Tyranny, guns and the statist alternative.

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 2:04 pm, April 16, 2013

The Second Amendment is not about hunting or protecting your house from burglars. It is about fighting tyranny.Until recently, even big-time Democrats like Hubert H. Humphrey accepted this truth: “The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarante…

Colorado Democrat Lawmakers to Sanction Voter Fraud

by Michelle Morin | 4:14 pm, April 15, 2013

by Michelle Morin The leftist petri dish gets murkier everyday here in Colorado. Our state will be called Commun-orado after this one passes. The Colorado Legislature has dropped HB 13-1303 which is nothing more than government sanctioned voter fraud. The bill is in its first House Committee as I write this today, April 15th. Among [...]

Those budget ‘cuts’ are actually spending increases

by Mike Krause | 3:56 pm, April 15, 2013

At CompleteColorado.com’s new Page Two, Independence Institute senior fellow Barry Fagin warns against getting faked out by the Orwellian language trickery being used in the ongoing budget debate in Washington, DC: We’ve all heard the typical media spin on the budget negotiations. The Democrats are proposing a “balanced” plan of spending cuts and tax increases, [...]

Hey, Colorado: Billion Dollar K-12 Tax Hike OR End the Education Plantation?

by Eddie | 1:27 pm, April 15, 2013

Often it’s very easy to get bogged down in a big education policy debate like Colorado’s SB 213 school finance reform proposal. Then along comes a Denver Post op-ed piece by a motivated citizen that exhales a breath of fresh air: Colorado currently spends about $10,600 per student per year on K-12 education. You can [...]

War on Rural CO: Economic impact of SB 252

by amy | 11:53 am, April 15, 2013

The impact of SB 252, a bill to raise the renewable mandate on rural electric cooperatives, will be devastating to rural Colorado according to Dr. Roger Bezdek, Founder and President of Management Information Services, Inc. Bezdek released a report titled “The Economic and Jobs Impact of the Proposed Colorado RES” that predicts that, if passed, SB [...]

Sunday night and gold and silver are crashing

by Rossputin | 9:37 pm, April 14, 2013

I don’t know what it will look like in the morning, but gold and silver are following their massive Friday sell-offs with more massive selling on Sunday evening.

Gold is down about $58 from Friday’s close as I write this (almost 4%), to $1443. It closed Thursday around $1560.  So down about 7.5% in less than two trading days.

Silver is down $1.65 from Friday’s to $24.65.  (6.3%) It closed Thursday around $27.60. So down almost 11% in less than two trading days.

By any normal metric, these metals have crashed. If these were the stock market, they would rank among the sharpest 2-day crashes in history. Not counting the crash of 1929, I think only 1987 would be bigger than silver’s crash, though I’m not 100% sure.

Here’s one interesting story. The summary: Near-legendary silver investor Eric Sprott has been selling large quantities of his own silver trust, and he says that he’s using some of the money ” to buy shares in silver mining companies, which he believes will outperform the metal itself on the next rally.”

One thing which I think is very interesting in the market is that while oil is also going down, this sort of selling would normally accompany a big rise in the USD and a big sell-off in stocks, but that’s not happening. (There’s been a very slight rise in the USD over the past day or two and slight selling in the stock market.)

What this says to me is that the selling is about two things: First, fundamental issues: fear of a marginal global slowdown, but mostly a slowdown in China. And fear that Cyprus, and then other European weaklings might need to sell gold reserves.

Second, and this is really what is happening today, there are massive margin calls in silver and gold and anticipation that the public is getting washed out of the SLV and GLD ETFs, causing massive selling pressure in the spot and futures markets. These redemptions cause further margin calls among the investors with the weak hands, and it snowballs until the public is out and/or those who are short jump in and cover. But the weak public is much bigger and the short pros. Furthermore, there are fast-money traders who simply follow momentum, and will be selling just because it seems like the path of least resistance.

One reason I think this second issue is the key to current trading is that base metals, which followed gold and silver down pretty closely in percentage terms on Friday are down much less (but still down) on Sunday night, with lead and zinc each down less than 1%, and copper just over 1%. The public is not in base metals, so are not being panicked and margin-called out of those metals.

For those (like me) who have any investment exposure to precious metals, the past few months have been very bad, with the past few days being a true disaster. I wonder how people like Glenn Beck, who advertise aggressively for gold-selling firms on their radio shows, will feel as they read these tea leaves. I’m sure Mr. Beck’s money is where his mouth is, and I’m not suggesting that he’s hawking something he doesn’t believe in. I’m simply saying that when you hear ads for any financial asset all over TV and radio, it’s only a matter of time until that asset crashes. The most surprising thing about the metals is that they didn’t crash sooner.

All that said, I imagine we’re close to a bottom in these things, especially silver. But catching a falling commodity is at least as dangerous as catching a falling knife.

Scholarship Tax Credits Could Help Denver, Aurora HS Students Overcome Challenges

by Eddie | 11:05 am, April 12, 2013

For those who long have rolled up their sleeves to try to improve student learning, the cause of urban high school reform remains one of the most daunting tasks. Even in areas where the most concentrated and sustained efforts at reform have taken place, the promising results have been very limited. Enter a brand new [...]

Education Wonk Fest Tonight on Devil’s Advocate

by Mike Krause | 10:56 am, April 12, 2013

Friday night means public affairs tv with the Independence Institute, so set your TiVO to wonk. First at 8:00, catch research director David Kopel on Colorado Inside Out. Then stay tuned for Devil’s Advocate at 8:30 as guest host Ben DeGrow is joined by Frederick Hess, director of education policy studies at American Enterprise Institute [...]

Keep this story alive….please.

by Robt Ball | 10:49 am, April 11, 2013

Be the voice America needs and keep this story alive. The Main Stream Media stopped doing their job a long time ago. Anything that might hurt “their guy” is ignored. Heroes are dead.  We need the truth.

Colorado State Patrol Training UPDATE – Responses from Prowers County Sheriff & the CSP

by Michelle Morin | 2:17 am, April 11, 2013

by Michelle Morin This is an update to my 4/7/13 post, “Colorado State Patrol – Christians Need to be Watched, Treated with Caution.” Since posting this, both the Prowers County Sheriff and the Colorado State Patrol have responded.  Here’s what each has said. From the Prowers County Sheriff Jim Faull: PROWERS COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE MEDIA [...]

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