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Gold Cartel Smashes Bullion Right On Cue Ahead Of Fed Announcement/CFTC SCANDALE!
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June 28 - Gold $392.10 down $8.50 – Silver
$5.85 down 3 cents
Coming together is a beginning; Keeping
together is progress; Working together is success... Henry
Ford
GO GATA!!!
It is really an outrage that only the Russians
will publicly acknowledge what GATA has been pounding away
at for over five years. If the mainstream gold world would
acknowledge the truth and come together to expose what has
happened, the price of gold would be over $500 per ounce in
short order. Fat chance! These lightweights would rather go
down with the ship than take on the powers rigging gold.
Can it be any more obvious that Goldman Sachs
had a mandate to stop the gold price last Thursday on behalf
of The Gold Cartel? Only one other time in recent years has
the buying power of spec longs taken out the $6 Rule. The
last time gold did so it was smashed the very next day. And
now, three days later the entire gain of last Thursday has
been obliterated over the past three gold trading sessions,
with today’s loss alone more than negating Thursday’s
advance. One of the tenets of the $6 Rule is that in the rare
occasion the upper price limits of the rule are breached,
the transgressors are to be immediately punished for their
audacity. Mission accomplished by the bad guys, which is par
for the course.
With the dollar only slightly higher, gold was
taken down hard for no apparent visible reason in Europe before
the Comex opening. The cabal forces made sure both $400 and
the 200-day moving average were taken out early, which would
inhibit new buyers from stepping up to the plate. All those
who bought the breakout above both key technical points last
Thursday are underwater at this point.
While all the new specs are underwater, Goldman
Sachs has cleaned up and ripped you off again. This will give
you some idea why their corporate trading profits are so high.
All their sales between $402 and $403 are big winners. Once
again they have picked the pockets of the speculators and
made them look like chumps. That is not hard to do when you
have the US Government backing your trades.
There are three basic reasons to continue to
hammer home the details of the gold price manipulation scheme:
*This is what the gold market is all about.
The rest of the gold goings-on are of a secondary nature and
a lot of noise.
*This chronology will be very useful to a future Congressional
investigating committee formed to get to the bottom of the
gold scandal, which will only occur after the "S"
hits the financial markets fan.
*There are new Café members all the time who need to
get up to speed as quickly as possible on what the real deal
is at the moment when it comes to gold and silver.
I yearn for the day when this MIDAS diatribe
about this un-American clandestine price rigging will not
be necessary. We just aren’t there yet.
The gold open interest fell 2902 contracts yesterday
to 230,007. It should have dropped sharply today as The Gold
Cartel buried all those who dared to get long and challenge
their perceived arrogant right to keep gold subdued.
The Working Group on Financial Markets and The
Gold Cartel just do not want gold above $400. This is the
third time in a row they have slammed it lower from this level.
In each case they wasted little time in taking it down, never
allowing bullion to gain much momentum on the upside.
August gold
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/GD/84
The two sizeable downside gaps were ignominiously
filled in one cabal trashing.
What is good for the goose is not good for the
gander. Gold went up $8 on Thursday and was sent right back
down. Gold went down $8+ today. Will it go right back up $8+?
Not a chance!
Silver held up fairly well considering the gold
onslaught. All indications are that once this gold deluge
is over regarding the Fed announcement, silver should begin
to make a substantial move higher within weeks.
The silver open interest rose 857 contracts
to 92,596.
Instead of contracting, the Comex silver warehouse
stocks have increased a substantial 1.3 million ounces the
past two days, going INTO the July delivery period. This is
strictly a hunch, however, I think they are being put in there
for delivery purposes because we are going to see large drawdowns
as we get into the latter period of the July delivery process.
Commodity prices have been tagged lately. Another
mad cow scare has affected the meat and grain markets and
crude oil has come down hard from its $42+ high. The CRB lost
another .35 to 267.29 and is only a couple points above its
200-day moving average. The last time it bounced off that
mark was in September of 03. Crude oil continues to be drilled,
falling 58 cents to $35.66 per barrel.
The dollar closed up .69 to 89.70, while the
euro lost 1.03 to 120.67.
The John Brimelow Report
Reculer pour mieux sauter - a neat tactical
retreat
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Indian ex-duty premiums: AM $3.54, PM $4.59,
with world gold at $399.80 and $396.60. Below, and virtually
at import point. The Indian rupee unhelpfully softened this
afternoon, but the subsequent subsidence of the gold price
in NY will have put India back into import mode.
A Reuters story from Singapore reports lower
premiums and some small liquidation from some Asian markets
(sales undertaken with world gold over $400, presumably).
But Tokyo is still reported to have a 70c premium, the highest
in the region, and a Standard Bank London dealer in Hong Kong
is quoted as saying:
"I was told (Japan demand) was cooling
down a little, but it is still on the strong side"
Kilo bar premiums in the Gulf continue very
high.
Some commentators report serious selling by
the TOCOM public, but this is not apparent from the trading
data. On volume equal to only 19,711 Comex lots (22% below
yesterday), open interest fell only the equivalent of 445
Comex; the active contract closed down 1 yen and world gold
was down only 80c from NY. It was as Europe got under way
that pressure intensified. (NY yesterday traded 45,438 lots;
open interest fell 2,912 lots.)
Europe in effect saw a resumption of the dogged
selling which stopped the rally in NY yesterday. In turn,
this was, in reality, a continuation of the same character
of selling which held gold under the 200 day moving average
most of last week. ANZ suggests
"…a mixture of suspected CB selling
topside and some hedging by producers continues to cap the
topside."
(Why a hedger would sell to block a major technical
achievement remains mysterious.) The difference now, of course,
is that the trend following and short- term technical types
are very upset: many writing early this morning predicted
the moving average convergence would hold. The ANZ essay,
significantly entitled:
"Gold key day reversal –watch downside?"
proposes:
"…selling Spot Gold at 400 risking
407 targeting 390/385."
As a consequence of this damage; they will not
be alone. All in all, a very productive tactical retreat.
However, given the posture of the physical market
it seems unlikely that further shorting will be very remunerative.
JB
CARTEL CAPITULATION WATCH
Yesterday’s stock market reversal to the
downside was stopped dead in its tracks. Target came out today
confirming Wal-Mart’s dismal retail outlook. US stock
market players had the night to digest the disturbing news
from Washington Mutual as far as how other financial institutions
might be affected by rising interest rates in the months to
come. The terrorists in Iraq went back to work killing 3 more
US soldiers. Impact on the market? It rose as The Working
Group on Financial Markets went into action to stabilize stocks
ahead of the Fed’s announcement tomorrow afternoon.
The DOW closed right where it traded all day long at 10,413,
up 56, while the DOG gained 15 to 2035.
Earlier I noted, “. . . gold was taken
down hard for no apparent visible reason before the Comex
opening.” At 10:00 AM EDT, a reason became apparent
to those previously not in the know:
June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence in the U.S.
economy rose this month to the highest level in two years,
spurred by job growth and a decline in gasoline prices, a
private survey found.
``Some of the concerns about Iraq and terrorism have taken
a back seat to the good news on the economy and employment,''
said John Shin, an economist at Lehman Brothers Inc. in New
York, before the report.
The New York-based Conference Board's consumer confidence
index increased to 101.9 this month, from a revised 93.1 in
May. The figure exceeded the highest estimate in a Bloomberg
News survey. Assessments of both current and future conditions
rose. –END-
As oft-mentioned in this column for many YEARS,
the modus operandi of The Gold Cartel is to cap, cap, cap
gold after a substantial move higher, turn it back gradually
(taking on additional spec buyers on the quiet break), and
then make their move in dramatic fashion like they did this
morning. With gold already under pressure, they took full
advantage of the consumer confidence news to put the killer
kibosh on all those 12,000 specs who bought the breakout.
Most surely exited the trade today leaving Goldman Sachs and
the rest of the cabal to do some covering.
It is revolting the way they continue to get
away with this!
By the way, the consumer confidence number is
in direct contrast to what GM, Wal-Mart and Target reported
the past couple of days.
To give you a further idea how prevalent the
US market manipulation is, look at what the bonds did ahead
of the Fed announcement tomorrow. After dipping early, they
WENT UP and closed at 105 14/32, up 18/32. If the consumer
confidence number was such a big deal as to prop up the dollar
and bury gold, why did the bonds rally? Why did the stock
market rally too? Usually a real fear of higher interest rates
sends the stock market lower. They rallied, of course, because
we have a Fed announcement tomorrow and The Working Group
on Financial Markets does not want them pressured technically
ahead of that announcement.
The Working Group On Financial Markets has cooked
its Goldilocks scenario soup to be just the right temperature
for tomorrow.
Houston’s Dan Norcini, a skilled veteran
commodity trader, puts today’s gold market action in
perspective:
Hi Bill:
How many times do you recall in your trading career where
a market takes out all of its major moving averages to the
upside, not once, but twice, and then proceeds to promptly
collapse? I have seen soybeans in a weather market have some
pretty strange gyrations as the forecast changed from hour
to hour but other than the grains and an occasional currency
or other commodity where some sort of major incident occurred,
you can probably count the times on one of your hands.
I thought I had seen just about everything that
can happen in markets - guess not....
The gold trashing excuse du jour' is the consumer
confidence number. I don't know about you but I am sleeping
better at night knowing that people are feeling good enough
so as to spend lots more money they don't have on more imported
goods blowing the current account deficit out even further.
Apparently that sort of thing no longer matters in today's
new paradigm. In the old days, the cure for a runaway CA deficit
was a weaker currency and an economic slowdown in which consumers
retrenched and began to save instead of spend. Not any more.....
Why save when we can borrow all we need from foreigners?
Best,
Dan
Some things never change:
PRESIDENT BUSH'S INVISIBLE
HAND
Journal of Commerce
Wednesday, January 08, 1992
By: CHRISTOPHER WHALEN
President Bush grudgingly concedes that the
U.S. economy is mired in recession, with stagnating personal
incomes, falling corporate profits, and rising unemployment.
As the stock market races toward new heights, some gloomy
observers still predict even worse economic times in the months
ahead, perhaps approaching levels of dislocation last seen
during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Yet away from the TV cameras, Mr. Bush remains
strangely unconcerned. The Dow has rallied in the last two
weeks following the last cut in the discount rate by the Federal
Reserve. The hunting trip and current Asian visit were not
postponed, perhaps because the president believes official
mechanisms used to ''stabilize" financial markets will
keep the economy stable. Investors will remain calm and the
economy will recover, the president proclaims privately. Does
he know something the rest of us don't? In fact, maintaining
"stability" in financial markets has been an unwritten
national security objective since the Third World debt crisis
began in 1981 and particularly since the October 1987 stock
market crash. Scandals such as Iran Contra, BCCI and the Iraqi
loans by Banca Nazionale del Lavoro illustrate Washington's
proclivity for behind-the-scenes machinations.
Examine the evidence. Intervention by the Federal
Reserve in the bond and foreign exchange markets is now accepted
as part of the regular routine of funding the federal deficit.
As in the more authoritarian societies of Europe and Asia,
short-term dollar interest rates are increasingly a function
of political rather than market decisions. Fed moves to push
interest rates to what arguably are negative real rates are
but the most easily discernable examples of the "invisible
hand" at work in the great financial bazaar.
Beyond high profile Fed efforts to lower interest
rates, the government uses other means to maintain the appearance
of stability in the economy. The Treasury's secret placement
of over $1 billion in taxpayer funds to prop up the doomed
Bank of New England before it failed last January provided
a graphic case in point.
Moreover, since the demise of the New England
bank, several of the largest East and West coast money center
banks have been kept alive through a combination of deposits
from the Treasury, discount window advances and "off-
balance sheet" loans orchestrated by an increasingly
politicized central bank. In an effort to disguise the full
scale of official assistance to some of the biggest brain-dead
banks, the Fed reportedly avoids high visibility discount
window loans, preferring "indirect" support by extending
verbal ''guarantees" to healthy banks, which lend to
troubled peers - essentially ''off-balance sheet" financing
by the central bank.
With institutional investors avoiding transactions
involving certain money center institutions, even for overnight
deals, and little significant funding support apparent in
weekly Fed statements, a combination of covert Treasury deposits
and "indirect" support from the central bank appears
to be the only way to explain how loss-ridden behemoths such
as Chase, Citicorp and Wells Fargo remain open for business.
Some may be skeptical of claims about secret
government support efforts, but it is important to recognize
that covert loans for brain-dead banks fit an evolving pattern
of behavior within the government and the Fed.
Based on experiences such as Nugan Hand in Australia,
where the CIA ran a ''bank" as a front for covert operations,
and more recent machinations involving debt in less developed
countries, where behind-the-scenes manipulation and accounting
forbearance are employed to help certain banks remain open,
the goal of financial market stability has allowed the basic
rules of finance - and some would argue the law as well -
to be broken with impunity.
During 1984-1985, for example, the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York on several occasions asked futures brokers
in Chicago to purchase Canadian dollar contracts in their
own name, but acting on specific instructions from the Fed.
Verbal assurances were provided by central bank officials,
informing them of impending intervention and thus holding
the brokers safe against possible valuation losses. But no
written confirmations were ever exchanged in this troubling
example of extra-legal government tampering in financial markets.
If we know the government manipulates currency
and money markets, that it keeps dead banks alive with hidden
loans and Treasury deposits, and that it uses private surrogates
to operate in currency futures, dare we believe that the stability
game stops there? Traders in New York and Chicago suggest
the answer is no, that government tampering in financial markets
extends across the board - even including the all-important
cash equity markets in New York.
Traders and fund managers report mysterious
buyers in stock index futures contracts over the past three
months, on days and at times when cash prices for stocks were
weak and under sustained selling pressure. Futures market
purchases have, in the opinion of suspicious trading veterans,
supported the cash market for stocks at times when offers
badly outnumbered bidders. Such operations would be easy to
finance and execute since small amounts of capital, deployed
skillfully, can move prices for futures contracts higher in
Chicago - and thereby support cash stock prices in New York.
The Dow is the ultimate thermometer of Washington's
political and economic performance. Cynics believe the government
may be propping up stock prices. This is a question members
of Congress should ask Mr. Bush. But the question may be answerable
only by annual General Accounting Office audits of the Federal
Reserve.
-END-
GATA’s Mike Bolser:
Hi Bill:
The Fed added $4.25 Billion in tomos today June 29th 2004,
an action that caused the repo pool to rise to $47.27 Billion.
This is getting fairly high and indicates that the Fed wants
the DOW to rise as it makes its FOMC decision public. The
moving averages are very well coordinated and indicate that
such a move will happen probably right after the decision.
As for gold, we see the "don't go there"
message being sent by the Fed today. Some time ago I warned
about the 29th of June and then refined that warning to the
6th of July. We may be seeing the results of that warning
a bit early today. I also indicated that any late June attack
would be a brief ambush with a later retreat by a weakened
Fed.
This counterattack is coordinated to match the
putative Iraq "turnover", a staged entertainment
event (Complete with puppets) if there ever was one. The Fed
pressure on commodities including oil, is arranged to appear
as if "inside traders" "know" that added
supply of oil will be coming to market and that's why the
oil price is falling. In reality there is no change whatsoever
in the bleak supply picture from Iraq since there is no change
in their security. The pipeline sabotage continues.
The supply picture regarding gold hasn't changed
for the better either. Indeed the Fed still acts as if they
are in a retreat viewing the DIVG. So today and possibly Thursday
and later on July 6th, may represent extraordinary buying
opportunities for gold.
Mike
Chuck checked in last evening:
I was out most of the uneventful day, but the
obvious event is the failure of the stock market to hold onto
its gains again. The put-call ratio continues at a very bearish
point. This is usually a very reliable indicator. The disappointing
sales in both cars and lower end retail are harbingers of
a rapidly slowing economy that can't get its fix from refinancing
anymore.
That was a very enlightening contribution by
the reader who investigated the S and P future manipulations
(which I have called the "invisible hand." I thank
him for something which I have only observed which rolled
again even into today, and probably tomorrow-a relentlessly
higher overnight.
As the scripture warns, "the sin of the
Amorites have reached their full." Given the shift in
the precious metals by the commercials and the small speculators,
we must be nearer than ever to the inevitable.
I think that like the Old Testament prophets,
many see the event as though it is imminent, but often the
fulfillment took centuries before it came to pass. Hopefully,
this shouldn't take so long, but I continue to be shocked
how long this fraudulent market can be held up, and "fool
most of the people all of the time." Bob Dylan said that.
Chuck
This is why I don’t bother to read any
of the normal gold market commentary – this one I went
looking for, knowing full well what to expect:
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Gold futures dropped
almost $9 an ounce Tuesday to close at their lowest level
in nearly two weeks, as an expected increase in U.S. interest
rates dulled investors' interest in the metal.
The pressure on gold is coming from the stronger
U.S. dollar and expectations that the Federal Reserve will
raise rates at least 25 basis points, said John Person, head
analyst at Infinity Brokerage Services.
A Conference Board report showing U.S. consumer
confidence at a two-year high fueled a steeper decline in
gold prices, according James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com.
-END-
As usual, PRICE ACTION MAKES MARKET COMMENTARY.
What a bore! If this were the real reason for gold to get
clobbered, then why did the bond yields sink a fair amount
and the stock market rally? This sort of pedestrian drivel
has become excruciatingly inane, unsupported by what other
financial markets are doing.
The government manipulation of statistics is
completely out of control, even George Orwell might have had
difficulty dreaming up what the nouveau Orwellians have conjured
up:
1 EDT
****Special Announcements****
June 29, 2004: Due to an error in the way we
processed some account transfers, the CFTC will publish revisions
to the Commitments of Traders reports dated June 22, 2004
for Comex Gold, Comex Silver, and Comex Copper at 15:30 Eastern
Time today.
-END-
The MIDAS comment on Friday:
The gold COT report was one of the strangest
I’ve ever seen. The small specs went more short by the
tune of 13,580 contracts, while the Commercials reduced their
longs by 6,414 and shorts by 9,081. The large specs added
2,806 longs and reduced their shorts by 7,976. For the small
specs to increase their short positions by so much in one
week is close to unprecedented as far as I can recall.
***
The CFTC changes just came out:
Instead of increasing their shorts by a whopping
13,580 contracts, the small gold specs reduced their shorts
by 2,861 contracts. YIKES! What was a super bullish report,
actually was bearish. Houston’s Dan Norcini elaborates:
Gee whiz Bill there's only a 16,000 difference
in the short position in the commercial short category that
got juxtaposed with the short spec category!
I simply do not believe what I am seeing here.
How in the hell does that category get confused with the small
specs? What was an amazingly bullish setup with the huge boatload
of small spec shorts supposedly put on now turns out to be
net commercial selling instead of net commercial buying.
I track the hogs, cattle and bellies regularly
and there were no changes made to those figures. This is becoming
surreal; like something out of the Twilight Zone. None of
the data we are being fed is worth the paper it is written
on anymore. How in the world is a trader supposed to approach
these markets if we cannot even trust the veracity of the
data we are getting. It is like flying in thick fog with uncalibrated
instruments. You can't trust the readouts.
I am too disgusted to even say anything else
at this point.
Dan
It gets worse, Dan.
This is a note GATA’s Ed Steer sent me
early Friday evening (June 25, 2004):
Ted Butler has advised me that the COT has some
errors this week. Here's his message to me.
"It's kind of surprising that no one seems
to have caught it, but the COTs had a big clerical error in
gold, silver and copper this week. They screwed up the commercial
short position with the small spec short position.
No biggee, they're still OK, but there's no way this week's
report is as good as reported.
Ted Butler
Now, wait just a minute. If Ted Butler could spot errors in
the CFTC report IMMEDIATELY, why did it take three days for
the CFTC to correct their errors? Why weren't these numbers
corrected before the Comex opening on Monday morning? Why
did they let unsuspecting gold specs stay unnecessarily long
the past two days while The Gold Cartel cleaned their clocks?
Why did they wait to put this out going right into this so-called
all important Fed announcement? Nothing less than a full scale
investigation of the CFTC is required. No wonder Dr. Michael
Gorham, the Director of Oversight for the CFTC, resigned recently.
Jeff Newsome, CFTC Chairman, should be excoriated on this
one.
Here is a question for you:
What do you think the SEC would do to a US firm who purposely
withheld information from the public for two full trading
days during which they lost hundreds of millions of dollars?
Ted Butler’s email to Ed Steer last Friday has been
forwarded to Chris Powell and GATA’s other two Board
members (Mike Bolser and Catherine Austin Fitts) for safe
keeping as evidence the CFTC has clearly conspired with The
Gold Cartel to defraud the small investor in America.
A couple of emails from fellow Café members
on the increasingly disgusting and cowardly Gold Cartel:
Bill
One thing is clear: the bankster cabal absolutely hates gold
and silver because they are DEATHLY AFRAID of it in the hands
of the people. And right now it can be surmised that they
are serially soiling their drawers, given the heavy-handedness
of today's and recent "interventions." So, if they
are this desperate and petrified of the precious metals that
they must cowardly hammer the market before Bubbles Magoo
appears to bless this economic mess, then this clearly confirms
that this sector is THE place to be. I can afford to be patient
until their phony paper house of cards collapses and burns,
boldly going where the cabal fears us to tread. Time IS on
our side; they must labor increasingly harder to effect the
diminishing returns of their corruptive influence, while we
wait for the fruits of sound investment to inevitably fall
into our hands. Gold and silver will abide longer than these
dastardly scoundels.
Tom K.
Hi Bill !
Gee, if I didn't know better- i.e. that all our markets are
free and totally driven by market forces - I'd have to think
that gold is being soundly thrashed over the last few days
in anticipation of an ineffectual 25 bps rate increase that
will not make much of a dent in inflation.....I mean, why
let it [gold] exist as an attractive alternative to real negative
rates and an overvalued stock market?
Bill
CBSMarketWatch:
Coeur d'Alene raises Wheaton offer
Move comes as Golden Star sweetens Iamgold bid
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story.asp?source=blq/yhoo&siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoo&guid=%7B835D4BDD%2D2436%2D483F%2D8289%2DC308E075EF53%7D
-END-
Yesterday’s key reversal to the downside
on the HUI proved prescient today at that index fell another
4.74 to 185.36. The XAU lost 1.43 to 84.58.
It is no surprise at all The Gold Cartel would
bash gold ahead of the Fed announcement tomorrow. By continuing
to cream all gold rallies, they are sending more and more
investors away from the gold and silver shares, which is one
of their main objectives. More and more individuals can’t
take the action and are fleeing, in similar fashion as the
private contractors in the Mid East are fleeing in fear of
the terrorists.
Mahendra said it best last week. Spend some
time with friends this week. Go to the beach. Don’t
let developments bum you out and get you out of your long-term
share positions. It won’t be long before they are flying
again. This is a week to be endured.
He's correct. Think long-term and understand
what is happening near-term.
GATA BE IN IT TO WIN IT!
MIDAS
Appendix
More on the US financial market/reporting nightmare
that has grown to one of epic proportions:
MYSTERY BEHIND LATE RELEASE OF PPI DATA
By JOHN CRUDELE
June 29, 2004 -- ONLY a dedicated cynic and
a devout pain like me probably would bring this up, but how
can the U.S. Labor Department expect people to believe statistics
like the producer price index if the number is saturated in
mystery?
The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics
delayed release of the wholesale inflation number the
PPI by half a week recently because, according to a
press release, it needed to "resolve unexpected difficulties
in calculating the index."
A government agency doesn't produce a very important
economic statistic on a timely basis and that's their best
explanation?
This is the same economic series that was delayed
for months in early 2004. And it's a number that will prove
important when the Federal Reserve meets today and tomorrow
to decide if interest rates should be raised.
Keep in mind that billions of dollars are wagered
each day on whether inflation is increasing or falling. And
remember that the PPI is one of the most visible gauges of
this watched all over the world.
Not only is the number important to the Fed,
but it's also key to the presidential election if only because
it can change the economy by forcing financial markets to
make borrowing costs more expensive.
"The BLS expresses its apologies to those
who experience any problems as a result of this delay,"
the Labor Department said on its Web site.
When the PPI was finally released it showed
an increase of 0.8 percent in May, the biggest jump since
March 2003. If you take out food and energy prices the increase
was 0.3 percent.
That the media didn't seem to care about this
delay was as astounding as the government's ineptitude. So
let me be one voice of indignation.
(Pound fist on desk) We need to know what's
going on!
I called the Labor Department between the time
the PPI was delayed and its eventual release. I got a little
fuller explanation but one that was still completely unacceptable.
Brian Catron, a BLS economist who works on the
PPI data, says the number was delayed because "there
was a calculation issue."
What exactly does that mean? Does Catron mean
that the PPI's jump, as originally calculated, was too large
for the financial markets to handle?
"You are implying that we are manipulating
the number," Catron shot back when I asked. "I'm
not going to dignify that with a response."
OK, don't respond. I'm still wondering if that
was the case.
But here are some other things you might want
to know.
Catron assured me that the "mistake"
that caused the PPI's delay had to do with the quality of
the data that were provided by manufacturers.
And he contended that Labor Department higher-ups
had not seen the original number before it was pulled, so
only lowly bureaucrats decided to rejigger the data.
The raw data, Catron told me days before the
PPI finally came out, didn't pass a quality assurance test.
Prices as they stood on the day they were originally
supposed to be released just weren't "appropriate"
for public viewing.
A little editing and they apparently become
appropriate. Which makes me wonder: shouldn't someone be keeping
an eye on the stat-amagicians?
***
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