Jim Grant: How About Capitalism, Ben Bernanke ?

James Grant is interviewed on Bloomberg and the 13th of March 2012 after the federal reserve meeting.

He first talks about the Federal Reserve monetary policy and the bond market.

He explains that by distorting interest rates, the Federal reserve has suppressed price mechanisms and with little value in bonds (he calls the bond market a "desert of value"), many people flock to high yielding junk bonds.

Ben Bernanke

He also "translates" terms of Bernanke speech:

• Highly accomodative = high manipulative
• Quantitative easing = money printing

He explains that Gold price is a function of the action of central banks and note that the ECB has increased its balance sheet by an astounding 89% on an annual basis, the British central bank by 67% and the fed by only 15%. All those numbers are unprecedented and the way they do it is by simply taping numbers on a computer screen.

Jim Grant also took a stab at Warrent Buffet's "Stocks outperform Gold" by showing a chart between 1996 and today with the prices of Gold, sugar and Coca-Cola stock. During that period Gold was the best performer, followed by sugar and then Coca-cola. He explains that valuation is important. Whereas Coca-cola had a PE ratio of 39 in 1996, it now has a much better 16 PE ratio. He also mentioned that while Gold is now the refuge of the fearful, back in 1996, Gold was considered to be the refuge of the idiots. :)

Finally he says he's bearish on the Chinese economy and worries about the consequence of a Chinese slump, since many people think the Chinese have found the formula to make it work...

Marc Faber Warns of Major Financial Catastrophe

Marc Faber is interviewed live from Hong Kong by Fox Business on the 21st of September 2011.

Marc Faber says he can't predict when the crash will happen but the stock market is going down because it's discounting a very bad event. However he does not know what the event is yet.

Amazingly he also praised Bernanke. But that was because he did not expand the balance sheet.

Faber says government intervention has gone so far that reducing intervention and lowering the deficit will cause temporary pain. He predicts President Obama will do anything to get the votes including providing handouts.

Marc Faber: The Final Collapse Will Not Happen Right Now

Marc Faber interview on the Daily Ticker on the 9th of September 2011 where he explains he does not take into account government officials speeches and that Western citizen do not take their responsibilities like Asian citizens and always rely on the government to save them.

Finally, he says the US is worse than Europe, as European have savings, but the main advantage of the US is that they have the printing press.

The good news is that he does not believe the "Final collapse" will NOT happen right now :).

Marc Faber: Gold is Dirt Cheap Compared to the Value of Politicians

Marc Faber interview on the Daily Ticker on the 9th of September 2011 where he explains Gold real value could be between 6000 and 10000 USD.

Jim Rogers: This is the 70s Again

Jim Rogers is interviewed on Newsmax.tv on the 9th of August 2011.

He discusses the fiscal situation in the US, whether we are entering a new recession or we are in a depression. He also complains about all the mistakes the federal reserve has done by bailing people out.

If the market collapses further, he would cover his shorts and consider buying real assets (commodities). He expects Bernanke to print more money (but probably not call it quantitative easing) and that will lead to some real problems.

He's worried that gold went up too fast, expects a short term correction but does not plan to sell its gold and silver holdings.

Crude Oil may go down further, but if he does he'll buy more although he believes agricultural commodities should perform better.

He also explains his views on treasuries that he does not consider as a safe heaven and he's even shorting them.

Then they discuss the Chinese economy, where policy maker are trying to cool down the economy and reign in inflation (contrary to the US).

Finally, they talk about the US credit ratings, and he does not expect the US to get its AAA rating back during his life time and see more downgrades coming.