GOLD AND A KONDRATIEFF WINTER
The
Kondratieff Wave: Is an
excellent way to get a good overall understanding of the outlook for Gold
vis-à-vis other asset classes as well as getting a good picture of both the
The world’s dominant
economic power is teetering on a knife-edge between uncontrollable inflation
and a deflationary recession. The only way to sustain the credit bubble is
through increasingly larger doses of liquidity (monetary/debt/credit expansion)
until the bubble, like every expanding bubble, eventually POPS. As night
follows day, a boom is always followed by a bust; the bigger the boom the
bigger the bust. The bust always catches the majority unawares, coming as it
does from a zenith of apparent prosperity and speculative excess. Gold and precious
metals are the only assets that outperform in either runaway inflation or
deflation (depression).
A Kondratieff Winter: Understanding the Kondratieff K-Cycle (which is a
long-wave economic cycle driven by prices and credit/debt) may be the best way
to understand what is most likely to follow as to Gold, the Economy, the Stock
and Bond markets. The current K-Cycle, which began in 1948, is the fourth such
observable cycle since the Industrial Revolution. A deflationary recession,
known as a “Kondratieff Winter”, which
purges the debt and asset bubbles from the system, is the natural result when a
major credit bubble bursts.
NOTE: Gann
wrote that when the time cycle was over there was nothing that anyone could do
to alter the inevitable financial onslaught.
The K-Cycle
is the long-wave cycle in the economic
activity of the capitalist system focusing in particular on the
price level (inflation) and debt. It is named after the Russian, Nikolai
Kondratieff, who was appointed by Lenin to analyze cycles in capitalist
economies (in an attempt to establish when the system would fail).
Kondratieff published his findings in a 1922. Kondratieff analyzed 21 economic
statistics for the major economies (US,
Kondratieff began his
analysis in the late eighteenth century, which he believed was the beginning of
the “broad development of industrial capitalism.” When Kondratieff completed
his work in 1922, he had identified two full cycles and the start of a third
cycle; which subsequently ended in 1948 when the current fourth cycle, which we
are now in, began.
> First cycle: 1789 to
1844 (55 years)
> Second cycle: 1845 to
1896 (51 years)
> Third cycle: 1897 to
1948 (51 years)
> Fourth cycle: 1948 to
today (59 years so far)
Kondratieff concluded that
the capitalist system is inherently
self-regenerating. Stalin rewarded him for his work by sentencing him to
solitary confinement in a Siberian labor camp, where he subsequently lost
his mind and died.
The K-Cycle provides a roadmap for the most
likely long term outcome of economic events. As we move into the latter stages
of the current K-Cycle, the K-Winter, government’s
central bankers are doing all they can to delay the painful ‘pay-back’ period
which is the feature of all previous cycles.
There is no way of avoiding the final collapse of a credit boom. The
only question is whether it comes sooner as a result of a
engineered controlled recession (to reduce the excesses and re-align the
imbalances) or later as a total catastrophe. I am afraid that we do NOT have
the political will to do the right thing even if the powers that be know what
they are.
The current cycle, which is
already longer than average, at 59 years, can be explained by the fact that this
time the US dollar is the world’s only reserve currency as well as to globalization
and the resultant flexibility of monetary policy following the abandonment
of the Gold Standard: However, this is unlikely to remain as a positive for much
longer. The longer the payback is delayed, the worse the inevitable
consequences. The US is attempting to defy economic gravity
and resist the natural cycle that has been a feature of capitalist economies
since the start of the Industrial Revolution. (Modelski
and Thompson have identified K-Cycles that go back to the Sung Dynasty in
The rising first cycle of the K- phase is often driven by major innovations that were conceived during the downswing of
the previous cycle, but really begin to impact economic growth
during the upswing. For example:
> First cycle: 1789-1844 The Industrial Revolution
> Second cycle: 1845-1896 The Railway Boom
> Third cycle:
1897-1948 Electricity/Autos/Industrial Chemistry
> Fourth cycle: 1948-
today Electronics/Plastics and the Information
revolution
CYCLE WARS
> First cycle: War of
1812 (1812-14)
> Second cycle:
American Civil War 1861-65
> Third cycle: World
War I (1914-18)
> Fourth cycle: Vietnam
War 1966-75,
SOCIAL MOOD
> First cycle: “The Era of Good Feeling” (1815-23)
> Second cycle: “The Gilded Age” (1867-72)
> Third cycle: “The Roaring 20s” (1922-29)
> Fourth cycle: “The Peace Dividend Era?” (1988 - 2000s)
The
long-term inflation/debt cycle is a natural phenomenon associated with the
self-regenerating capitalist system. Consequently, the K-Winter is inevitable and
cannot be staved off indefinitely. There is no such thing as a “free lunch”.
“There is no means of
avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought on by credit
and Fiat monetary expansion. The only question is
whether the crisis should come sooner in the form of a Recession or later as a
final and total catastrophe of Depression as the currency systems crumble.”
Ludwig Von Mises
Proponents of the Theory, have been ignored. However,
the facts pointing to the existence of the long wave are too consistent, the
results too vivid to ignore.
THE SUB-PRIME & COMMERCIAL PAPER CRISES
Recognition of the current
fragility of the financial system has been triggered by the sub-prime crisis,
closely followed by the temporary seizing up of the commercial paper markets
and the run on the Northern Rock Bank in the
The biggest credit
bubble in
modern history is showing signs of extreme distress. Meanwhile, the banks don't have the money to loan to businesses
or consumers because they're trying to raise more cash to meet their capital
requirements on assets that continue to fall in price. (The Fed may pay $0.85
on the dollar, but investors know better and are not willing to pay almost nothing
at all.) The main reason the banks have stopped lending is not because they
"distrust" other banks, but because they are strapped for capital
This is the main reason for the MASSIVE injection of money ($Trillions) by the
worlds Central Banks and If the Basel regulations aren't modified in a hurry,
money markets will remain frozen, GDP will shrink, and there will be a wave of
bank closings.
.
UNCOMMON COMMON SENSE
The fact that almost no
one (except us of course) had perceived the danger of the Huge Credit Bubble that
the world is in and which was exposed by the Bear Stearns (Black Swan) debacle,
suggests that the perils of unlimited debt/credit creation and the extreme debasement
of currencies taking place today remains poorly understood. As an example, CITI
CORP is being touted as an excellent buy and has been chosen by one well known
analyst as his #1 pick for 2008. Oh really? Since when does the best buy of the
year have to pay 11.5% (junk bond rates) in non tax deductible dividends and on
a convertible yet, in order to raise money? And now, two weeks after the
announcement of this fabulous deal, the stock is flirting with 8 year lows. Do
you hear anybody, even their existing shareholders, clamoring to get in on this
fabulous great deal? What about the dilution? As for me, it is still my largest
short position. Perhaps, It’s about time a few hot
shot Sheiks got their comeuppance.
.
GOLD
A Rising Gold price is a
warning signal; casting doubt on every
economy in which Gold is appreciating against its currency. I am convinced that
inflation is far higher than reported, especially since money supply growth is
currently growing at a 14% clip and has been doing so for more than 7 years.
Moreover, the Debt/GDP ratio is now over 350% vs. the 270% peak prior to the 1929
Crash. To make matters worse, the
‘fiscal deficits’ of the Federal Government are so convoluted that their
auditors have refused to sign off on its books for more than ten years.
The
Just as most of today’s
financial market participants do not remember the last bull market in Gold, most
are still not yet considering Gold as a sound investment. Adjusting Gold’s all
time high price for the, low-balled, US CPI figures, gives an inflation adjusted
equivalent price well over US $2,000/oz. During the last phase (Wave 5) of the
1971–1980 Gold Bull Market, Gold rose 128% in less than three months to reach
its all time high. And the
GOLD Where to now?
In my opinion, we have
just completed an Elliott Wave: Wave 4, diagonal triangle consolidation and any
move to a new high will confirm my Wave 5 buy signal explosion to my target of between
$925 to $1075 and this would only mark the end of Wave I with Up Waves III and
V yet to come. At some point, I think
that the rise in the price of Gold will lead to a rapid acceleration in
demand, not only from Central Banks with large US dollar reserves, but also
from Mutual Funds, Hedge Funds as well as from private investors. (In economic terms, Gold is deemed to be a
Superior Good). This explosion
in demand could be triggered when Gold blasts through its all-time high
of US $850/oz or in response to an economic (Black Swan) event.
Jim Sinclair divides Gold’s
characteristics into four arguing that:
“…gold migrates from a commodity form, to a
barometer, to a currency, to an international assets balance sheet
form.”
He goes on to explain, “Conflict between governments and Gold’s role
as the ultimate form of money puts Gold
into a situation of permanent competition
with fiat currencies created out of thin air by governments and,
consequently, with the governments themselves”.
Gold is able to perform
the role of the ultimate money due to the following:
> It has a high
intrinsic value per unit of volume.
> It is homogeneous,
divisible and durable.
> It is traded in a
continuous market on a global basis.
> It cannot be debased;
production averages approximately 2% per annum at most, in contrast to the
unchecked creation of fiat currency by central banks.
> It is the only
financial medium of exchange that is not a third-party’s liability.
> It is accumulated
rather than consumed.
ALAN GREENSPAN
Before becoming a
political animal, he was a disciple of Ayn Rand and a
strong advocate of ‘sound money’ and a
return to a Gold Standard. He outlined his case in an
essay, ‘Gold and Economic Freedom’, which was published in Ayn
Rand’s 1967 book, “Capitalism,
the Unknown Ideal” in which he argued against a system of un-backed
fiat currency in favor of returning to a Gold standard and made three very interesting
comments:
“As the supply of money
increases relative to the supply of tangible assets in the economy, prices must
eventually rise…
“In the absence of a
gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through
inflation….”
And:
“Deficit spending is
simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this
insidious process. It stands as the last protector of property rights.” He then argues that a Gold standard and a banking
system based on Gold reserves acts as “the protector of an economy’s
stability and balanced growth.”
It is a shame that he sold
his soul in return for power.
It is also important to
NOTE that Gold is rising against all currencies, even strong commodity
currencies, such as the Australian and Canadian dollar as well as such safe
havens as the Swiss Franc. Gold’s role is slowly but surely, becoming the
currency of choice
CPI understatement
“In calculating
inflation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) takes a basket of
goods and services and tracks their prices. This worked
just fine when they tracked the actual price of the same basket year after
year. The problem is they no longer use the actual price and they no longer
track the same items year to year.” In
brief, the major changes made by the BLS are:
> Hedonic
regression: Actual prices of consumer goods are revised downwards
In order
to account for quality-adjusted improvements. For example, the price change associated with a more
technologically advanced car or computer is reduced to reflect the benefit to
consumers of innovations.
> Substitution: When
the price of a higher quality good rises significantly, the BLS assumes that
consumers switched to lower-priced alternatives (ie.
steak to hamburgers).
> Geometric
weightings: The arithmetic weighting of CPI components was changed to
geometric, resulting in a lower impact from components rising in price and a
higher impact from components falling in price.
> Intervention: Used
to moderate changes in the prices of goods subject to seasonal swings. While
price rises are rarely fully reflected “declining prices are always fully
accounted for.
The
systematic understatement of the true inflation rate is around 3% using the BLS
methodology prior to the early 1980s and around 7% using the methodology after the adjustments
in the early 1990s.
A lower CPI figure has the effect of exaggerating the reported level of economic growth.
If the inflation rate is higher than it is currently assumed to be, then it may
be true that the
The Federal Reserve
focuses on the concept of “core” inflation, i.e. excluding food and energy.
The latter represents approximately 25% to 35% of
THE BOND MARKET BUBBLE
“The recycling of massive
dollar liquidity back through the
Critical to this
discussion are both Greenspan and Bernanke’s views on
the two main deflationary episodes of the last century, the US Great
Depression and the more recent 1980–2000 deflation in
> They both believe (along
with Milton Friedman) that the main reason for the 1930s Depression was the
ill-timed tightening of monetary policy by the Fed in an attempt to cool the
surging stock market in the late 1920s and 1980s
>
In either case, that is
certainly not the situation in the
NOTE: If
the real inflation rate is 7%, then a 4% rate of GDP Growth is really a
negative 3%.
THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL: But so far, like the Biblical Daniel, none are able
to read and interpret it. The real question is no longer IF, but when will we be
in Recession AND will it or will it
not turn into Depression.
ARE THEIR ANY SOLUTIONS?
The one and only solution I
can think of, is to immediately implement a Bill Seidman
savings and loan type solution. However, we are in the Political Season and the
chances of that happening (even if Bernanke,
the President and Congress recognized the danger) is slim to none.
WHERE TO NOW?
The most logical course of
action is a wave of new credit and fiat monetary creation and a resultant rapid
increase in inflation as Bernanke attempts to stave
off the inevitable. We may (I repeat may) see one more rally to new highs as
JANUARY 2008
I wish all of you a HEALTHY and HAPPY NEW YEAR
GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS
Aubie Baltin CFA. CTA. CFP. PhD
561-840-9767
The above information
has been gleaned from information that I believe to be reliable but is not
guaranteed by me. The information provided is strictly for educational purposes
only and is not meant to be treated as investment advice.
A BI-WEEKLY MARKET LETTER,
“UNCOMMON COMMON SENSE”
I have resisted starting
my own subscription letter in the face of many consistent requests because I
thought, who needs another market letter? But now, given the type of economy
and markets we will shortly be in, I have allowed myself to be convinced that
maybe, just maybe, some investors could use my type of independent analysis.
Since I’m not on anyone pay role I can say what I really believe and not have
to put any patrons spin on my findings,
It will be published bi-weekly
at a cost of $199.00/yr. Along with the type of letter that you are all used to,
I will be including my own actual trades as well as what to look for in
instituting your own future trades, whose opportunities may present themselves
between letters. I will also be including regular detailed Elliott Wave Charts
on Gold, the DJII or any other charts of interest. Starting date will probably be
For those of you who are
interested and wish to subscribe, please forward your check for $199.00 to:
Aubie Baltin
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