Hosni Mubarak Style Politics: Triumph of the Shills

Mubarak has said he will not step down. But he has appointed several commissions to study the problem. He has also delegated his authority to the former head of the Secret Police, and the US intelligence agency's point man in the government.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

This cartoon has been recycled from the last US Presidential election.

Net Asset Values of Certain Precious Metals Trusts and Funds

Showdown in the Metals Markets: Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Silver is likely to lead the way higher from here, with gold following.

The suppression of the metals by the central banks since 1971 will not fall apart in a moment. But if there is a time to which people will later point and say, 'this was the turning point,' it is likely to be in the intital breakout of silver above twenty and of gold from its big cup and handle formation. To borrow an analogy from wartime, this was their Stalingrad, prelude to Kursk.

And the final turn and the beginning of the long retreat of the Central Bankers may lie ahead on the horizon. And what comes next, no one can say for certain, when the mighty are fallen.

“So farewell, farewell to the little good you bear me.
Farewell! a long farewell, to all my greatness!
This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hopes; to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honours thick upon him;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
And then he falls, as I do..."

Wm. Shakespeare, Henry the Eighth, Wolsey, Act 3 Sc 2