A small rally ensued that continued into early New York trading on the Comex, but got capped…for the third day running…at 9:00 a.m. New York Time. From there, it got sold off gently for the rest of the day and into early trading in the Far East today.

Silver suffered the same fate, but managed to rally back into positive territory for the second day in a row…but was capped before it could get anywhere near its 20-day moving average, which is $17.14.

It’s still an open question whether the boys will try to take out the 200-day moving averages on this cycle, or have they already collected all the tech longs they can? I wouldn’t like to see it happen, because of the psychological damage it would do, but if the bullion banks want to do it…they can. Time will tell. Everyone talks about the ’summer doldrums’ in the precious metals. As you can see, there are forces out there that contribute to it.

Not surprisingly, gold open interest on Tuesday fell 5,490 contracts on the $17 swan dive in the gold price…and with silver squeezing out a few pennies of gain, o.i. rose 120 contracts. It would be wonderful if this gold o.i drop was in the COT tomorrow, as there has been huge liquidation since the Memorial Day long weekend…none of which was in last week’s report.

In the Bill King Report last night, there was the following comment…”At the end of 2007 the eight largest banks/brokers had over $500B of Level 3 assets, which represented over 90% of their capital. The amount of Level 3 (Mark to Myth) assets has increased in 2008.” This “Level 3″ debt isn’t worth much. Check out the ABX chart. For the first time, some of these “assets”…if you wish to dignify them with that name…are now worth less than a nickel on the dollar. The chart is here.

I have three stories today. The first is a short one about oil…and some comments that T. Boone Pickens had about the CFTC investigation into crude oil “manipulation” by “speculators”. The Bloomberg link is here.

The second story is about the Fed’s Treasury Auction Facility. As of May 1st, they are providing $150 billion/month in short-term loans to banks and brokerage firms to prevent a total melt-down. Their latest auction for a $75B tranch received 71 bids for $96.62B! From this, it’s easy to see how solid the US financial system really is…LOL! The link is here.

In another sure sign that all is not well, here is a story from The Telegraph in London entitled “Banks’ credit crisis solutions have echoes of 1929 Depression.” The link is here.

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend…if you have one.” – George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill…followed by Churchill’s response: “Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second…if there is one.”

Let’s see…Lehman was raising capital on Monday, and was rumored to be buying its own shares on Tuesday trying to support its stock price. Bernanke says that inflation is “significantly higher” than the Fed wants. And lastly, Moody’s has put Ambac’s Aaa credit rating up for review…after their stock has fallen from $95 to $2.50. Everything is fine.

See you on Friday.

Casey Research correspondent-at-large Ed Steer is a keen observer of the financial scene and a board member of GATA.org.

Source: And Then There’s This…Thursday, June 5th, 2008

Think about the American flag — 13 stripes and 50 stars, standing as it does as the nation’s essential patriotic symbol.

What Patriotism Really Means

The old saw is that “patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.” It’s true that far too many have used appeals to patriotism, (or nationalism), to cover their nefarious schemes for power.

But on this American Memorial Day we should consider that true patriotism denotes positive, supportive attitudes toward one’s country. Patriotism includes pride in one’s country and its achievements, in its culture and also identification with other people in the nation.

Patriotism implies that the country, however defined, offers moral standards and values — what it means to be “an American.” Patriotism also implies that individuals should place their nation’s interests above their personal or group interests. Indeed, in time of war, the ultimate sacrifice may extend to offering your own life on behalf of your country.

Remembering the Sacrifice Made in Blood

Memorial Day is a day when Americans should pause and focus on the ultimate price so many have paid over the centuries to win and preserve our freedom.

Each generation has taken up and continued the struggle to protect liberty. My father fought in France in 1918 and my older brother flew missions in a B-24 Liberator over Italy in 1944. Both have passed on now. Perhaps your family history is similar.
Young folks used to have a saying: “To die for.” It meant that some object or person is so enticing that you’re willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to obtain it.

But ask yourself this, how many Americans today would be willing to die for the freedoms and liberties we supposedly enjoy — as more than a million before us have done? And do we still enjoy the liberties for which they fought and died? Or have freedoms been slowly taken from us, devaluing the sacrifice of their deaths? Did they die in vain? In his eloquent Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln suggested that what we do as a people would determine the answer to that question.

Painting Politics by Numbers

Americans are overwhelmed by numbers. We’re surrounded by presidential preference polls, a bloated national debt, huge budget and trade deficits, highway fatalities, the number of forecasted hurricanes, crime statistics. But too many people seem more concerned about the latest American Idol winner than about how our freedoms are being systematically stolen away.

The cruelest numbers of all are those that seem so senseless.

Over 4,000 members of the American military have died in the Iraq war, as well as thousands more Iraqis and non-military American contractors. Whatever the merits of this war, each American and Iraqi casualty, many of them very young, were unique individuals. Each with his or her own life, loves and potential that now will go unrealized.

Was this really necessary? It’s worth considering in comparison that in all the wars America has fought, including our own Civil War; 1,290,200 have died. During Gen. Robert E. Lee’s first Confederate invasion of the North, at Antietam in my home state of Maryland, on Sept. 17, 1862 alone, more than 23,000 men were killed, wounded or missing.

What’s Worth Dying For?

Here in The A-Letter, we often speak of freedom and liberty, usually in terms of very real threats to both of these precious commodities.

To observe that so many have died in the American cause over so many centuries only accentuates the meaning and importance of the cause for which they gave their “last full measure of devotion” as Lincoln said.

They died before their time, with promises unrealized, in the service of their country. Their very real sacrifice for our liberties makes it all the more important that we guard against diminution of those liberties in our own time — whether the threat is from abroad, or from within our own government.

Today let’s remember the real meaning of Memorial Day and never forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our liberties.

God bless America,

BOB BAUMAN, Legal Counsel

Source: Did All Those Sacrifices Mean Anything?

Corporal Thomas W. Bennett of Morgantown, WV, a U.S. Army medic, is the only conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. He was killed in action on February 11, 1969. His name is one of 58,178 on The Wall.

The Morenci Boys

They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered.

They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest.

And, in the camaraderie typical of Morenci’s mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966.

Only three returned home.

Robert Dale Draper, 19, was killed in an ambush.
Stan King, 21, was killed less than a week after reaching Vietnam.
Alfred Van Whitmer, 21, was killed while on patrol.
Larry J. West, 19 was shot near Quang Nam.
Jose Moncayo, 22, was part of an entire platoon wiped out.
Clive Garcia, 22, was killed by a booby trap while leading a patrol.

They are six of the 58,178 names on The Wall.

The Neighbors

LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues.

They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam.

In a span of 16 days in late 1967, all three were killed there.

LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of JFK’s assassination.
Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day.
Tom was shot on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

They are three names of the 58,178 on The Wall

The List Goes On And On

The Vietnam conflict’s first battlefield fatality was Specialist 4 James T. Davis. He was killed on December 22, 1961.

The youngest Vietnam KIA is believed to be Dan Bullock at 15 years old.

The oldest KIA is believed to be Dwaine McGriff at 63 years old.
At least five 16-year-old US GIs were killed in Vietnam.
At least 12 17-year-old US GIs were killed in Vietnam.
At least 25,000 of the 58,178 dead were 20 years old or younger.
More than 17,000 of those killed were married.
Men killed on their first day in Vietnam – 997 (unconfirmed).
Veterans killed on their last day in Vietnam – 1,448 (unconfirmed).

The last American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Kelton Rena Turner, an 18-year old Marine. He was killed in action on May 15, 1975, two weeks after Saigon was evacuated.

Some historians, however, insist that Gary L. Hall, Joseph N. Hargrove and Danny G. Marshall were the last to die in Vietnam. The three US Marines Corp. veterans were mistakenly left behind on Koh Tang Island during the Mayaguez incident.

Gary, Joe and Danny are located on The Wall’s panel 1W, lines 130 – 131.

My Generation

More then ever, Memorial Day has become my generation’s responsibility.

We’re the majority now, but we do things differently… maybe, with the exception of Rolling Thunder, a little less demonstratively.

I know that can rankle older vets, along with the fact that we’re not huge into the VFW or Legion… hell most of us don’t even know where our DD214s are.

The most interesting thing I see each Memorial Day is that either advertisers wrap the flag around their products, or they use images from World War II.

But, as I mentioned, there are more of us than there are of the older vets, combined.

That leads me to believe that 33 years after Vietnam, we as a culture have not come to grips with it … outside of Hollywood … maybe we just hope to forget it happened.

So, do yourself a favor this weekend, take a moment to visit The Vietnam Memorial’s website at http://thewall-usa.com/index.asp. Take a moment to remember that no matter how you felt about that war, real humans … actual Americans paid the price.

And, be they pacifists or swifties, don’t ever let anyone imply that service in Vietnam was anything but honorable duty.

Peace

Andy

P.S. To let me know what you thought of today’s article, send an e-mail to: feedback@investorsdailyedge.com.
Source: 58,178 Reasons To Pause