Chiefs fans somber after player's murder-suicide

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Tragedy dampened the normally festive tailgating party on Sunday at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium, where Chiefs fans lamented the murder-suicide on Saturday involving Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher and thoughts turned to his now-orphaned daughter.

Police said Belcher shot his girlfriend to death on Saturday morning at their home in Kansas City and then drove to the team's practice facility a few miles away. He then shot himself to death in the parking lot while head coach Romeo Crennel and General Manager Scott Pioli watched, police said.

"It is a sad situation, but to me, ultimately, the man committed murder," said Chiefs' fan Tony Alonzo. "The big picture is that it was a murder."

Police said Belcher's mother witnessed him shooting his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, 22, after they had a heated argument. Police corrected their initial report that the witness was Perkins' mother. The couple had a 3-month-old daughter.

"That is who you feel for - this 3-month-old child," fan Ira Thomas said before the game. "She has to grow up without her parents and as she gets older someone in the family will tell her what happened and that might set her back a few years."

Thomas and other fans said there was a quieter tone to the usual pre-game revelry Sunday morning. Thomas expected the tragedy to affect players and fans.

"If I was a ballplayer and something like that had happened, my mind wouldn't really be in it," Thomas said.

Fan Larry Beauchamp said the NFL made the right decision to play the game Sunday. The league announced there would be a moment of silence before the game "for all victims of domestic violence." No names will be mentioned.

Beauchamp said honoring Belcher would not be right.

"It was a tragedy, the young man obviously needed some help," Beauchamp said outside a converted school bus he painted red in the Chiefs' color.

Another fan, Gordon Highland, wondered how Crennel will hold up Sunday after what he witnessed.

"It's got to really (be) emotional for the coach," Highland said. "You have to feel helpless, I imagine."

After discussions with the league, Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt left the decision about whether to play with Crennel and the team, and they decided the game should go on.

"Romeo called the team captains yesterday afternoon ... and they all wanted to play the game," Hunt told ESPN on the field before the game. "And I asked coach Crennel, 'Do you think the right thing is to go forward?' and he said, 'I do. Under the circumstances, it's going to be tough.'"

Hunt visited the team on Saturday night to sympathize with them about how hard it would be to play.

"I wanted to tell them that I love them and I understand what they are going through," Hunt said.

"I know that the guys are going to rally around each other and they are going to come out here and give it their best," he said.

Visible tributes to Belcher outside the stadium were rare, but Kurt Gant and his son Taylor Gant, 21, displayed a sign that said RIP #59, a reference to Belcher's uniform number.

"Murder is bad but honestly it was not premeditated," Taylor Gant said. "There is a difference between that and doing something out of the heat of the moment."

Gant said he "felt horrible" for Perkins and the baby and called them the real victims.

"I just don't think you need to completely throw away everything (Belcher) has done for the Chiefs," Taylor Gant said.

Kansas City Mayor Sylvester James likened the tragedy to "your worst nightmare."

"Its unfathomable," James told reporters. "It's something that you would love to wash away from your mind but you can't do it. There is nothing like it. Think about your worst nightmare and multiply by five."

(Additional reporting by Eric Johnson; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kansas-citys-belcher-fatal-double-shooting-005235424--nfl.html

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Crockpot Wheat Berry and Turkey Sausage Minestrone + Weekly ...

Work holiday party in the books. It was?entertaining, to say the least.

You?ve never heard so many cheers as when the CEO of the hospital bought a round of drinks for all 400 holiday party attendees. Apparently, Michigan knows how to party.

Who knew the ?quiet? women of the business office would burst into jumping, fist pumping unison when ?Party Rock Anthem? came through the speakers. These women were out for a good time, no doubt about it.

Luckily, we had snagged a table as close to the dace floor as humanly possible and Mr. Prevention sold drink ticket during the CEO?s speech. He proudly reported that he sold ?quite a lot? during that stretch of time that I was listening to the head honcho and not helping cater to the drinkers in the crowd. Such a good helper was he!

The evening was a great success and that was the important thing. They had a 25% increase in the number of attendees to the hospital?s holiday party and perhaps that was the reason why dinner portions were skimpy. Who knows.

Several hours after dinner when we had returned home, Mr. Prevention and I both looked at one another and said, ?Are you hungry, too???.before fighting over for the leftovers in the fridge. I would?ve loved a little bit more food, but even family style, there was a small portion of all of the components to go around and I have to imagine that no one wanted to take more than their fair share?which was minimal.

I truly believe that some people are satisfied by the volume they are served over the quality they are served. While I?d like to think I have a liking for both, I choose quality over quantity. Even better, recipes like this one give you quality AND quantity and serve up a meal that is not short on portion or taste. A win-win, if you will!

Crockpot Wheat Berry and Turkey Sausage Minestrone adapted from WW Online, as seen on My Kitchen Adventures

1 (28 oz) can no salt added diced tomatoes
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
3 cups frozen cut green beans
1 (15 oz) can?navy beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
3?carrots, peeled and diced
3?garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups raw wheat berries
1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
1 1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
10?oz turkey Italian sausage, casings removed

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except turkey sausage?in a large?crock pot. Stir to combine. Cook on?low for 8-10 hours.

Before serving, heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and break up with the back of a wooden spoon. Once cooked through, add to the crock pot and stir. Cook an additional 10 minutes or longer.

Serve hot and garnish with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Yield: 10 servings (1 1/2 cups each)

Nutrition Information (per serving): 231 calories; 3.3 g. fat; 18 mg. cholesterol; 630 mg. sodium; 37.3 g. carbohydrate; 8.4 g. fiber; 12.8 g. protein

Result: I truly loved this dish. Mr. Prevention wasn?t totally wow-ed, but his dad was! I took the leftovers of this to Champaign with us over the Thanksgiving holiday and my father-in-law loved it. The taste is very minestrone-like and it reheats and keeps great. I didn?t freeze any, but I have to assume it would freeze well. This makes a LOT, so feel free to cut the recipe in half. I have a very ?average? sized crock and it barely all fit in! I would definitely make this again, especially given how healthy it is. Very low in calories and packed with fiber!

Weekly Menu: December 2nd ? 6th

? Lots to do today?priorities being a workout and studying!!

Be well,

Pin It

Source: http://www.preventionrd.com/2012/12/crockpot-wheat-berry-and-turkey-sausage-minestrone-weekly-menu/

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Tap Dogs at the Morris Performing Arts Center

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Source: http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/Tap-Dogs-at-the-Morris-Performing-Arts-Center-181672571.html

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This Desktop Design for Gaming Addicts Would "Ruin" Humanity

Sometimes you settle in for some PC gaming or web surfing. And you just don't get up. You can feel your bum go numb and the chair meld into your skin. Surely, you know the feeling.

If so, maybe the above internet-produced desktop design would appeal to you. And if it appealed to enough people, it would probably end the world as we know it. Meh, who needs that anyway? We've got computers!

"Haijin" (??) literally means "a disabled person" in Japanese. However, it's now also being used to describe those who are addicted to online gaming, "netoge haijin" (?????). The term first appeared in 2009, when the Japanese media started reporting about those who played lots of online games. Some of the TV news pieces were questionable, like this 2010 report, which featured one gamer with a bottle to urinate in.

Regardless of how accurate the reporting in Japan has been, a thread popped up on 2ch, Japan's largest bulletin board, in which folks designed desktops which used human waste to power the computers, under the premise they would lead to the ruin of humanity.

---

Yes, the individual is sitting on a toilet. In the toilet, it says "electric generation" (?? or "hatsuden"). Under the computer, it says "electric power utilization" (?? or "denryoku"; ?? or "shiyou").

Features were added, such as this reclining chair back.

Someone pointed out it wasn't possible to *coughs* pleasure oneself, so a fleshlight like device was added. Hands free?

Then a fan that uses excess heat from the computer was added. That's sensible.

Finally, someone asked if there was a way to grow food, using electric power and excess heat from the computer. It was decided that bean sprouts were best, so that's why there are bean sprouts below the computer.

Ladies and Gents, the end of humanity.

?????????????? [Game News 2ch]

---

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Source: http://kotaku.com/5964541/this-desktop-design-for-gaming-addicts-would-ruin-humanity

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3D Printing and the Ethics of Value Creation ? The Business Ethics ...

Kelly John Rose, co-founder of Panda Robotics, with a PandaBot 3D printer

A technology that adds value to our lives is an ethically good thing. A technology that enables a whole range of services that add value to our lives is even better. Smartphones are the obvious example: Apple?s iPhone has spawned an entire industry of app-makers. Even more important, ethically, would be a technology that could make a real change in grass-roots manufacturing, one that would allow innovation to be democratized, and that would allow local entrepreneurs to solve all kinds of problems, both big and small.

So, what if a single technology could do all of the following?

What if it allowed a surgeon in an isolated northern Canadian town to manufacture custom-made surgical implants, right in the clinic, to allow reconstructive surgery to be done locally, rather than sending her patient hundreds of kilometres to a larger city? What if it allowed a self-employed courier with an electric bike in a rural African community to have replacement parts for the bike made, cheaply and quickly, in the nearest town with electricity? What if it allowed every potential entrepreneur with a great idea, and some basic computer skills, to click ?Print? and have those ideas turned into physical realities? What if this technology meant you didn?t have to drive anywhere to replace the plastic bolt that was missing when you opened the box for that Ikea desk, but instead just printed it out, yourself?

All of those things ? life-enhancing things, big and small ? are part of the promise of 3D printing.

If you haven?t yet heard of 3D printing, now is the time. 3D printing is exactly what it sounds like ? printing 3-dimensional objects much the way current desktop printers print 2-dimensional text and images. Although technologies vary, the most common method of 3D printing uses ?molten polymer deposition,? basically laying down micro-thin layer after micro-thin layer of melted plastic to build things. Such printers operate much like standard desktop inkjet printers, but with an extra axis of motion and a ?print? head that squirts molten plastic rather than ink.

To learn more about this technology, I paid a visit to Toronto?s own Panda Robotics, a startup in the final phases of finishing its prototype PandaBot printer. Unlike many existing 3D printers, which are aimed at industrial applications, the PandaBot is intended as a consumer gadget, priced at about $1000 and expected to ship in spring of 2013. The PandaBot plugs into a computer via standard USB cable.

I asked Pandabot co-founder Kelly John Rose why he thinks 3D printing is so exciting. ?It opens up a whole new economy,? said Rose, ?in customization for clients, in how designers can interact with their customers directly by creating designs and sending them cheaply over the internet to be printed out, and in how companies can provide better customer service by providing replacement parts at no cost to themselves.? To provide a replacement part, all a company needs to do is create a printable CAD file for the replacement part and make it accessible on its website. All the consumer has to do is download the file and hit ?Print.?

It?s clear that the technology has significant implications for manufacturing and for supply chains. ?As 3D printing continues to evolve at an incredibly rapid rate, it won?t be long before we will simply purchase designs and print them out as needed at home rather than go to a store every time we need a new part, new mug, or new tool,? Rose enthuses. ?It essentially democratizes manufacturing.?

Entry-level 3D printers like the Pandabot are the all-important thin edge of the wedge, in terms of understanding the significance of this technology. Industrial-quality 3D printers are now being used for rapid prototyping and for architectural modelling. There are also reports that the US military has deployed one or more 3D printers to the front lines in Afghanistan, where engineers can use them to make replacement parts for vehicles and weapons right on the spot. Advanced 3D printers can print objects out of metals, too, so the possibilities are endless.

But cheaper, smaller-scale printers like the Pandabot are going to play a crucial role in weaving 3D printers into our lives, and into the way we think about manufacturing. According to Pandabot?s Rose, ?the more 3D printers are out in people?s homes, the more companies will want to provide [printable] goods for them. The more companies provide goods for them, the more people will want these printers in their homes. It?s a positive feedback cycle that, once it starts, will change how we all purchase goods.?

Technologies like this help us see that ethics isn?t just about rules. It?s about creating value, and finding fairer distributions of value. Our interest in business ethics should include an interest in the ways in which markets and businesses create value, and the rules, principles, and innovations that help them do that.

Source: http://businessethicsblog.com/2012/12/01/3d-printing-and-the-ethics-of-value-creation/

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How to turn customers into fans - The Term Sheet: Fortune's deals ...

Vernon Hill

FORTUNE -- Three years ago, at a Manhattan cocktail party sprinkled with Wall Street celebrities, I became intrigued by a figure standing alone, nattily attired in a gold collar pin and two-tone dress shirt, cradling a Yorkshire terrier. Instead of working the room, the gentleman was feeding the Edwardian-coiffed canine hors d'oeuvres. I didn't recognize him. But I had to learn his story. Something told me this fellow was wildly successful, or at least outrageously entertaining. He turned out to be both.

"I'm Vernon Hill," he announced, introducing the terrier as " Lord Duffield, or 'Duffy' for short." Hill burned with enthusiasm about one of his latest ventures, a business I'd never heard of, pet insurance. "It's going to be one of America's great growth industries!" he declared, remarking that the carrier had just covered Duffy for extensive dental work. The conversation then veered into a hilarious account of his golf game with Donald Trump, in which two flamboyant entrepreneurs vied to see who could most unnerve the other with unrepeatable wisecracks.

I soon discovered that Vernon Hill is the most creative, contrarian, tradition-busting banking executive on the planet. Starting with a single branch in 1973, Hill built Commerce Bank into the fastest-growing, most profitable banking franchise in America, posting annual returns of 23% over more than two decades, a feat exceeded only by Larry Ellison of Oracle (ORCL), Howard Solomon of Forest Labs (FRX), and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA). In 2007, Hill sold Commerce, by then a giant in the Northeast, to Toronto-Dominion (TD) for $8.5 billion. Then, in early 2010, he exported his model to Britain by creating Metro Bank, the first new retail bank in the UK in over a century.

MORE:?The bank that's rising amid Europe's ashes

In July of that year, I attended the rollicking grand opening of the Metro flagship opposite London's buzzing Holborn Station. As the taxi approached branch, with its tall glass fa?ade and merry bright colors, the driver gushed, "This looks like a bloomin' disco, not a bank!" Stilt walkers were parading, Dixieland bands were tooting, dogs were lapping from bowls while their masters opened accounts, and visitors were devouring 8,000 bags of popcorn. The spectacle epitomized Hill's vision that a culture of fun, friendliness, and service-with-a-grin are the way to win in banking.

Now, Hill explains his highly original strategy for creating great brands in a brief (156 page), breezy new book, FANS Not Customers. Its theme: The secret to success in any business serving the broad public is superb customer service. Hill's approach is highly humanistic. To attract those ultra-loyal "fans," rather than customers who'll abandon you for a slightly better deal, a business must create a personal connection with patrons and breed a strong, emotional, even loving attachment. For Hill, forging that sturdy link is what builds a brand.

Hill credits a background in retailing for shaping his vision. He describes how he started his career scouting sites for McDonald's restaurants, sometimes in the company of its legendary architect Ray Kroc. The book predictably praises the great brand pioneers such as Starbucks' Howard Schultz and Home Depot's Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank. But Hill's major contribution is describing how a service-is-everything approach is the way to go in the traditionally colorless, chilly fields of banking and insurance.

Here's his pointed view on branch banking on both the U.S. and the U.K. The big compete for customers by striving to offer the best rates on deposits or home loans. Otherwise they all converge into mediocrity. Adding a quarter-of-a point on savings is no way to breed loyal customers. It's renting their money until the bank across the square posts a higher yield. ?"If I had to categorize the traditional banking industry," he writes, "it is low growth, low cost, low service, with an emphasis on product and price. Banking is a utility." Their growth, he charges, comes mostly through culture-destroying acquisitions. Banks, like the utilities they resemble, garner zero brand loyalty. No one has an emotional attachment to a Sprint or British Telecom. In the UK, four big banks dominate the market, and Hill leaves no rival unscorched. "The existing oligarchy used its monopoly power to under-invest in facilities, infrastructure and service," he writes.

Hill marvels that customers who want to open an account must make an appointment. Nor do British banks even provide the U.S. staple of safety-deposit boxes, those picturesque giant vaults. The Brits have to buy their own boxes at hardware stores, and bring them to the branch. Closing around noon, just when folks want to visit a branch on their lunch break, is practically a London tradition.

MORE:?Morgan Stanley CEO: More bank deals on the way

In FANS Not Customers' glossary, hill includes an entry called Competitors' Rules and Practices, defined as "stuff that drives customers at other banks crazy." The memorable acronym in "CRAP."

For Hill, the appeal of banking is that "it's a government license to borrow money cheaply." Hence, the goal should be to grow those cheap deposits. His strategy is precisely the opposite of the traditional approach: Don't offer the lowest rates, don't compete on price, don't push credit cards and other products, though customers will want them if you treat them right.

It's all about fabulous customer service, about doing the little things that bind people to a brand. Metro provides Magic Money Machines resembling jukeboxes that count coins at no charge. Dogs are welcome. Branches even hold "adopt-a-thons" where Brits can take home a spaniel or corgi. Kids are handed coloring books and lollipops. When a customer opens an account on his birthday, employees gather around to sing "Happy Birthday." Employees have been known to recover a customer's keys from a manhole and return a wallet lost in the branch to its owner in a pub the same evening.

Hill is especially vigilant on guarding two crucial pillars of the brand -- design and training. In the tradition of Steve Jobs, whom he greatly admired, he reasons artistry is good for business, and critical in building a brand. Splurging on design is fundamental to the Metro culture. The branches all feature high ceilings, bright lighting, and no steps so Brits can park their bikes right next to a desk. Plexiglas partitions between teller and customer don't exist. Adorning every branch is a giant mural, taken from an old photo, showing the neighborhood as it looked in the 19^th or early 20^th century.

MORE:?5 ways to keep employees excited

As for training, Hill uses what he calls the "smile trial." If a candidate doesn't grin at least once in the first two minutes of an interview, they won't get a job.

Hill devotes a chapter to pet insurance business he touted when we first met. It's Petplan USA, now the largest player in the US. with a market share of between 5% and 7%. The business is now growing at 50% a year, with plenty of room to expand. He marvels that one-third of all pets are insured in Britain, compared to around 1% in America.

So how do you attract "fans" to pet insurance? "This is a pet company not an insurance company," says Hill. Once again, it comes down to customer service. Employees aren't chosen for their mastery of rate schedules, but their love of animals. "All employees must be pet lovers first," says Hill. In interviews, candidates are grilled on they feel when their own pets get sick. It's hard to imagine an insurance field where appealing to emotions is the ticket to success, but Hill insists this is it. Petplan even plants a tree to commemorate canines that pass away.

I recently spoke to Hill to get an update on his progress in London. "We've got 16 branches and have opened 130,000 accounts," he says. "We got to $1 billion in deposits on 26 months. It took us 18 years at Commerce." Hill's goal is $25 billion in deposits. "The British banks are still at the stage where they think we're too small to matter, then they'll say that we get big, we'll get just as bad as they are." That won't happen, he insists. Then comes the "oh my God!" moment, Hill warns. Warning to the British banks: It's closer than you think.

Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/30/vernon-hill/

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Gold & Silver Speculator

DESPITE END-OF-YEAR VOLATILITY, UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC CONDITIONS & LONG TERM FUNDAMENTALS REMAIN EXTREMELY BULLISH FOR GOLD & SILVER AND SHOULD REMAIN SUPPORTIVE GOING FORWARD, POTENTIALLY PROPELLING THEM FAR BEYOND THEIR ALL-TIME HIGHS OF $1920 GOLD & $50 SILVER IN 2013

Now that Thanksgiving has passed and the Holiday Season is in full swing with thoughts turning toward Hanukkah, Christmas, and the New Year, I?m getting asked more and more questions from traders and investors who are very concerned - even anxious, about the Fiscal Cliff, the Debt Ceiling, tax implications/considerations regarding both and how all of this will play out in the precious metals markets. So, in this edition of the GSS, I?d really like to focus on the bigger picture.

But before we delve into that, I must take a moment to address yesterday?s violent intraday price move in Gold (and Silver to a lesser extent). We witnessed another one of those counter-intuitive, intense, vicious ?waterfall selloffs? or spikes lower that seem to ?randomly? occur from time to time over the past couple of years.

Massive and concentrated volume hit the market immediately on the NY Pit open: Over 35,000 lots or contracts reportedly traded - the equivalent of 3.5 Million ounces of Gold - with nearly 7800 contracts (that?s 24 TONS!) traded electronically in a single minute, slamming the price of Gold down -$36. The price drop was not enormous in percentage terms, but the volume size and velocity of the move still shocked many market participants as there was no corresponding ?news? to point to.

Initial reports of a ?fat finger? trader or broker error were summarily dismissed by a CME spokesman and their circuit breakers weren?t even tripped, so it was an orderly move. Although nobody can really pinpoint exactly who is responsible for such a move, the typically fruitless search for the culprit(s) began again, with the usual suspects like short-term algorithmic High Frequency Traders (HFT) and large, institutional and/or commercial firms (or bullion banks) dumping huge size orders getting the lion?s share of the blame.

I am of the opinion that yesterday?s move is consistent with coordinated weakness and artificial selling pressure associated with some large investor(s) or trader(s) desire to move the market lower for what could be any number of reasons. We?ve seen this before and will likely see it again. But was this a clear example of market manipulation?

As the year ends and portfolios get rebalanced, some investors take the opportunity to liquidate positions and take profits in Gold & Silver to help offset or cover losses in other markets. In our heightened environment of fiscal and monetary uncertainty (some would say insanity), this year should be especially volatile and I think we saw some of that coming through yesterday - and over the past couple weeks.

If it really was an investor simply exiting profitable positions, it makes absolutely no sense to simply overwhelm the market with thousands of sell orders at the market. Giant institutional-sized orders would be placed and managed in such a way to obtain the best possible price without disturbing or violently disrupting the market, and that clearly was not the case yesterday.so the search for answers will continue. Just don?t expect any real answers anytime soon on that.

For leveraged short-term traders, this type of volatility and potential market occurrence must be something you are fully aware of and plan for accordingly by using protective stops. But more importantly, for a longer-term trader/investor, these intraday moves eventually become just another part of the big picture over time and can present great opportunities to take advantage of the short-term weakness to get long (or longer) by initiating new positions or add-on while Gold & Silver are ?marked down? or on sale. If you followed the recent filings, Mr. Paulson hasn?t sold out his enormous stake; Mr. Gross & Mr. Dalio still believe they should be in everyone?s portfolio; and Mr. Soros and Mr. Rogers have been adding on to their positions. (Mr. Buffett apparently still despises the Precious Metals and is too busy out campaigning for higher taxes, so take that for whatever its worth to you).

Many people still think of Gold & Silver as commodities - and they are, they?re heavy metals and there?s not a whole lot of the physical bullion to go around. But they?re also Hard Currencies and have been used as stores of value to protect purchasing power for thousands of years. Let?s examine what could help propel Gold & Silver far beyond their all-time highs as we approach 2013:

LONG TERM FUNDAMENTALS
Negative Real Interest Rates
Negative Fiscal Outlooks
Ultra Loose Monetary Policies (open-ended Quantitative Easing programs from our FED, ECB, and BOJ)
Global Debasement of Fiat Currencies or Competitive Currency Devaluation (?Race To The Bottom?)
Central Bank Purchases and Hoarding (no longer making large official sales)

UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC CONDITIONS - US FACING ANOTHER CREDIT DOWNGRADE IF NOT RESOLVED
FISCAL CLIFF NEGOTIATIONS: Likely result = resolution that fails to solve anything/more kick-the-can.
DEBT CEILING NEGOTIATIONS: The current legal limit of $16.4 trillion on the federal government?s debt would need to be raised in the next few months by another $2.4 trillion, Senate Leader Harry Reid said they?ll raise it.That would set the debt limit at $18.794 trillion.

CENTRAL BANK & PRIVATE INVESTMENT DEMAND CONTINUES TO BE STRONG, EVEN INCREASING
Central Banks (primarily developing or non-Western & Asian) continue to diversify out of USD holdings - converting to Gold. CHINESE IMPORTS ARE OFF THE CHARTS - The People?s Bank of China is highly secretive and has not updated their official Gold Holdings in over 3 years (since 2009) but they?ve been accumulating big time - in this year alone, China has imported more Gold from Hong Kong than the European Central Bank?s entire official 502.1 tons of holdings.

Increased Private Investor Demand - especially Silver in China - their Gov?t has recommended Gold and Silver as important investment assets to accumulate. Their banks now allow their customers to purchase gold and silver directly in their accounts.

We?re also seeing record demand and allocations in the form of ETPs or exchange-traded products as well - GLD holdings, the largest Gold ETF, has again set a new record high with SLV, the largest Silver ETF near record highs as well.

GEOPOLITICAL RISK: GOLD & SILVER ARE STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT SAFE-HAVEN METALS
Not just for Central Banks but for individuals too.All of the other enormous economic problems have basically relegated this unique driver of demand to the backseat, but that could change in a flash. When dictators flee their palaces, they leave behind stacks of Greenbacks and Euros, but never forget to grab the gold.

Gold, and Silver to a lesser extent, has always been the ultimate Flight-To-Quality Asset. They are safe-haven assets that people turn to in times of extreme chaos to protect their wealth or purchasing power.

In the Middle East with Israel firing missiles, taking out Hamas leaders in Gaza in retaliation for their rocket attacks, the bloodbath in Syria, Iran?s Nuclear Program, there is a Geopolitical Risk Premium that I don?t believe has been priced in or been much of a recent factor in price. If conditions change for the worse and tensions increase drawing other countries into it, I think we?ll start to see more of a Geopolitical Risk premium added and accounted for in price.

THE REMONETIZATION OF GOLD & LEGITIMATE USE AS GOOD COLLATERAL is well underway too but really not discussed much outside of the Precious Metals community. Major exchanges around the globe (LCH.Clearnet, CME, ICE) as well as large investment institutions have recently begun allowing Gold to be used as collateral.

The world is drowning in bad sovereign debt and bad collateral. The antidote to that is Gold. Although its implementation has been delayed from January 2013, the fact that the new Basel III framework includes a positive reclassification of Gold from its current Tier 3 status up to a Tier 1 asset, essentially making Gold a ?risk-free asset? on par with US Treasuries, is extremely significant.

If implemented as written, I believe it could be an enormous new driver of demand where private banking institutions would seek to accumulate and hoard massive amounts of the precious yellow metal. Since there is a very finite, limited amount of known supply & annual production, they would have to compete with each other and against Central Banks to acquire it in the open market. This has the potential to be a ?game-changer? in the Gold market, similar to late 2008 when Central Banks flipped from being Net Sellers of Gold to Net Buyers.

OBAMA REELECTED: GOOD FOR GOLD, GREAT FOR SILVER??
Gold and Silver were clearly the best performing assets over Obama?s first term. Gold always gets the front page headlines, but Silver totally obliterated all other contenders.

Back when Mr. Obama won his first presidential election in November 2008, Gold was trading just under $700 an ounce. Just before Election Day last week, Gold traded at $1686. That?s an increase of nearly $1000 per ounce for a 141% gain.

Not to be outdone, ?Poor Man?s Gold,? - Silver was priced under $9.00 an ounce in November 2008. Just before Election Day last week, Silver traded at $31.25. That?s an increase of $22.48 per ounce for a 256% gain.

Looking out into the future, will ?For More Years? yield a similar outcome for Gold and Silver? If the precious metals were able to replicate the past 4 years in percentage terms from current price levels, that would put Gold over $4100 and Silver over $116. If they were only able to achieve half as much, you?d still have some extremely elevated pricing as Gold would come in just under $3000 with Silver around $75.

In the short-term, market volatility will continue to rule. No market goes straight up or down and there is quite a bit of year-end money-flow type cross-currents to contend with. Only time will tell, but in my opinion, if your long-term investment view on Gold & Silver is bullish, you couldn?t have asked for a better outcome.

LONGER-TERM TECHNICALS
As far as long-term technicals go, a few weeks ago we witnessed Golden Crosses in both Gold and Silver, which are important to recognize as they?re typically very bullish indicators. A Golden Cross is a positive technical indicator that reflects a confluence of short-term and long-term market strength and occurs when a market?s 50 Day Moving Average crosses above its long-term 200 Day Moving Average. It?s understood to be one of the strongest buy signals that can be interpreted by technical traders. This should serve as a major confidence booster for Bulls going forward.

Since 2006, Gold has had 2 Golden Crosses with gains of 66% and 102%. Likewise, Silver has experienced rallies of over 50% and 280% following its Golden Crosses.

So, if history repeats itself, we could potentially see Gold trading around $2900 to $3600 and Silver trading north of $125 over the next 2.5 years into 2014 and 2015. These projections are in line with the INFLATION-ADJUSTED PRICES ARE FOR THEIR ALL-TIME HIGHS HIT BACK IN 1980.

So where are the precious metals markets right now? It appears that potential bottoms for the recent October/Early November consolidation were put in on Monday 11/05/12?s printed lows going into Election Day. Since then, while there has certainly been some volatility, both Gold and Silver have rallied, working themselves higher as they attempt to gain positive momentum by putting more distance between their current prices and their 200 Day Moving Averages.

As noted in a recent GSS, another classic technical candlestick pattern formed in both Gold & Silver: The Morning Star formation - which typically portends that a bullish reversal is about to occur. Especially interesting was how they both formed nearly right on their 200 Day Moving Averages, which may be highly supportive if tested again.

Next week we?ll take a fresh look at the technicals and have plenty of chart analysis.

STOP ORDERS DO NOT NECESSARILY LIMIT YOUR LOSS TO THE STOP PRICE BECAUSE STOP ORDERS, IF THE PRICE IS HIT, BECOME MARKET ORDERS AND, DEPENDING ON MARKET CONDITIONS, THE ACTUAL FILL PRICE CAN BE DIFFERENT FROM THE STOP PRICE. IF A MARKET REACHED ITS DAILY PRICE FLUCTUATION LIMIT, A ???LIMIT MOVE???, IT MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE TO EXECUTE A STOP LOSS ORDER.
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By: Kurt Pfafflin

Source: http://www.ino.com/blog/2012/11/gold-silver-speculator/

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