Gold & Precious Metals

A Primer for Investing in Canadian Farmland.
“Put your money in land, because they aren’t making any more of it!” – Will Rogers. When I think about burying some serious money for the long run, I think of farmland. I’m very bullish on Canadian farmland. My reasons: 1) Canadian farmland is very productive; 2) low cost on a global basis; 3) Canada is a stable country with a very adequate supply of water, energy and fertilizer; and 4) even the weather is cooperative as its growing season gets a little longer each year.
Some of Rick’s readers ask for more details. When ever you invest in land as a non-resident, you need to check the local laws. For example, when I was a farm realtor I had a group of Italians interested in buying a 2000-acre farm in Illinois. Now Illinois has a law prohibiting non-resident aliens from owning farmland. But it doesn’t prohibit corporations from buying farmland. So, we created a corporation and bought the farm.
How does this apply to buying a Canadian farm?
…..read more HERE

The Dow made another post-financial crisis rally high Thursday. To provide some further perspective to the current Dow rally and in response to several requests, all major market rallies of the last 111 years are plotted on today’s chart. Each dot represents a major stock market rally as measured by the Dow with the majority of rallies referred to by a label which states the year in which the rally began. The difference between today’s chart and last week’s chart is that for last week’s chart a rally was defined as an advance that followed a 15% correction (i.e. a major correction). For today’s chart, however, a rally is being defined as an advance that follows a 30% decline (i.e. a major bear market). As today’s chart illustrates, the Dow has begun a major rally 13 times over the past 111 years which equates to an average of one rally every 8.5 years. It is also interesting to note that the duration and magnitude of each rally correlated fairly well with the linear regression line (gray upward sloping line). As it stands right now, the current Dow rally that began in March 2009 (blue dot labeled you are here) would be classified as well below average in both duration and magnitude.
Notes:
Where’s the Dow headed? The answer may surprise you. Find out right now with the exclusive & Barron’s recommended charts of Chart of the Day Plus.

While Greece has been criticized for just about everything, especially about going on a debt binge, to be fair, that is the kettle calling the pot black. Let’s be honest. ALL Western governments have been doing the same thing. Greece is merely the PRELUDE to the Decline & Fall of Western Society.
….read more HERE
MF GLOBAL Continues to Undermine the US Financial Markets and the Rule of Law
The trustee overseeing MF Global’s liquidation has come out and confirmed that the amount of customers’ funds of the failed brokerage are now expected to be at least $1.6 billion. This gap has now risen from the previous estimate of $1.2 billion. This is the biggest financial crime perhaps in history far worse than Madoff. This is the outright theft of client funds that nobody is being called to account for no less the recipients of such funds being made to return them.
About $1.2 billion previously reported as missing has been traced to customer accounts and banks.
…read more HERE

Analyst and author of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer offers some historical trends on interest rates, monetary policy and what is still strong in America. Here is the direct audio link.
This chart since 1790 ties in nicely with discussion of the generational cycles in interest rates and underlines just how insanely low rates are today. Best advice to those still in debt: don’t use current rates to borrow more–use them to become debt free. History assures us that this-low-rate-time too shall pass. I personally look forward to the next phase where Central Banks are taken out of the driver’s seat, budgets are balanced, and markets are left to freely find fair value again. It is not a question of if–centuries of history tells us this will happen. The question is just how much mess and pain must intervene before they do.
Click on the Chart or HERE for a Larger Image
About Danielle & Juggling Dynamite:
Portfolio Manager, attorney, finance author and a regular guest on North American media, Danielle Park is the author of the best selling myth-busting book “Juggling Dynamite: An insider’s wisdom on money management, markets and wealth that lasts,” as well as a popular daily financial blog:www.jugglingdynamite.com
Danielle worked as an attorney until 1997 when she was recruited to work for an international securities firm. Becoming a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), she now helps to manage millions for some of North America’s wealthiest families as a Portfolio Manager and analyst at the independent investment counsel firm she co-founded Venable Park Investment Counsel Inc. www.venablepark.com. In recent years Danielle has been writing, speaking and educating industry professionals as well as investors on the risks and realities of investment behaviors.
A member of the internationally recognized CFA Institute, Toronto Society of Financial Analysts, and the Law Society of Upper Canada. Danielle is also an avid health and fitness buff.
