Photos of US torture in Iraq

Here follow twenty-six of the 2,000 or so photos showing the torture suffered by prisoners at the hands of the USA and its military that The Hawaiian wanted banned, unpublished, suppressed and otherwise kept secret. All are small, but click on any photo to make bigger.

Chávez in Argentina: The Caption Competition

This photo from yesterday. Add your captions to this photo via comments below or mail.


Best answer wins......err......something.

The IKN weekly, out tomorrow

Here's a quick rundown of what subscribers can expect in tomorrow's IKN Weekly:

• A fundamental analysis of New Gold (NGD)

• A look at mining political risk and a case study of how one mining company is doing the right thing in the right place at the right time.
  

• An update on Fortuna Silver (FVI.v) including, whats, whys, wherefores and a new price target for traders.
  

• A 'Stocks To Follow' list that went further into profit over the week and updates on the companies covered

• Pointers for various near-term trading opportunities

• etc

There's also a section this week that attempts to explain just how a fool such as I can combine support for the Evo Moraleses of this world with a fascination for capital markets. It all makes sense in Otto's little parallel universe...promise. So if you're not on board as yet, feel free to use those buttons on the right hand side of the blog. Subscribers (and the list is getting longer, I'm glad to say) can expect delivery on time as usual Sunday afternoon. Enjoy your weekend, folks.

Weekend Freestuff Special

Over at Miguel Olivera's blog, Exabruptos, you can download the English language version of the bestseller Bad Money by Kevin Phillips.

As this NYT review notes, Phillips was calling the present situation pretty accurately when Bad Money first hit the shelves last year. The book doesn't stop at the present time though, as it makes its case for the future of the USA and the world...and it doesn't look good according to Phillips.

An excellent read for the weekend and a good way to sum up how we got to where we are. Thanks to Olivera it's also a totally free PDF download. When your over at Miguel Olivera's site click the link that says "les dejo para bajarse" to get the download. The other link gives you the front cover of the book (above).

The Friday OT: la ville s'endormait (Jacques Brel)

The most wonderful song.

An esoteric, melancholic, intelligent, wise and heartbreakingly beautiful song that Brel recorded in 1977. He was living his last years in the island of Les Marquises and knew he was dying of lung cancer. He returned to Paris to record his last album, called simply "Brel" and this is, for me and many others, the standout track. A year later he passed on.

joke of the day

LIMA (Dow Jones)--Peru's gross domestic product expanded 3.05% in March compared to the same month a year earlier, the National Statistics Institute, or INEI, said Friday.

hahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa

What an impressive country: 10,000 mine workers sacked and mining industry growth hits +6.3%. They should lay off another 100,000 and give us 63% Yoy growth

THEY ARE LYING TO YOU

Trading Post (Wedding Anniversary edition)

Yes indeed, it's Otto and Madam Otto's wedding anniversary today. You'll excuse the lack of posting this afternoon, as the lunchtime got rather cocktail-y.

Guyana Goldfields (GUY.to) up 10.7% at $3.00 and reacting very well to the PR news this morning.

Nadagold (NG) up 5% at $3.53 and puts my short position 3% underwater. But I don't care..I've been out drinking with the missus.

Fortuna (FVI.v) down 2.1% at $0.92...last chance to board the elevator ride. The market is marking down FVI.v after the mediocrity in results from peers (eg EDR.to..woof woof). Otto sez bargain price.

Troy Resources up 2.6% at $1.20. YAY! more to come. DYODD

And now..siesta. Clients can expect The IKN Weekly (in all its sober glory) out on time Sunday afternoon.

Guyana Goldfields (GUY.to): A very interesting financing

The IFC is on board and shareholders already on board are buying chunks too. From what I hear, GUY.to is ignoring overtures from big gold mining companies and is fully prepared to take this project to production (and that ain't just talk this time). Here's the whole thing:

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Guyana Goldfields Inc. announces $12,050,000 non-brokered private placement

TORONTO, May 15 /CNW/ - Guyana Goldfields Inc. (TSX:GUY) ("Guyana" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement pursuant to which Guyana proposes to issue up to 4,381,818 units ("Units") at a price of $2.75 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $12,050,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant shall be exercisable at any time for one common share at a price of $4.00 per share for a period of three years following closing. The Company shall have the right to call the outstanding warrants should the closing price of its common shares exceed $6.00 for 30 consecutive trading days after one year has elapsed from the closing date.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the member of the World Bank Group focused on private sector investments in developing countries, and a current shareholder in the Company, has agreed to purchase $5,000,000 (1,818,181 Units) of the private placement, subject to approval by its Board of Directors. Upon closing of the private placement the IFC will hold an aggregate of 3,548,181 shares (5.6%) of Guyana. Claude F. Lemasson, P.Eng, MBA, the recently appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company has agreed to purchase $1,000,000 (363,636 Units) of the private placement. Current and existing shareholders have agreed to purchase the remaining $6,050,000 (2,200,000 units).

The net proceeds of the private placement will be used to complete the previously announced Definitive Feasibility Study undertaken by AMEC, Canada, to continue exploration of the Company's portfolio of gold exploration properties in Guyana, South America and for general working capital purposes. The private placement remains subject to the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The securities described herein have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States unless registered under the Act or unless an exemption from registration is available.

About IFC:

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. IFC fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC's new investments totaled $16.2 billion in fiscal 2008, a 34 percent increase over the previous year. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

About Guyana:

Guyana Goldfields Inc. is a Canadian based mineral exploration company primarily focused on the exploration and development of gold deposits in Guyana, South America where the Company has operated since 1996. The Company is currently undertaking technical studies to advance and develop the Aurora Project in Guyana.

As previously announced, (see press release dated December 8, 2008 at www.sedar.com under the Guyana Goldfields Inc. profile, "Guyana Goldfields Announces Increased Resource at Aurora 3.69 Million Ounces Measured and Indicated and 1.72 Million Ounces Inferred"), the Aurora Gold Project contains a Measured resource of 8.08 million tonnes @ 4.11 g/t Au., an Indicated resource of 21.06 million tonnes @ 3.87 g/t Au. and an Inferred resource of 19.97 million tonnes @ 2.77 g/t Au. Mr. D. K. Mukhopadhyay, MAusIMM, Senior Mineral Resource Geologist of Micon International Co. Limited, reviewed and approved the technical data in his capacity of a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. For further details, please refer to the technical report of Guyana dated November 23, 2007 entitled "Technical Report: A Mineral Resource Estimate For the Rory's Knoll, East Walcott and Aleck Hill Zones, Aurora Gold Property, Guyana" available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward Looking Statements - Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of Guyana, including, but not limited to the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, risks associated with the uncertainty of resource and reserve estimates, currency fluctuations, dependence upon regulatory approvals, the availability of future financing and exploration risk. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.

%SEDAR: 00022477E

Source: Canada NewsWire (May 15, 2009 - 9:23 AM EDT)

Luis Carranza, Finance Minister of Peru and barefaced liar

It always happens eventually; the liar gets caught in his lie.

Yesterday Peru's FinMin and nation's number two liar Luis Carranza (numero uno above) gave a presentation on the prospects for his country's economy. If anyone wants a copy of the powerpoint show (49 slides of fun with dense numbers, graphs with arrows pointing UP! UP! UP! and Spanish language) send me a mail, but suffice to say the whole idea must have been to blow smoke in the eyes of the dumbass nodding donkey journalists present. That's because anyone with a basic understanding of economics....and i mean basic really is enough...can see just how much BS was on display yesterday.

For one thing, the full-on statistician Farid Matuk was quick to point out that MEF has quietly dropped something called GDP elasticity from 3 to 1. What this means in practical terms is that they are suddenly toeing the line of the Central Bank and assuming a currency devaluation to maintain growth at all costs (esp to the cost of those poor Limeños with mortgages in dollars). However a different statistic that I noted was that the breakdown of Carranza's fantasy 3.5% GDP growth this year assumes a 5% growth in mining GDP.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?????? We're supposed to believe that Peru's mining industry will contribute 5% more this year than it did last year...remember copper at $4/lb, Zinc and Lead at $1/lb and silver at $18/oz, people? Here's a chart using final metals exports as a proxy to total GDP activity in Peru's mining sector (as nearly all the metal produced in Peru is exported). We see the 2008 export figures for Peru, the first three months of 2009 and what Peru will need to export to get that 5% growth Carranza masturbates about.


It's asinine. It's just a heap of barefaced lies. Nothing else. There's no way that monthly exports can suddenly jump from under $1.1bn to over $1.83Bn and stay at that average for the rest of the year. More likely is a $6bn gap between the cash Carranza wants and the cash he's going to get. And $6Bn in Peru is a significant chunk of annual GDP.

There's only one question left to answer now: Will this man do the honourable thing and resign when his ridiculous economic projections are proven false by the end of this year?

FCX and Trend&Value

Lucas at Trend&Value has been doing a good job of laying out the trade on Freeport McMoRan (FCX) in his newsletter recently. So on the blog yesterday he gave a quick resumé of his ongoing analysis, put up the charts and gives his target, too (for the record, plenty of money to be made between now and the forecast). Go take a look.

Damien Reynolds has left the building

Rules of capitalism:

1) buy high and sell low with your own money = become poor




2) buy high and sell low with other people's money = become unemployed


And so farewell Damien Reynolds, ex-everything at Longview Capital (LV.to). Moral of the story? Uranium in Paraguay ain't the way. Buffalo Gold? Ooops.


Vancouver, BC – Longview Capital Partners (TSX: LV) announced today that Damien Reynolds, Chairman, CEO and founder of the Company has resigned his official positions, to take effect May 31, 2009. Hein Poulus, Lead Director and the largest shareholder of the Company, has been appointed Chairman, and John Icke, currently President and COO, will become yada yada continues here

Revolutionary downtime

Chávez slips the bellboy a tenspot and
explains where he wants the bags left

Even figureheads of rrrrrrrrrrevolutions need quiet moments, so Hugo Chávez is going is chill down in Argentina for a cupla days this weekend. First he flies into Buenos Aires today and does presidenty things with Klishtina, then they and their families (Hugo has his daughters tagging along) hightail it down to deepest Patagonia for a long weekend. They'll all be staying at El Calafate, a town that the Kirchners have made their own and converted into a snooty tourist trap.

Malbec served

Charts of the day are...

....all about the Bolivian economy, starting with the answer to yesterday's quiz.

And as most of you correctly called, it is in fact Bolivia that has added record reserves since Dr Morales took over the country. Congrats to all the correctos, but special congrats to reader "JW" who got the right answer in like greased lightning. He wins a special prize that, due to the circumstances, must remain a secret. All I can say is "you got your wish, JW :-)"

Meanwhile, check up on other parts of the Bolivian economy, we see that money supply is largely under control....

Particularly good to see M2 flattening and even dropping off this year, the sign of a well managed currency. The practical result of reeling in M2 is that inflation is coming down quickly from last year's peak...

...with the double-digit days of 2007 and 2008 now very much a thing of the past. And I'd like to remind you that the gov't forecast for GDP growth this year is +4%.

I never cease to be amazed by the good job the Evo gov't is doing with its economy. This is, of course, why the robotic and idiotic English media never mention the subject when talking about Bolivia. It must pain them no end to compare the neat an effective macroeconomic policies of a coca chewing indio to the unmitigated disasters of countless blue-eyed whiteys that screwed their own country in return for a fat personal bank account. Hey Enders...try reporting some facts next time, dumbass racist apologist.

Bolivia and the slaves of Santa Cruz: Anyone got an Italian phrasebook handy?

Excuse-for-a-hack and racist apologist John Enders is put to shame by this BBC report. This is exactly the same place that the dumbass working for the Miami Herald pretended to report about, but somehow totally missed the racism and feudalism of the people he held up as the shining bastion of free markets and capitalism.

Here below is the first part of the report (click through for the rest, it's only fair on the Beeb). But watch out for the name of the person the BBC interviewed to give the ranchers' side of the story, a certain Eliane Capobianco. Capo? Bianco? Whatever could it all mean? LOL!

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Outrage at 'slavery' in Bolivia

A senior UN official recently described as "unacceptable" the alleged forced labour of indigenous people by landowners in Bolivia. The BBC's Andres Schipani reports on the contentious issue of "slavery" from the eastern province of Santa Cruz.

Teresa Barrio was born on a patch of scrub on a Bolivian plantation. This is where she has lived and worked. This is where she expects to die. But she has no affection for this place.

The 65-year-old grandmother knows little of other people's lives but she knows her own has been harsh: toiling in fields for a pittance, sleeping in a mud hut, losing sight in one eye and losing five of seven children to disease.

There is no cash in the pockets of her ragged skirt, nor, she says, does she feel free to leave the vast farm where she has worked hard all her life.

"All my life I've been here and at the end of it I have nothing and have nowhere else to go," she says.

Her hamlet of 13 Guarani families - all workers on the plantations near the town of Camiri in Alto Parapeti region in the eastern province of Santa Cruz - built a school but ranchers destroyed it, she says

"They didn't want us to learn, they want things to be like they always have been," Teresa's granddaughter, Deisy, says.

Beside the ruins is the replacement school - five desks beneath a blue tarpaulin draped from an algarroba tree.

Over the past two years, Bolivia's government and several indigenous groups, have been giving a controversial name to Teresa's type of existence - slavery.

CONTINUES HERE

Peru: Monterrico, Majaz and the putrid stench of impunity

A sickening development has come to my attention today.

Remember the case of the torture of 29 indigenous locals at the Monterrico Metals mining camp at Majaz (now re-named 'Rio Blanco' to protect the image of the scum involved)?

This week CNR Peru reports that the fiscal (public prosecutor) that was present and was an eyewitness to the events, even taking part himself, has had all charges against him dropped by the Peruvian judiciary (in the parlance, his case has been 'archived'). It all happened very quietly two weeks ago and has only come to light this week. The reason given by the putrid, corrupt judge in charge is that there "is not sufficient evidence that he was aware of the torture suffered by the members of the community".

So please note that the corrupt judge in charge, Sofia Milla of Piura, recognizes that the 29 people were in fact tortured. However she refuses to recognize that the fiscal present, Felix Toledo Leiva, knew about the torture even though;

• all 29 victims testified he was there

• all 29 victims said he was an eyewitness to the brutality

• there is photographic evidence that shows, without a shadow of a doubt, that he saw what was going on

• the photos show him in the presence of injured and tortured individuals

• various of the tortured individuals, including the women victims, testify that he shouted insults, made physical threats and even violently pulled the hair of one of the women

So due to the bribed judge Sofia Milla and the corrupt, money-at-all-costs APRA government of Twobreakfasts, a man who should rot in jail as an example to all walks away without a care in the world. This is the Peru that those blind morons at Fitch think is worthy of your money as investment grade.

Hat Tip to the excellent blog, Huanca York Times

sent in by reader 'PA'

Thanks, man.

Trading Post (Mixed Bag edition)

Fortuna Silver (FVI.v) down 8.2% at $0.90. Any reason? Nah, don't think so. My $1.08 target is still in place, so I reckon there's a 20% short term profit going begging here. The 1q09 results are published tomorrow and I expect good things. DYODD, but I'm going to try to add a few at 90c here. This kind of downdraft is the reason I keep plenty of cash in the a/c...opportunity knocks.

Troy Resources (TRY.to) up a penny at $1.17. Slowly slowly catchy monkey.

Minera Andes (MAI.to) down 3c at $0.66. The latest news on the San José mine walkout is that the strike may well extend to other mines and even other regions. On the one hand it's not good (for the publicity), on the other hand it will likely hury a resolution along. I'd consider any drop from here a buying opportunity in MAI.to.

Cardero (CDY) up 4.4% at U$1.19. The low volume is the story here. No weak hands left to shake out, Henk...sorry :-)

UPDATE: Just snagged a few FVI.v at 90c. Quite a chunky position now.

The IKN Weekly subscribers knew

• On Thursday May 7th IKN Weekly subscribers received a flash note with very positive noises about a company that had just released an excellent set of drill results.

• In The IKN Weekly issue two (May 10th) there was a write up explaining the call, the position and a target price for a short-term trade.

• Since the initial call, the stock has risen 17.3% (and is showing particular strength on good volume today).

• Neither the stock nor the trade were mentioned on this blog.

The IKN Weekly is published every Sunday afternoon, giving subscribers plenty of time to digest the information before trading begins. Subscribers also benefit from a flash update e-mail service (another flash went out last night that talked about recent events in Minera Andes (MAI.to) and Cardero (CDY) (CDU.to).

Yes, this is a plug for the newsletter service (how did you guess?) :-). More details on this link and if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line. At just $25 a month you could have covered a couple of years' subscription with the single stock trade idea that was sent out last week.

UPDATE: Oops! My mistake. It's in fact a 25% winner in one week. Send me a mail and I'll tell you which company it is. Sales pitch now complete. Have a nice day.

Other posts concerning The IKN Weekly

Bloomberg: All the Brazil, all the time

Message to Bloomberg: Brazil is one third of Latin America's population and one third of its economic output. Please try to reflect that there are other countries in the region.

Here is the menu at Bloomberg's Latin America page right now. Of the eight headlines chosen as representative of the region, six are about Brazil and one (the EM markets story) isn't even about Latin America. Truly pathetic regional coverage.

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Banco do Brasil Profit Slides 29% on Increase in Loan-Default Provisions Banco do Brasil SA, Latin America’s biggest federally controlled bank, said first-quarter profit declined 29 percent as it set aside more funds for loan defaults.

Stocks in Emerging Markets Drop for Fourth Day; Oil Falls, Treasuries Gain Stocks fell, led by the biggest decline in emerging markets this month, and commodities dropped on concern the recovery from the first global recession since World War II will falter.

Brazil's Real to Extend Rally for Three Month Before Falling, Embraer Says Brazil’s real will extend a six-week rally for two to three months before weakening again as commodity prices slump, according to Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA, the nation’s largest industrial goods exporter.

Bovespa Stock Futures Fall on Retail Sales Slowdown, Commodities Decline Brazil’s Bovespa stock futures dropped, indicating the gauge may extend its three-day retreat, after commodities slumped and retail sales expanded less than expected in Latin America’s largest economy.

Usiminas Posts Unexpected First-Quarter Loss on Lower Production, Prices Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA, Brazil’s second-largest steelmaker, unexpectedly posted a loss, the first since 2002, after production plunged.

Brazilian Retail Sales Rose 1.8 Percent in March From Year Earlier Month Brazil’s retail sales rose 1.8 percent in March from a year ago, the national statistics agency said.

Ecopetrol Profit Falls 30% to 1.61 Trillion Pesos in Quarter As Oil Slumps Ecopetrol SA, Colombia’s state- controlled oil company, said first quarter profit fell 30 percent because of declining crude prices.

Brazilian Steelmaker CSN Says First-Quarter Profit Slumps 52% on Demand Cia Siderurgica Nacional SA, Brazil’s third-biggest steelmaker, said first-quarter profit plunged 52 percent as it cut output to match lower demand amid a global economic slump.