MINING.com editor Andrew Topf sits down with mining analyst Mickey Fulp, who topped the site’s list of recommended mining bloggers and newsletter writers. In this brief interview on the sidelines of the PDAC convention in Toronto, Fulp touches on gold stocks, current market volatility, and two metals he likes best right now: uranium and graphite.

Andrew Topf: What metals are you bullish on right now?
Mickey Fulp: Copper, gold and uranium, and I’ll put graphite into that too.
Andrew Topf: Right, graphite seems to be the belle of the ball right now.
Mickey Fulp: It is, it’s the next big thing it reminds me very much what happened with REEs in 2009. We’re building a bubble in graphite, every snake oil salesman, shark and charlatan is swimming aorund in Coal Harbor in Vanouver right now. Every Vancouver promoter is scurrying around trying to find a shell to throw a graphite project in, so it looks very much like the next big thing. Like other area and commodity plays the juniors will rush in and 95% of them will fail and the ones with good deposits and good business plans will succeed.

…..read the entire interview HERE

“Thousands upon thousands are yearly brought into a state of real poverty by their great anxiety not to be thought of as poor.” – Robert Mallett

I hear the term de-leveraging relentlessly from the mainstream media. The storyline that the American consumer has been denying themselves and paying down debt is completely 100% false. The proliferation of this Big Lie has been spread by Wall Street and their mouthpieces in the corporate media. The purpose is to convince the ignorant masses they have deprived themselves long enough and deserve to start spending again. The propaganda being spouted by those who depend on Americans to go further into debt is relentless. The “fantastic” automaker recovery is being driven by 0% financing for seven years peddled to subprime (aka deadbeats) borrowers for mammoth SUVs and pickup trucks that get 15 mpg as gas prices surge past $4.00 a gallon. What could possibly go wrong in that scenario? Furniture merchants are offering no interest, no payment deals for four years on their product lines. Of course, the interest rate from your friends at GE Capital reverts retroactively to 29.99% at the end of four years after the average dolt forgot to save enough to pay off the balance. I’m again receiving two to three credit card offers per day in the mail. According to the Wall Street vampire squids that continue to suck the life blood from what’s left of the American economy, this is a return to normalcy.  

The definition of normal is: “The usual, average, or typical state or condition”. The fallacy is calling what we’ve had for the last three decades of illusion – Normal. Nothing could be further from the truth. We’ve experienced abnormal psychotic behavior by the citizens of this country, aided and abetted by Wall Street and their sugar daddies at the Federal Reserve. You would have to be mad to believe the debt financed spending frenzy of the last few decades was not abnormal.   

The Age of Illusion
“Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces.” – Sigmund Freud

In my last article Extend & Pretend Coming to an End, I addressed the commercial real estate debacle coming down the pike. I briefly touched upon the idiocy of retailers who have based their business and expansion plans upon the unsustainable dynamic of an ever expanding level of consumer debt doled out by Wall Street banks. One only has to examine the facts to understand the fallacy of a return to normalcy. We haven’t come close to experiencing normalcy. When retail sales, consumer spending and consumer debt return to a sustainable level of normalcy, the carcasses of thousands of retailers will litter the highways and malls of America. It will be a sight to see. The chart below details the two decade surge in retail sales, with the first ever decline in 2008. Retail sales grew from $2 trillion in 1992 to $4.5 trillion in 2007. The Wall Street created crisis in 2008/2009 resulted in a decline to $4.1 trillion in 2009, but the resilient and still delusional American consumer, with the support of their credit card drug pushers on Wall Street, set a new record in 2011 of $4.7 trillion.     

…..read more HERE

Mark Leibovit  – STOCKS – ACTION ALERT – SELL (Looking to Buy In A Month or Two)

What’s interesting is that the year to date has been the best start in stock indices since 1998 according to Dow Jones Newswires. As of the close today this is the 45th consecutive day without a triple digit decline. A canary in the coal mine? Today is ‘Turnaround Tuesday’, so with markets down a bit yesterday perhaps we can stage a rally today. But wait! Tomorrow is ‘Weird Wollie Wednesday’ and often either tomorrow or Thursday, according to the lore, there should be a shakeout ahead of a week from Friday’s Options Expiration. Is all of this just noise? Well, maybe not. We’re approaching that time of year when the markets often experience some form of indigestion. Yesterday, though the volume was NOT excessive, nevertheless we did volume increase to the downside. Benjamin Netanyahu spoke last night (covered sole on Fox News) before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and warned that time is running out for Iran. Folks, brace yourself. Sometime before now and the end of May, we’re likely to see a full scale confrontation unfold as the Mayans watch from the heavens. Would this be a good time to be in the marketplace? Markets don’t like uncertainty. I think the answer is no. The 50 and 200 day moving averages in the S&P 500 current sit at roughly 1323 and 1270. These are the next two potential downside targets if the S&P 500 cannot post a new high between now and the first of April. Apple, Inc. took a bit of a nosedive today. If Apple can’t rally (and it was about the only big stock doing so), the writing may be on the wall. Think about it. I can’t imagine one mutual fund, one institution, one endowment or one growth portfolio not owning Apple. Everyone now owns it, but where are the buyers should these folks decide to sell? I have avoided Apple because it is technically way, way too, extended and would only arouse my interest if it sold off back into the low to mid 400s – maybe lower. I’ve changed my mind. Time to flip to a SELL signal. Let’s see where the market is come the beginning of April or even perhaps the end of May. If the market rallies a bit higher first and you decide not to sell here, I would use that strength to lighten up. Now is a time to step aside and watch from the sidelines. I still believe there could be another big rally, but let’s revisit this market in a month or two. I am going to cash! – Mark Leibovit – for a VRTrader TRIAL SIGNUP go HERE

Four Cycle Turns Warn of a Stock Market Top in March 2012

There is a lot of cycle evidence that suggests a top is coming in March 2012. How significant a top is hard to say, but the odds are the coming decline will be at least in the 10 percent area. If this coming top is the top of Grand Supercycle degree wave {III}, then stocks will begin a decline that could retrace 50 percent or more of the market over the next several years, with large chunks of decline occurring incrementally, followed by normal 40 to 60 percent retracements as stocks work toward significantly lower levels. This weekend we will present this cycle evidence, which we believe is compelling.

First of all, the last phi mate turn date was in December, which led to a two month rally of significance. It was a major phi mate turn. March 7th is the next phi mate date, and the only phi mate turn date since that December turn. It also is a major phi mate turn, meaning its phi mate, its partner date, was also a major turn.

….read & view more charts HERE

Over the past 5 months we have seen volatility steadily decline as stocks and commodities rise in value. The 65% drop in the volatility index is now trading at a level which has triggered many selloffs in the stock market over the years as investors become more and more comfortable and greedy with rising stock prices.

Looking at the market from a HERD mentality and seeing everyone run to buy more stocks for their portfolio has me on edge. We could see a strong wave of fear/selling hit the S&P 500 Index over the next two weeks catching the masses with their hand in the cookie jar . . . again.

If you don’t know what the volatility index (VIX) is, then think of it as the fear index. It tells us how fearful/uncertain investors are or how complacent they are with rising stock prices. Additionally a rising VIX also demonstrates how certain the herd is that higher prices should continue.

The chart below shows this fear index on top with the SP500 index below and the correlation between the two underlying assets. Just remember the phrase “When the VIX is low it’s time to GO, When the VIX is high it’s time to BUY”.

Additionally the Volatility Index prices in fear for the next 30 days so do not be looking at this for big picture analysis. Fear happens very quickly and turns on a dime so it should only be used for short term trading, generally 3-15 days.

Volatility Index and SP500 Correlation & Forecast Daily Chart: