As the editor of the Silver Bear Cafe, I spend most of my time researching current events. I explore the markets, the economic war that is being waged on the middle class, precious metals, the Federal Reserve, energy, and how to go about surviving financially. In this weekly column I will attempt to condense the week's events and examine how the news might affect your pocketbook. JSB

Financial Markets

I have been keeping a close eye on the Treasury Bond Market lately. I believe it to be one of the most telling bell weathers of the overall market in general. The rapidly climbing yield on the 10-year Treasury tells me that the Federal Reserve has lost all control. Although this portends badly for the economy, it may be the first step in a normalization of markets. How about that? Ben Shalom Bernanke's failures might actually be good for the economy. This should actually have been expected. After all, the real chairman of the Federal Reserve, you know, the one behind the curtain, is the devil, and you really couldn't expect him to help make anything better. ;-)

Although I realize that rising rates will decimate the American Stock markets, the increased yields may placate foreign bond holders for a little while. With the realization that the Chinese could turn the dollar to dust at any moment by simply liquidating their treasury holdings, we might have temporarily "dodged the bullet". When I say "temporary" I 'm talking about weeks. As Fabrice Drouin Ristori put it, Ben Bernanke has had a "Syrian Moment". Just as Obama lost the confidence of the world when he had his "Syrian Moment", a couple of weeks ago, Ben has had confidence lost in him as well. When the world loses confidence in those attempting to micro manage the economies of the world, the financial landscape can change overnight.

In the next week or so our bozos in Washington will announce that they have solved the problem and the charade will seemingly end. They will figure out a way to put off the catastrophic collapse for just a little longer and the markets will rejoice. I see one more rally in the very near future which will precede a long and drawn out crash.

Oh, by the way, did you hear? On accout of the shutdown, Obama closed the ocean, You can't make this stuff up. To quote Bugs Bunny, "What a maroon".

From Capitan Hook:

'Scary monsters, super creeps, keep me running, running scared.'

Borrowing this sentiment from David Bowie's classic we have a message all would do well heeding moving forward in this rapidly debasing society – be afraid – be very afraid of what I call – the bureaucracy. And while it may not be accurate to wrap such a complex ideological around one term, which includes not only ever so hungry bureaucrats, but also ever so unprincipled politicos, business leaders, and high-level bankers – the terms plutocracy or kleptocracy don't quite cover it due to the wide spread nature of the rot (although these elements are of course primary perpetrators), so we went with bureaucracy because what we are talking about here is too broad to blame just the 'powers that be' even though they are the ultimate cause / enablers of our deteriorating condition. (i.e. because we are all enablers in our apathy.)

Because we are all to blame; and there are many different varieties of scary monsters and super creeps to be found in this embroil. However a preponderance of blame should fall squarely where it belongs, on a corrupt establishment (unprincipled politicos, business leaders, and high-level bankers), selling moral bankruptcy in order to maintain the empire. And honing in on what we will label the 'ultimate perpetrators', we have the moneychangers, with the Federal Reserve at center (think Creature From Jekyll Island), who have literally devastated the larger economy for their own benefit, primarily reflected in extremes being our youth and retirees. Because no matter who is really behind the curtain pulling the levers, ultimately it's Fed policy that has sponsored the serial bubbles witnessed over the past 15-years that has also destroyed the middle-class, although most still don't know it – or are in denial.

Along this line of thinking, the moneychangers think they are 'real cute' right now because money printing just is enough money to keep prices stable so they can continue milking the masses. That's the game bankers have played throughout the ages, sometimes moving to extreme (think usrery), like right now. How the situation is being contained (prices stable) is the Fed pays its commercial banks interest on deposit with them so they don't lend this money into the economy, controlling the effects of QE. And the commercial banks are happy to speculate with excess reserves in the financial markets, leveraging off their balance sheets, rather than have price inflation skyrocket at the consumer level by making credit available to the little people. This will change when they see the need for increasing inflation down the road, likely after a deflationary event possibly coming in 2014 (which will re-ignite precious metals as well), but it's not here yet. (i.e. because in addition to the monetary base growing, money supply growth would accelerate as well.)

On the Economc War Front

It occurred to me the other day that my anger, which is a product of the tyrannical machinations of our elected and appointed federal officials, is often directed at the President. It then occurred to me that my anger was being misdirected. Obama is simply a puppet. Only a child (or a moron) would get worked up, emotionally, over the actions of a puppet.

I remember having my mood adjusted by the antics of Howdy Doody. The villain on the show, Phineas T. Bluster, often invoked the boos and jeers of the audience in the Peanut Gallery. As children, we were gifted with the innocence of youth and the ability to be transported to the land of pretend.

Consequently we have been, once again, sequestered into the land of pretend. The downside seems to hinge on the fact that the pretense is very much like a bad dream. Obama, personally, is grossly unqualified for the position that he purports to occupy. He is a world class liar, but aside from that, he does not stand out in either accomplishments or experience. He pretends to be a leader. He pretends to be an academic. He may have been presented a degree from a prestigious university but so what? 90% of all the players in the NFL received degrees from prestigious universities. Very few, if any of those players could pass the entrance exam to the university they graduated from.

All I'm suggesting is that an advanced degree does not, necessarily, denote an advanced education. Obama has exhibited a woeful lack of knowledge on, almost, every level of his involvement in the White House. He doesn't even golf very well, which is surprising, considering all the practice he gets. Although his history has been conveniently removed from the public eye, those of his handlers and sponsors have not. He is the product of the Chicago Democratic Political Machine which is, and has been, presided over by an extreme Marxist Neo Con Cabal for the last several decades.He has turned out to be, a less-than-exemplary mouth piece for the Darkside. He is beginning to embarass them.

This week's essay in the "Economic War" spotlight is another contribution from Brandon Smith. He explores some of the the villainous historical figures that we love to hate. Could those have been puppets too?

From Brandon Smith:

The high priests of academic and "official" history love a good villain for two reasons: First, because good official villains make the struggles and accomplishments of good official heroes even more awe-inspiring. And, second, because nothing teaches (or propagandizes) the masses more thoroughly than the social or political lessons inherent in the documented rise and fall of the world's most despicable inhabitants. We get shivers of fear and excitement when we discuss the evils and the follies of ancient monsters like Nero, Attila the Hun, Caligula, etc, or more modern monsters, like Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, Goebbels, Mao, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, and so on. We take solace in the idea that "we are nothing like them", and our nation has "moved beyond" such animalistic behavior.

But even more fascinating popcorn-style history is found not in the destruction of tyrants, but the destruction of empires.

When an entire culture steps off the edge of the abyss into the realm of societal psychosis, the world often changes forever and in ways that, at least on the surface, seem to bring humanity a little closer together. The fall of Rome led to the eventual rise of a dominant Catholic theocracy and the rulership of royal blood lineage that lasted for centuries in Europe. The flames of World War I and the destabilization of the Kaiser's Germany led to the formation of the League Of Nations; a first attempt at a global governing authority designed to "maintain world peace". World War II and the fall of the Third Reich resulted in considerable horrors, which the establishment of the United Nations was supposedly meant to prevent from ever occurring again. The decline of the British Empire saw the implosion of cultural colonialism, and the rise of corporate colonialism, which centralized immense power into the hands of the banking class as the new official oligarchs of our modern era. The collapse of the Berlin Wall and the abandonment of the Soviet Union was lauded by then U.S. President George Bush as the beginnings of a "New World Order" - an ideological concept which heralds the final deterioration of the idea of economic and political sovereignty as a mainstay of human civilization.

When examining the approved version of historical conflict, one gets the overwhelming impression that the villains of our past, through their hubris, their greed, and their insanity, seem to inspire a sudden surge of unification as their ashes are cleared from the air. One might even come to believe that the "natural progression" of conflict is leading us towards a future in which the only solution is the dissolution of all boundaries and the adoption of a one world narrative. Wouldn't it be glorious if the deaths of these malevolent tyrants and societies finally inspired the birth of a single human system in which no conflict is possible because we are all on the same side?

Perhaps it would be glorious, if you have adopted the childish notions of history common to the mainstream. For those who have not, the story, and the ultimate solutions to the ills of mankind, become a little more complicated...

Precious Metals

As the editor of the Silver Bear Cafe, I try to focus on the ramifications of world events. I try to understand how what's going on now will affect your pocketbook next week, next month, next year. It is my sole intent to help you consider the possibilities which will, in turn, help you prepare for your financial future.

One of the most important aspects of your financial survival concerns your understanding of the nature of money. If you believe that precious metals do not constitute "money", you may have been misled. If you have been misled, who misled you? Why? And "What's wrong with this picture"?

What is money? The whole point of money is suppose to be the provision of a convenient and liquid medium that can be exchanged for less liquid value. It is a go between. One strives to accumulate money so it can be exchanged for something else.

In our illustrious history, we humans have tried everything from salt to sardines as a medium of exchange, but nothing has seemed to work as well as gold and silver. A person bringing a relatively illiquid item to market could swap it for gold or silver, secure in the knowledge that the metal would retain its value for as long as he chose to hold it and would be accepted as payment for anything he wanted when he chose to spend it.

The condition that your gold and silver will retain its value for as long as you chose to hold it is the most valuable characteristic of the "barbarous relics", and provides the fodder for me to champion the cause of precious metals ownership, and for my ensuing attack on the debasement of the American dollar.

Man has an innate desire to obtain and own gold and silver. That we seek to possess precious metals seems as naturally entrenched in our collective psyche as any other instinct. The possession of wealth, in the form of gold and silver, has always represented power and control. There is nothing wrong or unnatural to desire power and control. The power to control one's destiny through the accumulation of wealth is not only natural, it is healthy. This natural desire is the basis of our capitalistic system. The gold standard, as prescribed by our Constitution, is "the Law" that insures that the "power and control" that is provided by wealth, cannot be abused. Those who would seek to abuse the power of wealth would consequently have to break "the Law." "The Law" has been broken.

In 1792 the U. S. Coinage Act was passed by Congress. It invoked the death penalty for anyone debasing money and provided for a U.S. Mint where silver dollars were coined along with gold coins beginning in 1794. The text of Coinage Act of 1792 states: "The Dollar shall be of the value of a Spanish milled dollar as the same is now current," that is, running in the market, "to wit, three hundred and seventy-one and one-quarter grains of silver."

To repeat, A "dollar" is a silver coin containing three hundred and seventy-one and one-quarter grains of silver — and it cannot be changed by constitutional amendment, definitionally, any more than the term "year" can. Since the dollar has been irrefutably and grossly debased (it's certainly not worth three hundred and seventy-one and one-quarter grains of silver) who has been put to death? Who needs to be? To revisit a grand idea I came up with a couple of weeks ago, those former members of our government who are/were guilty of debasing our currency need to be dug up and hung, right next to those who are currently responsible. So many politicians, so few lamp posts...

From Gijsbert Groenewegen:

Especially since the bear raid on gold in April physical demand has taken off and in particular in the Far East. Whilst the West is mainly characterized by short-term gold speculation/trading using futures (paper gold and silver) China, India, Indonesia and other Far Eastern countries are mostly interested in the long-term or physical gold. It is the difference between the so-called weak hands and strong hands. It is the difference between investors that are not really committed to holding gold and silver for the long term and are just interested in making a paper profit or that will sell or have to sell their gold and silver when the markets move adversely. The strong hands will hold on to their physical gold because of what it represents, an insurance against the irresponsible monetary policies and the potential consequences for the financial system. They don't buy paper gold because of its counter party risk, which defies the real purpose of holding physical gold and silver in the first place.

My points is that these bear raids are making the case for a sustained rally, the strongest we will see so far, more and more likely. Because more and more strong hands, convinced investors (long-term and thus physical investors) are buying physical gold and silver because they regard the gold and silver prices as very cheap. And what is their yardstick for cheap? It is their conviction, intuition that things don't add up n'importe quai what Governments and their statistics are saying. So when most of the gold and silver is in strong hands short sellers will be easily taken to the cleaners because there will be hardly any supply.

Next to that most likely the Western central banks will have to restock their inventories in order to deliver the gold to the central banks they have been a custodian for. Surely under these circumstances of a tight gold market and the risk that you can't get your hands on the physical gold Germany, Poland and Finland will not be satisfied with paper money. Next to that the Chinese, and other emerging countries, are continuing to increase their gold reserves at an accelerated pace. Chinese imports for the first half were up 54% to 706 tonnes whilst for July alone they were up 70% to 129 tonnes totaling 835 tonnes for the first 7 months. China consumed 832.18 tonnes in all of 2012. China's government has urged national gold producers to boost the development of overseas resources in neighboring countries and Africa and Latin America, according to its 12th Five-Year Plan, which ends in 2015!

Energy

There are those who would have us believe the sky is falling. When it comes to the "Economic Sky", I suppose I would be one of them. Concerns about Global Warming, however, amount to something quite different. My motives are pretty straight forward. I simply want enough Liberty minded Americans to be prepared when the bankster induced economic shit storm arrives on our doorsteps. On the other hand, the idea of Anthropogenic ( man-made ) Global Warming is manufactured propaganda, the intention of which is to control large segments of the population through fear.

Our planet has been slowly warming since last emerging from the "Little Ice Age". That event (the emergence) came about in the 17th century. The "Little Ice Age was preceded by the "Medieval Warm Period", in which temperatures were about the same as they are today.

If warming and cooling cycles are natural, and have more to do with solar activity than with the bad habits of the world's human population, then why are we being misled? What is the agenda of those who disseminate this misinformation in an attempt to coerce and control us. Might they be suggesting that a massive global depopulation campaign be necessarily launched? This is the design of the New World Order whose puppet organization, the United Nations, intends to facilitate the enslavement of humanity through the implementation of Agenda 21.

"In searching for a common enemy against whom we can unite, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill …. All these dangers are caused by human intervention in natural processes, and it is only through changed attitudes and behavior that they can be overcome. The real enemy then is humanity itself." (The First Global Revolution, the Club of Rome.)

From Michael Snyder:

Are you ready for bone-chilling cold this winter? The Old Farmer’s Almanac and other weather forecasters that rely on solar activity as a factor in their weather forecasts are projecting that this upcoming winter will be bitterly cold. Solar activity is at a 100-year low, and even though we were supposed to be in the midst of a solar maximum this year, our sun has been eerily quiet. So precisely what in the world is going on?

There have been other periods throughout history when solar activity has been extraordinarily quiet, and those times have corresponded with periods of extreme cold.  For example, the “Maunder Minimum” which stretched from 1645 to 1715 corresponded with the most bitterly cold period that the earth experienced in the last 1000 years.  So could we be heading toward another “mini-ice age”?  That is a question that some scientists are now beginning to ask.

Clearly, something unusual is happening with our sun.  The following is from a Universe Today article that was posted back in July…

Our nearest star has exhibited some schizophrenic behavior thus far for 2013. By all rights, we should be in the throes of a solar maximum, an 11-year peak where the Sun is at its most active and dappled with sunspots.

Thus far though, Solar Cycle #24 has been off to a sputtering start, and researchers that attended the meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Physics Division earlier this month are divided as to why.“Not only is this the smallest cycle we’ve seen in the space age, it’s the smallest cycle in 100 years,” NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center research scientist David Hathaway said during a recent press teleconference conducted by the Marshall Space Flight Center.

The Fed

On June 4, 1963, a virtually unknown Presidential decree, Executive Order 11110, was signed by the President, whose intention it was to strip the Federal Reserve Bank of its power to loan money to the Federal Government at interest. With the stroke of a pen, President Kennedy declared that the country would no longer put up with the usurious machinations of the privately owned Cartel. This Executive Order has never been repealed, amended, or superceded by any subsequent Executive Order. In simple terms, it is still valid.

When JFK signed this Order, it reiterated to the Treasury Department, that it had the Constitutional power to create and issue currency (money) thus eliminating the need to borrow at interest. This year, the U.S. will pay around $220 billion in net interest on its debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office - a figure that is expected to spiral ever higher in coming years. If, however, you added up all the "interest" that we have, over the years, paid to the FED, it would amount to trillions. I believe that if we repudiated the interest debt, and repossessed all the interest we have been unconstitutionally usurped by in the past, that we could all receive extremely large refund checks.

The "dog and pony show" that we are currently embroiled in, concerning the debt ceiling, is simply bad theater. The Federal Reserve was a felonious, unconstitutional contrivance to begin with, and its collection agency, the IRS is equally bogus. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) wasn't even created by an act of Congress!

By consulting the index for Chapter 3, Title 31 of the United States Code, one finds that IRS and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are not listed as agencies of the United States Department of the Treasury. The Internal Revenue Tax and Audit Service (IRS) is a For Profit, General Delaware Corporation. Incorporation date 7/12/33, file # 0325720. The fact that Congress never created a "Bureau of Internal Revenue" is confirmed by publication in the Federal Register at 36 F.R. 849-890 [C.B. 1971 - 1,698], 36 F.R. 11946 [C.B. 1971 - 2,577], and 37 F.R. 489-490; and in Internal Revenue Manual 1100 at 1111.2. You might as well send your income tax to a different Government contractor, Halliburton or Blackwater, they have as much authority to tax you as the IRS does.

President Kennedy's Executive Order 11110 gave the Treasury Department the explicit authority to issue silver certificates against any silver bullion, silver, or standard silver dollars in the Treasury. This meant that for every ounce of silver in the U.S. Treasury's vault, the government could introduce new money into circulation based on the silver bullion physically held there. As a result, more than $4 billion in United States Notes were brought into circulation in $2 and $5 denominations. $10 and $20 United States Silver Certificates were never circulated but were being printed by the Treasury Department when Kennedy was assassinated. One of Johnson's first mandates, upon ascending to the office of president, was to prevent the issuance of any just-printed silver certificates, and to remove from circulation the ones that had already been issued. Had the currency been allowed to circulate, and bills that were backed by real value made available, Federal Reserve notes would have gone the way of the Dodo bird. After all, who would want a piece of paper backed by nothing? That kind of paper is generally used exclusively in bathrooms. When considered in this light, another motive for Kennedy's death becomes, even more, apparent. Some very interesting research has been recently conducted that suggests a new slant on his assassination, none of which includes the likes of Lee Harvey Oswald.

Mr. Bonner's recent contribution explores how the Fed's twisted influence has rendered the markets perverse and irrational.

From Bill Bonner:

'Oh! what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive!' - Walter Scott, 'Marmion'

In August, our hypothesis was that we would see falling US stock markets and rising gold prices as the dominant trends of fall. So far, we haven't seen much in the way of trends at all.

Last week's Federal Reserve 'no taper' announcement should have been followed by robust increases in stock and gold prices.

But what happened instead?

After the first day, both stocks and gold headed down.

Some possible causes...

What if the economy were not really recovering at all? You've seen the evidence. Lowest household income since 1984. Falling wages. Fewer people working (as a percentage of the working age population) than ever. Industrial output barely positive.

And what if Federal Reserve policy is the main driver of US stock prices? And what if investors had already priced in 'QE Forever'? Then where could they go? Only down, right?

Every government wants to manipulate the value of its currency. It will always say it's acting in the name of some public good - to protect citizens' savings...to promote employment...or to stimulate a recovery.

You don't have to be a crusty cynic to understand the real reason: to help the ruling elite transfer more power and money to itself.

Rarely has that been more apparent than in Venezuela, where Hugo Chavez restricted free trading in the local currency, the bolivar, to promote his own political ambitions. Most prominent among those ambitions was his desire to be re-elected. And the way to be re-elected is to give (or appear to give) something to the masses that they couldn't get on their own. That, dear reader, is why seven out of ten American families get more from the feds than they pay in taxes. Government confers on its favourites the right to lie, cheat, steal...and even to murder other people.

In a democracy, the will of the majority must be won with these tools; they are all government has to work with. (Government produces no wealth, so it has nothing to offer otherwise.) Typically, shrewd leaders offer giveaways to the poor; dollar for dollar, their votes come cheaper than those of the rich. One of those giveaways is artificially low consumer prices.

The demagogue announces to the masses, for example, that he will 'not permit the evil capitalists to raise prices on milk and bread and other basic food items'. That's always a crowd pleaser. But the demagogue runs into problems when he is simultaneously ripping off rich and poor by exploding the monetary base. This can cause prices to rise. If he isn't careful, people will catch on. So, he is forced to lie about the source of inflation and put on price controls. Shortages inevitably follow, causing inappropriate investment, consumer binges and other problems...which eventually overwhelm the economy. But the lying, cheating and stealing can be fun while they last - which can be a long time. In Mr. Chavez's case, they lasted longer than he did.

Financial Survival

California Senator Dianne Feinstein has proposed an amendment to the Media Shield Law that would ignore the protection afforded by the First Amendment and would limit the law's protection only to "real reporters," not bloggers and other upstart alternative media types (like me).

Ms. Feinstein is a fascist, pure and simple. She is a twisted troll and a world class control freak. She actually believes that her position as a corrupt and remorseless politician somehow entitles her to dismiss, as privilege, our basic rights as human beings. These are God given rights that just happen to be cataloged in the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. She has no problem dismissing the most fundamental right there is, to speak freely.

She is also one of the most outspoken proponents of gun control. The right to own and bear arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment of our Constitution. It has nothing to do with hunting wild game, or defending ourselves from each other, but has everything to do with defending ourselves from would be governmental tyrants. Ms. Feinstein fits that bill to a tee. Whenever any politician mentions "hunting" in reference to the Second Amendment, you can be sure that it is out of concern for his/her well being and not yours.

Total free speech is the main tenet of freedom. Our basic liberty depends on it. Those that would take it away are out to enslave you. Ms. Feinstein is not known as a friend of freedom. The Senator's efforts to clamp down on free speech is in no way in the interest of the American people. Her efforts are in her interest, and those of her sponsors who fear an empowered American public.

This week, as the White House issued orders to shutdown the ocean and numerous private businesses who's proximity to National Parks was proffered as a legitimate reason to assert its unfound authority, the dictatorial agenda of our present administration has crawled out from under its rock and shown its ass in the light of day. And all this from an imbalanced moron with a Marxist agenda? Pleease!

From Rob Rinear:

If we hit the debt ceiling and they decide "nope, we're not going to increase it"….what happens? Again, we don't truly know. There are things that the President could do, but frankly none of them are completely legal. The one choice would be that we simply don't pay our bills.

I don't know if it is because I'm getting older, or that there's so much more instant communication, but it seems to me that the speed of the issues that come at us lately is astounding. It's like the economy is one of those old fashioned boardwalk attraction "bumper cars", bouncing off this disaster and careening into the next, only to crash head on into the next.

On Monday night, all "non-essential" people were furloughed in the Government as the Republicans and the Democrats each stood their ground and decided to put on some Masterpiece Theatre. While that is indeed newsworthy, it is just yet another in a long and growing string of negative newsflow that bombards us almost daily. For instance, before we even get this Government shutdown solved we'll be dealing with the debt ceiling debates.

Some people thought that these were one and the same. Well it isn't. Basically the Government shut down is when our Congress can't come together on appropriations bills that are known as "discretionary" spending. So while the core expenditures like Social Security and paying our troops, and Medicare continue to function and be funded, the "non-essential" stuff comes to a halt. One of the sour grapes jokes that goes around is that if the 800,000 people getting furloughed are non-essential, why do we have them??

You must first realize that there are, present in our lives, enemies. You must then know who those enemies are and act accordingly.

Eliminate as much debt as possible, especially “variable rate” debt, such as credit cards and lines of credit. Interest rates will be rising, so the elimination of debt offers a “real return” of escaping rising rates by creditors.

Get some control over some fresh water.

If you are depending on Social Security, stop.

Follow the course opposite to custom and you will almost always do well...

Its not what you don't know that will screw you up, it's what you think you know that is wrong. The spin you hear from the mainstream media is intended to mislead you. Open your eyes and face the future. If you leave your head in the sand and ignore it, you are only leaving your butt exposed for the world to kick. This all may sound like gloom and doom, but when you get a handle on what is going to happen, you will have a future filled with opportunity. Fortune favors the Informed.

More next week...

May the Great Spirit be with you always,

Johnny Silver Bear
Chief cook and bottle washer, The Silver Bear Cafe

Disclaimer

All statements and expressions are the sole opinions of the editor and are subject to change without notice. A profile, description, or other mention of a company in the newsletter is neither an offer nor solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. While we believe all sources of information to be factual and reliable, in no way do we represent or guarantee the accuracy thereof, nor the statements made herein. The staff of Silver Bear Cafe are not registered investment advisors and do not purport to offer personalized investment related advice. The publisher, editor, staff, or anyone associated with, or associated to the Silver Bear Cafe may own securities mentioned in this newsletter and may buy or sell securities without notice.