The other 95% will come from how the investor behaved.

You see, I have a firm belief that there is absolutely no relationship between investment performance and investor performance.  Stock market success is a function of two things.  One, recognition that the markets will go down and sometimes go down a lot, and two, prepare to regard those declines as either non-events or buying opportunities and never as an occasion to sell.  With all certainty, I know that the most boring and mediocre stock fund in your portfolio, the one you hold onto during a vicious bear market is infinitely better than the world-class stock fund that you sell out of at the bottom of a temporary decline.  The secret to making big money in stocks is to not get scared out of them.  Americans, God bless them, are totally unable to distinguish between fluctuation and loss. The bottom line is this, and if you don’t believe me you have the right to be wrong, but don’t forget it, the higher your exposure to stocks as a percentage of your assets the better your overall return, over the long term.  In the long run, no one controls our investment fate.  We control it.  Believe it!    

 

 

Phil Purcell, old Morgan Stanley

Talking with the zombies on CNBC this morning he mentioned that half of a trillion dollars came out of Morgan Stanley retail accounts and went into fixed income over the last year or two. 

Think of that.     Long term, the survival rate for anyone in fixed income assets  will be near zero.

Liberal thinking........

The same liberals that blame guns when people kill each other now want to justify the attack on the U.S. embassy over an Internet movie.  The enemy is within.

9/11, May America never forget.............

This is why the maggots inside and outside of the United States need to be kept at bay.  Click on this link to a YouTube video that will require you wipe away some tears.  God Bless America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BEwY8uZ4BAI

Bail on GM

In all fairness to Obama...

GM didn't build those losses.

Taxpayers did that.

What a sick, twisted economic reality we live in.

The Obama Blood Pressure reading........

$5,000,000,000,000   over   4

This is Wade Nelson, talking straight!!!!

Wade runs a great web site at   hardcoreoutdoor.com

Wade calls it like it is........


OK, I will come right out and say it. I don't like anything about this guys (Obama's)  program and I am extremely concerned about where he is pushing this country. I know, he told us that he was all about fundamental change but I am sure that most people did not understand what he really meant. Now, almost four years later there can be no excuse for misunderstanding. He believes that more government, less responsibility and accountability on the part of citizens, er, those that live in America is the way to go. I disagree with every fiber of my being.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not a big fan of the current bunch of Republicans either. They have been equally culpable with the Dems in creating this mess (can you say sequestration) but I still believe there is a difference, however minute, in their approaches. If it were up to me I would fire all of them and start over but in leu of that, the Republican ticket (mostly because of the addition of Paul Ryan) is the lesser of the two evils.

Let's take stock of where we are right now as a country. We are $16 trillion in debt. Real unemployment (U6) is at 15%. The U.S. Tax code is more than 73,000 pages. Participation in welfare, food stamps, and disability programs is up dramatically. Our education system is producing students ranked worldwide as average and on a downward trend. In terms of politics, religion, gender, economics, sexuality, race, culture, morality, social class, and age, this society is more fractured than ever before. Political correctness slash sensitivity has run amok. The value of America as a brand around the world is falling. Morale and confidence in what the future holds for us is dropping. 66% of us believe that we are headed the wrong direction, the rest of us must be distracted by internet porn, the Kardashians, or Facebook which btw has lost half of it's value since going public and is still over valued in my opinion.

So, the way I see it, we are at a crossroads folks. We have an important choice to make in November. Are we going to side with those that take advantage or those that take responsibility? Future generations are going to look back at this time as a critical point. Will they blame us or praise us? I am voting for my childrens future.

Oh, for your information, I am a conservative and a registered Independent (for more than 20 years).

Lastly, it says E PLURIBUS UNUM on the Seal of the United States for a reason. Out of many, one or one from many. How ever you translate it, the meaning is the same. Diversity doesn't make us stronger, it makes us divided and weak.EDITORS NOTE - I received a big response to this post and let me just say that I am not trying to persuade those of you that support Obama. Experience has shown me that is no more possible than them persuading me. It reminds me of the argument between hunters and anti-hunters, both camps are entrenched and heavily invested in their positions with neither able to change the mind of the other. And that is fine, you libs are entitled to your opinions regardless of how utterly absurd and wrongheaded they might be.

By all accounts, conservatives still out number liberals in the United States by a significant margin. This post is a call to action, my way of trying to get the majority to understand what is at stake and to act accordingly. If you don't, and he wins a second term, you have only your own apathy to blame for what happens as a result.

Much has changed since the birth of this country but we still have the power to impose our will by voting for candidates whose core beliefs are consistent with our own. We simply have to do our homework, act and see that our friends do the same. Thanks.Wade Nelson
Editor Sorting through the fads and fashion of the outdoor equipment industry to identify and promote the very best wilderness gear for high end recreational users, backcountry professionals and government agencies.

We can be educated and persuaded but not bought, bullied or bs'd.

Hardcore Outdoor is dedicated to those who can't or won't turn back.

One Big Nasty Carnivore........

My government at work.... the GA DOT asleep

If I had a single dollar for every headline, meeting, public relations release and press briefing by our esteemed "transportation" officials on how they are going to make Georgia 400 "better", (I use that term loosely, it should be gridlock officials) I would be able to pay down the Obama deficit. 

Taxpayers, I know they are  a foreign idea to a government official,  continue to be abandoned by the Georgia DOT in so many ways.  Rail, light rail or trolley might be a serious consideration.  A decade ago they said frontage roads on 400 would be the cat's meow to alleviate congestion.  Not a frontage road in sight yet.  It's ugly out there.

Here is some more waste of taxpayer dollars without somebody doing some actual thinking.

Traffic cameras along Ga. 400 remained on the blink Friday, apparently because of the repeated thefts of copper and fiber-optic wiring that connects the cameras to the state Department of Transportation’s nerve center.
The feeds from a pair of cameras on Ga. 400 at the Chattahoochee River in Sandy Springs first went dark during the afternoon rush hour on Aug. 27, and when police officers checked on the cameras, “they realized copper and fiber had been stolen from a junction box,” Sandy Springs police Capt. Keith Zgonc said.
Early Thursday, all of the cameras up and down Ga. 400 were out, from Sandy Springs to Alpharetta, and the DOT told the AM750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB Traffic Center that it was again due to the theft of wiring. The cameras remained off line early Friday.
Efforts by the AJC to contact the DOT for specifics on the latest outages were unsuccessful, but last week, spokesman Mark McKinnon said the agency was “having a real problem with people going out and taking that copper.”
“Having those cameras operable is important,” McKinnon said. “That’s what helps your average motorist get to work every day, that we’re able to see what’s going on out there.”
McKinnon said the thefts are also dangerous to the thieves.
“Someone could get themselves killed doing something like that,” he said.

Kaminsky on CNBC

Listening to him harp on the FB valuation is a hoot.

On IPO day he was the biggest tout/cheerleader on the boob tube.   Letting the world know just how lucky those Smith Barney legacy brokers were to be able to "get" so much stock for their Morgan Stanley Smith Barney clients.

Yuck.  And more yuck.

They got what they wanted...........

“I mean, when’s the last time we elected a president based on one year of service in the Senate before he started running?”—Bill Clinton

It's officially yours America..........

Mr. Invisible Obama

Was out kicking some footballs to my son today in my yard and President Obama stopped by.

Can you pick up the Secret Service agents in the trees?   It was really exciting. As he sat in the chair I started to quiz him on some of the great aspects of his Presidency.   We didn't get far.  He said I was too much like Dirty Harry for his liking. 

Europe's Money Problems

My first trip to Europe was in 1977, the year after I graduated from college.  I've had the good fortune to go back many times since.  Over the centuries, across Europe there have been many battles fought.   Today, there is a whale of a fight brewing and it may come sooner rather than later.  It's a fight for money.

It all comes down to this;  money and how much of it and under what circumstances and whether the nations with capital are willing to hand it to their neighbors and watch their credit ratings, their own cost of funding and their standards of living decline.

I will say it again.  Europe is in financial trouble.   May America  do the right thing and keep the printing presses from running to bail out any or all of these ignorant nations.   Our children and grandchildren deserve the best of what America has to offer.  My late Mother, Betty Parisian, always said to me that,  "God helps those who help themselves".   Let's leave Europe alone to help Europe.

They don't want to LABOR for peanuts.........

It's looking like some good old-fashioned BOO-YA for the metals..........

"Some 12,000 workers at a gold mine operated by Gold Fields have gone on strike, in the latest industrial strife to hit South Africa’s mining industry. Sven Lunsche, a spokesman for Gold Fields, said the wild-cat strike was not directly related to the crisis at the Marikana platinum complex, where 44 people have been killed in violence after rock drill operators downed their tools to demand higher wages on August 10. But he acknowledged that “the atmosphere in the mining industry is very volatile at the moment and this may have had an indirect impact on the situation". The bottom line: "The strike was costing the company 1,660 gold ounces of production a day, Mr Lunsche said." In other words in addition to the fear of a resumption in money printing by central bankers, the gold price will now have to deal with the added fear that supply disruptions just may hamper China's stealthy hording attempts to become the world's biggest holder of physical gold, or at least at sub $2000/oz prices.
Furthermore, it appears that where the striking miners of Lonmin and Gold Fields have boldly gone, many more local unionized workers are set to go as well, in the process shuttering the biggest industry in the Southern African nation:

The unrest at Marikana mines operated by Lonmin, the London-listed company, has been complicated by a dispute between the NUM and a rival union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, a newer body that has been making inroads into the platinum sector.

Amcu has no representation at the Gold Fields mine, although it has previously attempted to recruit members there. Industry officials have said the fact that gold producers use collective bargaining to negotiate with unions should reduce the risk of the kind of dispute afflicting Lonmin spreading to that sector.

But the Marikana crisis has triggered nervousness throughout the industry, while also putting focus on what appears to be growing dissatisfaction among workers with the NUM, which has been the dominant union in mining for three decades.

Lesiba Seshoka, a spokesman for the NUM, said the union had sent a team to the KDC mine to see what the workers’ concerns were. But he said suggestions that it was related to an internal union dispute at the mine were “not true”.

As a reminder, South Africa is the world's third largest producer of gold in the world (although the output has been steadily declining year after year), and the broader mining accounts for just under 20% of the country's GDP.

Eastwooding..............