Jeb Handwerger makes some good points...

We are encountering storms in the market rarely seen. The volatility has affected many mining equities with many high quality assets selling at record low prices. Portfolios have rarely seen such see saw price activity as they have this year. Sacrosanct rules are simply not working. The markets are thwarting and aborting attempts to use time tested approaches.

The great Scottish Poet Robert Burns described the current market by writing, “the best made plans of mice and men go oft astray.”  He also observed “alas in this world there is more offal than poetry.”  But poetry hardly pays and compost does. Gold Stock Trades (GST) tries to tell it like it is. We do not use the technical jargon of the engineers and the economists that serve more to confuse and obfuscate the investor. In fact it was Einstein who stated, “the nth degree of complexity is simplicity.”  GST attempts to cut away the fat from the meat.

So how do we direct you through these present swamps of despond and misdirection? Remember the October 4th low and our GST reversal signal at 1074 on the S&P 500 made a “V” turnaround and vaulted to a new 52 week high. It remains to be seen whether the rally we have called will mark a rotation into the resource markets and precious metals.

 If blood is not flowing for mining investors, they are certainly coloring our screens red, while the moribund banks and housing stocks soar driving the S&P higher. Fundamentally something is just not right. The U.S. debt crisis is far from over and this basing period in precious metals and commodities may turn out to be an exceptional buying opportunity as investors rotate from overbought U.S. equities, treasuries and dollars into high quality wealth in the earth assets.  GOLD, SILVER & HUI CHART In such a scenario, the U.S. dollar and long term bonds by comparison looks attractive when stacked up against the crumbling currencies of the Eurozone.

The chart shows an anomaly occurring. In 2008 and 2010 during the credit crisis and sovereign debt crisis, the dollar and treasuries rallied together. In 2011 and 2012, treasuries hit record highs, yet the U.S. dollar is not at comparable levels. This may indicate that the greenback is losing the safe haven appeal of yesteryear. We note with interest that in 2011 the Chinese Metal Exchange in Shanghai made ominous noises about raising the margin rate on silver.

It would seem that the bankers consistently choose to handicap silver and gold while favoring U.S. bank stocks, dollars and treasuries. Eventually we believe this suppression of precious metals can only be kept down for a discrete period of time before the pressure mounts in the favor of gold and silver, as if and when Bernanke and his European colleagues return to the printing presses as they have done before and are now indicating to do again.

The miners (GDX)  are once again declining and are testing two year lows creating a firesale discount on blue chip producers. The miners are trading at a significant discount to gold at less than $1200 an ounce. Some top notch mining assets in the United States are trading at less than $17 an ounce of resource. This indicates investors are forecasting lower gold prices. We disagree and believe the crowd is wrong here. We are actually near a bottom in precious metals and miners. A turn around should be coming sooner rather than later.

For many months GST has said that there may be a master Keynesian strategy that is being followed to revive the moribund banks of Europe and the United States. This is an ideal time to make this move, the U.S. dollar appears to be stronger for the time being, U.S. bonds are selling at relatively record low yields, unemployment remains high, commodities/precious metals have significantly corrected and the risk of inflation has abated. In fact, they may be already printing LTRO 2 to staunch the Eurozone collapse.

Just as QE2 was used by the Federal Reserve Board to staunch the bleeding of the Eurozone in 2010, it is entirely possible that they will institute the latest version of can kicking down the road. Let us hope they “follow the yellow brick road” and we may witness a rotation from overbought equities into tangible assets, commodities

What is the DNS Changer Malware?

What is the DNS Changer Malware?

On November 8, the FBI, the NASA-OIG and Estonian police arrested several cyber criminals in “Operation Ghost Click”. The criminals operated under the company name “Rove Digital”, and distributed DNS changing viruses, variously known as TDSS, Alureon, TidServ and TDL4 viruses. You can read more about the arrest of the Rove Digital principals here, and in the FBI Press Release.

What does the DNS Changer Malware do?

The botnet operated by Rove Digital altered user DNS settings, pointing victims to malicious DNS in data centers in Estonia, New York, and Chicago. The malicious DNS servers would give fake, malicious answers, altering user searches, and promoting fake and dangerous products. Because every web search starts with DNS, the malware showed users an altered version of the Internet.

Under a court order, expiring July 9, the Internet Systems Consortium is operating replacement DNS servers for the Rove Digital network. This will allow affected networks time to identify infected hosts, and avoid sudden disruption of services to victim machines.

How Can I Protect Myself?

This page describes how you can determine if you are infected, and how you can clean infected machines. To check if you’re infected, Click Here. If you believe you are infected, here are instructions on how to clean your computer.

http://www.dcwg.org/

All Eyes On Europe...

Investors eye Europe bond auctions
The chase by Marty Cej:

European stocks are mixed and U.S. index futures are pointing to a modest decline at the start of trading today as investors try to decide whether two bond auctions, in Spain and France, were indicative of growing confidence or pessimism. Sure, the two governments sold all the bonds on auction, but the yield demanded by investors to take on the risk of Spanish debt rose.

As far as financial markets are concerned, there are three key risks: the uneven U.S. economic recovery; resurgent sovereign debt pressures in the euro area; and the tricky balance in China between slowing growth and policy-easing. Today's European bond auctions offered no solution to the European question nor are the prospects for clarity in the other two risks any better. Stock investors will look to earnings for direction today.

Among the companies investors will be talking about today is Nokia. The Finnish phone maker reported a first-quarter operating loss of 1.3 billion euros, or $1.8 billion, after a host of one-time charges. Analysts were expecting a loss of about 313 million euros. What makes the story so interesting is not the fact that some Canadian investors may own the ADRs in one ETF or another, but the parallels between Nokia and Research In Motion.

Both were global industry leaders, both boasted soaring share prices and the admiration of analysts and investors around the world and both have been caught fatally flat-footed in a market that demands constant movement and agility. Both companies are cutting thousands of jobs, putting whole communities in peril and their futures are in question. What Nokia has going for it, however, is a history of change -- big, sweeping, whiplash-inducing change.

Nokia got its start as a paper and pulp company more than 100 years ago, turned to making rubber boots and car and bike tires. It took on a cable company in the early 1900s, moved into technology and became a world leader in cell phones through the 80s and 90s. Who knows what the company is capable of next? RIM, on the other hand, now has a reputation for stagnation. We'll take a closer look at these two companies today and see whether my comparison has any merit.

I will also note that Bloomberg is reporting RIM is closer to choosing a financial adviser. Unnamed sources tell Bloomberg the winning name could be JPMorgan. I mention this only because Tenille Kennedy, a RIM spokeswoman, has declined to comment and today happens to be the day that The Captain and Tenille scored their first No. 1. hit with "Love Will Keep Us Together" in 1975. They are still together, by the way. Now try to get that tune out of your head. No need to thank me, really.

Bank of America topped expectations, as did Morgan Stanley. Profit at American Express rose but fell at Stanley Black & Decker. Solid growth in China helped drive Yum Brands profit higher while eBay saw earnings jump 20 percent. In fact, so far, about 73 percent of S&P 500 companies have topped expectations. The question is whether beating lowered expectations is enough to drive share prices higher from here.

We're also watching earnings from BB&T, KeyCorp, UnitedHealth, Southwest Airlines, Verizon, DuPont, Union Pacific, Travelers, New York Times, Freeport-McMoran and Philip Morris. Microsoft reports after the close.

President Obama says he is going to crack down on oil market manipulation. CFTC commissioner Bart Chilton joins us at 11:30 a.m. ET to tell us exactly what the president means and how things might change.
The Chase - BNN

TD Target For Bankers $9.00

TD's action list has been like a reverse barometer lately. It has underperformed the s&p 500 more than 50% ytd.TD's comments:Investment ConclusionBankers Petroleum’s announcement that its first exploration well in Albania was unsuccessful is at leastslightly negative. We are reducing our target to C$9.00 (from C$10.00) due to a decision to reduce ourvaluation of the company’s potential to develop contingent heavy oil resources with thermal stimulation.

The10% reduction in target definitely overstates the impact of this particular update, but we are forced torecognize that a gradual trickle of updates with minor negatives is frustrating investors and driving share priceweakness to levels we had previously not thought possible. However, mainly due to continued share priceweakness over recent weeks, our reduced target still implies a 136% potential return to target, based uponwhich we maintain our ACTION LIST BUY rating.

Bankers is trading at the lowest multiple of Base NAVPS in our coverage of International E&Ps (68% discountto the average for other producers in the group). The company’s assets and management should continue theirlong-term trend of value-creating reserve additions in the coming years, with a strong balance sheet and cashflows supported by relatively high Brent oil prices and improving differentials.

As a result, (given the size andgrowth potential of its core asset) the company should be viewed as a take-out target if equity markets do notvalue it closer to its Base NAVPS. Returning to production growth (the company is targeting a 30% increase inaverage production levels in 2012) is likely the key potential catalyst for Bankers to regain investor confidenceand positive share price momentum. We believe that a return to significant production growth is likely to occurin the current quarter, Q2/12.

Globe says Toriola trims Bankers Petroleum target to $5 Bankers Petroleum Ltd (2) (C:BNK) Shares Issued 250,736,320Last Close 4/16/2012 $3.71Tuesday April 17 2012 - In the NewsThe Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, April 17, edition that UBS Securities analyst George Toriola continues to rate Bankers Petroleum ($3.71) "buy." The Globe's Darcy Keith writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Toriola downgraded his target price on Bankers Petroleum share by $2 to $5. Mr. Toriola notes that Bankers Petroleum reported disappointing results at its Ardenica exploration well on block "F" in Albania, with no hydrocarbons being found. The analyst says that while the company expects to drill another exploration well on the same block in the fourth quarter, there is now "greater risk" associated with the company's thermal steam project in the country. The Globe reported on July 20, 2011, that Bankers Petroleum was a top holding of Sentry Select manager Laura Lau. The shares were then worth $6.06. The Eye column reported on March 22, 2012, that Mr. Toriola rated Bankers Petroleum "buy." He targeted the stock at $7. The shares were then trading at $4.31. In the same item, Dundee Securities analyst Alex Klein downgraded Bankers Petroleum to "neutral, high risk" from "buy" and trimmed his price target by $1.10 to $7.60. The stock has a 52-week range of $2.95 to $8.78.