|
Where to begin when you've got a lot of ground to cover? Great question, whether
you are setting out on a vacation, an overhaul of a company's strategic direction
or in my case - peeling back some of the opaque layers, hiding a great deal
of the obfuscated facts in today's gold market.
I would like to share a few words of wisdom of economist Jude
Wanniski - who is perhaps best known as the associate
editor of The
Wall Street Journal from 1972 to 1978.
In 1976 Wanniski coined the
term supply-side
economics to distinguish the revival in classical economic thought from
the more dominant "demand-side" Keynesian and monetarist theories.
The importance/function of a free market price of gold, from Wanniski's Supply
Side Economics Universtiy Lesson
# 13:
3. "It must be a SIGNAL. David Ricardo in 1823 said it best when
he argued that money is working at the peak of efficiency when the central
bank need hold no gold. By that he meant if the market totally believed
the bank would not depart from the price commitment, the bank would not have
to keep physical resources in reserve, but could lend them as well. Modern
supply-siders, whether Mundellians or Lafferians (who
have differences of opinion on the correct mechanisms of a gold standard),
agree that the most important function of gold is as a signal. It
is a price that is determined by all of humanity, in the sense that
anyone can demand gold or supply gold, the same way anyone can demand or
supply bread or cheese. A gold standard is democratic, while fiat
money is elitist. When everyone can participate in setting the
gold price by demanding and supplying in relation to the supply of dollars,
it is more likely that mass will find the optimum price than if Alan Greenspan
and his colleagues make decision[s] sic behind closed doors".
Wanniski is telling us that the significance of a rapidly rising price of
gold is a SIGNAL of trouble ahead. These troubles specifically refer to the
inflationary policies being pursued by Central Banks - the creators of money.
This assessment of the importance/relevance of a rising price of gold is consistent
with the utterances of another famous economist, Mr.
Paul Volcker - former Chairman of The Federal Reserve, from this Jay
Taylor essay:
"In looking back at the rise of gold from $35 to $850
during the 1970s', Paul Volcker said, "It was probably a mistake to
allow gold to rise so high." Not only does that statement presuppose
that the U.S. could have controlled the gold price, but it also suggests
the establishment's arrogance in assuming they have a right and obligation
to do so. How anyone believes gold is not manipulated from time to time
is a mystery to me, given all the evidence provided by the Gold Anti Trust
Action Committee (GATA), Reginald Howe's lawsuit as well as the Blanchard
lawsuit, and given the importance of keeping the public believing in paper
as money rather than gold. I guess people simply believe what they want
to believe".
Mr. Paul Volcker and for that matter all Central Bankers, view the rising
gold price signal as an unwelcome occurrence because it signals failed policies
on their part. What I find troublesome in his words, is the suggested belief
that Central Bankers have the right and obligation to intervene to prevent
a rise in gold's price. Is there any other conclusion that could possibly be
drawn from Mr. Volcker's utterance?
The Reality: A Rising Gold Price Is An Enemy of the State
If we are to believe the words of Mr. Volcker, a rising price of gold is an
enemy of the State. Enemies of the state are typically dealt with in harsh
terms, no? Is it not true that Iraq and Afghanistan were both invaded because
they were deemed to be "enemies of the state"? Extraordinary means can be and
often are taken to subvert anything deemed to be an enemy of the state.
Gold is no different.
In times of war, armies are deployed to carry out or exercise the will of
the collective ruling elite. Often, these actions are preceded or accompanied
by sanctions, or perhaps even less visible covert or "dark" operations which
might be aimed at economically destabilizing or toppling a regime - perhaps
by coup or maybe without ever firing a shot. These types of operations are
often done secretly and/or behind the scenes. If you have any trouble getting
your head around the process, just ask Hugo
Chavez how it works.
When nations assemble their defenses, volunteers for armed service are generally
viewed to be superior combatants to conscripts - for obvious reasons. When
a task or perceived threat is too large for one party to handle, alliances
are often formed. Geopolitics and money can make strange bedfellows. We would
easily recognize military alliances such as NATO or economic alliances such
as the European Economic Community [EEC]. These types of alliances have shared
or common goals and work toward a common end.
Talk Is Cheap: But Price Action Makes Market Commentary
A man whom I deeply respect is Bill Murphy. Murphy is the Chairman of GATA and
he writes a daily column aptly named "Midas" - specifically on the machinations
or related inner workings of the gold market. As an ex commodities trader,
Murphy intuitively understands that a rising gold price sends signals to different
players in the market economy. One way he articulates his understanding of
this concept is to constantly state in his daily writings,
"Price action makes market commentary".
Truer words have never been spoken or written. When a given market is advancing,
press clippings relating to said market are positive. When a market is stagnant,
press is neutral to negative and when a market corrects or "pulls back" - look
out.
From an historical perspective, bull markets in physical gold or gold equities
can create excitement or even frothy markets. These prices can take off quickly
because the 16 mining companies that make up the XAU index [the guts of the
gold mining industry] have an underlying or collective market capitalization
of only about 116 billion dollars. Owing to the relatively small market cap
size of this sector, "melt up" situations that feed on themselves can easily
occur. I surmise this is what Mr. Volcker was really referring to when he said, "It
was probably a mistake to allow the price of gold to rise so high".
The gold market has had repeated booms and busts throughout history. Since
the official end of the Bretton
Woods system in August, 1971 when President Nixon closed the gold window,
the world has not had a gold backed currency. Many would argue this is why
gold has been in such a prolonged 'funk'. Evidence suggests otherwise. Owing
to obscenely large money and credit/debt creation within the past ten years
it is inconceivable why the price of gold is not dramatically higher today.
GATA has proven that the gold price has been suppressed significantly due to
Central Banks dishoarding somewhere in the neighborhood of 16,000
tonnes of sovereign gold, physically removing gold from the vaults through
lease agreements and forward sales facilitated by bullion banks. Like Enron,
Central Bank's accounting for gold has
been misleading if not outright deceptive.
Despite this [or perhaps in spite of it, take your pick?] empirical
evidence would suggest that lately, the gold price is trying to do some catching
up - beginning to rise with authority - sending a signal to market participants.
Upon revisiting Mr. Volcker's "it was a mistake" statement, I question the
solution he posed. While acknowledging that a "melt up" in the price of gold
is detrimental to the existing fiat monetary order, it could be argued that
this only occurs due to negligence on the part of Central Bankers overtly by
printing too much money or tacitly through loose interest rate policy leading
to excessive debt creation.
In this light, if any discipline or remedial action is to be contemplated
at all - it should first be aimed at reigning in spendthrift governments through
policy aimed at limiting available credit and, hence, money creation. Folks
who purchase gold do so to prudently protect themselves from Central Bank/government
largess. It begs the question; should one be punished for exercising prudence
in their finances?
Who or What Determines What Prudent Measures Are?
In many instances, the investment community relies on ratings
agencies - the Moodys,
the S & P's and Fitches for Credit Ratings and organizations like the
Mercers, Ibbotson's and the like for a determination as to proper or prudent
asset allocation. A wide range of other proprietary
research outfits offer guidance and coverage on individual stocks and
sectors of the economy. When it comes to money creation - this task rests
fundamentally with Central Banks.
In the case of sovereign nations, reserve requirements in recent years have
consisted almost exclusively of U.S. Dollars and gold with Euros just recently
starting to make inroads.
Balancing the amount of fiat currency held versus gold bullion as reserves
should have its basis in a number of factors including a given country's current
account, aggregate reserves, political stability along with geopolitical concerns
to name but a few. These
monetary considerations where gold is concerned are increasingly playing
a more important role than the traditional propellant of the gold price - namely,
jewelry demand. Further, there is a strong argument to be made that we have
reached "peak gold" with a global demand/supply deficit having existed for
many years. The rate of discoveries versus the rate of depletion suggests this
trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
The reckless creation of money and easy credit has created imbalances affectionately
known as asset bubbles. These asset bubbles are an alternate manifestation
of inflation and the rise in gold's price is a further signal to the market.
Consequently, investor interest in bullion and gold shares has been reignited.
The signals are unequivocal - and the market has begun voting with its pocket
book. The market is rediscovering its traditional "flight
to safety trade".
If the rate of increase in the price of gold is allowed to accelerate - as
Central Bankers are all too aware - financial disasters are possible. This
is a reality - though seldom admitted or articulated by the world's Central
Bankers.
The Allied Front Against Gold
To ensure that economic "nature" does not take its course, Central Banks have
promulgated a "win at any and all cost" campaign to impinge on gold's price
rise - in the face of profligate money printing - for a great many years. The
de-basement of the currency has been continuous and is evidenced by the fact
that the U.S. Dollar has lost
more than 95% of its purchasing power since 1913 - the year the Federal
Reserve was formed. The Reagan Administration was the last "good opportunity" that
government had to reel in the ever increasing dominance of the Federal Reserve
and its march toward ever increasing inflation. In the words of the late, famed
Austrian economist, Murray
N. Rothbard, when the Reagan-ites came
to power,
"There were two fundamental reforms the Reagan Administration could have
proposed to end our Age of Inflation. First, either the abolition or the
brutal checking of the Fed. Nothing was done, since monetarism wishes to
give all power to the Fed and then naïvely urges the Fed to use that
power wisely and with self-restraint. Second, the Administration could have
followed Reagan's campaign pledge and reinstituted the gold standard. But
the Friedmanite monetarists hate gold with a purple passion and wish all
power to government fiat money."
Rothbard knew the Monetarists well. The Monetarists are a group of economists
so named because of their preoccupation with money and its effects. Perhaps
the most famous of the Monetarists is Milton Friedman who developed much of
the Monetarist macro economic theory we learn in academia today. In macroeconomics, "Monetarism" under
the leadership of Milton Friedman,
its best-known advocate - represents the most renowned phase of the
Chicago School of Economics.
Two points worth highlighting are:
First, over the past hundred years, American mainstream economic thought has
been almost exclusively dominated by two major groups; the Keynesians and the Monetarists:
"For the longest time, Chicago was the only school in America not swept
by the Keynesian
Revolution ......... But in Friedman's Monetarism,
it found a theoretical and empirical means by which to begin rolling back
the Keynesian revolution".
While these two competing economic schools of thought could both rightly be
accused of intellectual bigotry among the intelligentsia - their deep seated
rivalry is rooted in a sense of ownership-via-birthright to calling the economic
shots in America.
Secondly, there is a direct relationship between the University of Chicago
and the monetarist's doctrine and their disdain for gold. More on this later.
Morning Has Broken.... And The 'Death Star' Aligns Against Gold
Now for a real world example of how ideology meets reality. The following
factual account is one that depicts the collision of ideology and the "raters" with
the adage that highlights the importance of market commentary. This involves
one of my readers sharing a personal/professional experience he recently had
in his place of work. Without mentioning his name, he is a senior IT professional
at a major Financial Investment firm in Texas that manages approximately
30 billion in assets. And because nobody tells his story better than himself,
here's what he had to say:
"Recently, when the Cheuvreux
Report came out, I went straight to the chief principal at [my] firm
to give him a copy. This guy is the chief stock picker in the firm and
his decisions strongly influence the stocks that are bought and sold by
the firm. After several days, he contacted me and stated that the report
had really stimulated his interest, and are there any gold stock recommendations
that I could provide? I thought about it and gave him the tickers HL (Hecla),
NEM (Newmont) and AEM (Agnico-Eagle).
I was astonished with what [our] research department communicated to me
several days later. You see, not only could our firm not buy any of my PM
recommendations, the firm could not buy even a single solitary share of any
gold/silver stocks and here is why:
1). Our firm uses Morningstar ratings on stocks
and stocks cannot have the lowest rating [one star] to be considered
by our firm.
2). Not only did my three recommendations all have the lowest rating (One
star)..... every single gold stock with analysis was the lowest rating (One
Star) !!!!
3). This was embarrassing to me and so I decided to read into what kind
of content was in Morningstar analysis. When reading the analysis in Morningstar
about my first pick - HL(Hecla) the text is so negative, if I did not personally
know anything about this stock, I would have agreed with rejecting this stock
completely. It read like a hopeless and horrible company and I was embarrassed
that I even suggested this dog.
4). However, I became suspicious when seeing a target price for Hecla at
$2.00, when the current price was $5.25 per share !!!! The author would not
recommend buying this stock unless it was in the low one dollar range !!!
Outrageous !!!
5). Hecla is admittedly a little speculative, so next I looked next at Newmont.
This is a bellwether gold stock and a much more stable choice - Horrible
analysis. Target price..... $28.00 when currently price was recently over
$60.00. Shocking !!!
6). Agnico-Eagle was even more ridiculous - as far as Target price and buy
and sell price recommendations. Were talking about target prices 60% or
more than the current price!!!"
Now I'm going to admit, when I first read this - I felt that perhaps someone
was over reacting or maybe the stress of his job was getting to the poor man.
But, as I have come to learn - when I hear stories like this - particularly
regarding gold - flags now go up.
Who's Flag Does Morningstar Really Fly?
If this seems like no big deal, consider the following, as my IT friend points
out,
"This may seem like a minor deal, but the chief principal at my firm was
not considering buying a few hundred shares. Can you imagine how many millions
of dollars of PM sector investment capital is diverted by Morningstar gold
trashing? These reports and analysis are the facts that are checked by research
departments and powerful investors. What kind of information are they getting?
Are all the other rating firms doing the same?"
So, I went to Morningstar's web site at www.morningstar.com -
took a two week "free trial" subscription and inputted by industry "Gold & Silver" to
see what kind of research would come up? Low and behold, I found that EVERY
HUI member that is covered is rated with the lowest Morningstar rating (One
Star, or Death Star perhaps?) designation. Reports accompany many of
these stocks from "experts". All these reports were very recently written,
and in fact - every one I perused was written by a female analyst named Parvathy
Krishnan, C.F.A.. Here's a sample of what I found:
Goldcorp GG: NYSE - Today's close: 26.86 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 12.70, Consider Selling at
24.10 - Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Above Average - Economic Moat:
None - Mkt. Cap: 5.1 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Hecla Mining HL: NYSE - Today's close: 5.11 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 1.00, Consider selling at 2.50
- Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Speculative - Economic Moat: None
- Mkt. Cap.: 606 million - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Agnico-Eagle AEM: NYSE - Today's close: 25.35 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 2.60, Consider selling at 6.10
- Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Speculative - Economic Moat: None
- Mkt. Cap.: 2.18 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Iamgold IAG: NYSE - Today's close: 8.06 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 1.80, Consider selling at 4.30
- Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Speculative - Economic Moat: None
- Mkt. Cap.: 1.17 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Kinross Gold KGC: NYSE - Today's close: 9.58 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 2.50, Consider selling at 4.80
- Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Above Avg. - Economic Moat: None
- Mkt. Cap.: 3.3 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Meridian Gold MDG: NYSE - Today's close: 24.89 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 5.70, Consider selling at 13.50
- Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Speculative - Economic Moat: None
- Mkt. Cap.: 2.48 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Freeport-McMoRan FCX: NYSE - Today's close: 51.00 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 24.20, Consider selling at
45.80 - Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Above Avg. - Economic Moat:
Narrow - Mkt. Cap.: 9.38 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Newmont Mining NEM: NYSE - Today's close: 48.17 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 17.80, Consider selling at
33.80 - Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Above Avg. - Economic Moat:
None - Mkt. Cap.: 21.6 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Golden Star Res. GSS: AMEX - Today's close: 3.06 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 1.30, Consider selling at 3.10
- Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Speculative - Economic Moat: None
- Mkt. Cap.: 437 million - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Glamis Gold GLG: NYSE - Today's close: 27.15 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 5.70, Consider selling at 10.90
- Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Above Avg. - Economic Moat: None
- Mkt. Cap.: 3.55 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Harmony Gold [ADR] HMY: NYSE - Today's close: 13.89 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 2.20, Consider selling at 4.20
- Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Above Avg. - Economic Moat: None
- Mkt. Cap.: 5.46 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Eldorado Gold Corp EGO: AMEX - Today's close: 4.15 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at .50, Consider selling at 1.20
- Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Speculative - Economic Moat: None
- Mkt. Cap.: 1.1 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Gold Fields [ADR] GFI: NYSE - Today's close: 19.46 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at 5.70, Consider selling at 10.90
- Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Above Avg. - Economic Moat: None
- Mkt. Cap.: 9.58 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
Bema Gold BGO: AMEX - Today's close: 4.28 - Morningstar Rating: 1
star - Recommendation: Consider buying at .40, Consider selling at .90
- Coverage/analysis: dismal - Bus. Risk: Speculative - Economic Moat: None
- Mkt. Cap.: 1.71 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan C.F.A.
I was attempting to list all 16 of the components of the HUI
Index - but I fell short - because I could find no analyst's report
for either Coeur D Alene Mines or Randgold Resources. If you happen to
work at either of these fine institutions - don't worry - I'm sure Parvathy
will get around to smearing you too - as you can see, she's a very busy
girl. Coincidentally folks, if any of you happen to be curious - over the
past four years - the HUI Index is up somewhere in the magnitude of 400
%. Here's a graphical depiction of what the HUI Index has done over the
past few years:

It sure looks like Parvathy has it in for all gold companies, eh? So, just
for fun, to see if ole Parvathy had it in her to "rub a little salt in the
wounds" - I wanted to get her take on Barrick Gold - only because I've studied
the company myself and know them to have the most "toxic
hedge book" in the universe. Well, I've got to hand it to her - she didn't
disappoint:
Barrick Gold ABX: NYSE - Today's close: 26.18 - Morningstar Rating: 2
stars - Recommendation: Consider buying at 14.00, Consider selling at
26.50 - Coverage/analysis: relatively positive - Bus. Risk: Above Avg. -
Economic Moat: None - Mkt. Cap.: 13.96 Billion - Analyst: Parvathy Krishnan
C.F.A.
By way of explanation, Economic Moat which Parvathy refers to can be defined
as follows:
Economic
Moat:
A figurative term that Warren Buffet coined to refer to the competitive
advantage that one company has over other companies in the industry
The wider the moat, the larger and more sustainable the competitive
advantage. By having a well-known brand name, pricing power and a large
portion of market demand, a company with a wide moat possesses characteristics
that act as barriers against other companies wanting to enter into the
industry
So folks, in summary - from my examination - not only have I broken into
a cold sweat but I have found only one gold mining concern that Morningstar
rates high enough for a great many institutional investors to even consider
buying - and that one firm happens to be "short" somewhere in the magnitude
of 13 million ounces of gold. To put that into perspective, Jim
Willie points out,
"..a 13 million oz short position exceeds all gold exchange traded fund (ETF)
holdings. In the past six quarters, try imaging the harsh reality of a $1000
million loss for Barrick".
And just for fun here's Barrick's chart:

Now I've got to tell you, having done this research - I've now got bigger
questions running through my head. Oh, questions like who is Ms. Parvathy Krishnan
C.F.A. anyway? I mean, she works for Morningstar - a renowned ratings agency.
Wouldn't you suppose the good folks over at Morningstar would be aware that
one of their analysts are "cutting a swath" through one of the hottest sectors
of the investment landscape over the past couple of years?
I just had to investigate - figuring of course, there must be more to this
than meets the eye.
So, Ripley's Believe It or Not, here's what I turned up - the bios of the executive
suite of Morningstar Inc. [listed below] including Chairman and CEO,
COO and the five listed members of their board of directors. While it would
surely be an act of moral outrage to suggest that everyone who attended university
in Chicago was a monetarist - would it really be any more ridiculous than
the notion that 100 % of HUI stocks are rated sell? You all can judge that
for yourselves - I've seen enough to formulate my own opinion.
Joe Mansueto
Chairman, CEO &
Director
Morningstar, Inc.
Before founding Morningstar, Mansueto was a securities analyst at Harris Associates.
He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University
of Chicago and a master's degree in business administration from the University
ofChicago Graduate School of Business.
Cheryl Francis
Director
Morningstar, Inc.
Cheryl Francis was elected to the board of directors of Morningstar in 2002.
She has been vice chairman, Corporate Leadership Center, since 2002 and an
independent business and financial advisor since 2000. From 1995 to 2000, she
served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for R.R. Donnelley & Sons
Company, a print media company. She currently serves as a member of the board
of directors of HNI Corporation and Hewitt Associates, as well as a trustee
for Cornell University. Francis holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University
and a master's degree in business administration from the University of
Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Steve Kaplan
Director
Morningstar, Inc.
Steve Kaplan served as a member of Morningstar's advisory board beginning
in 1998 and was elected to the board of directors in 1999. Since 1988, he has
been a professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business where
he currently is the Neubauer Family Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance.
Kaplan holds a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and economics from
Harvard College and a Ph.D. in business economics from Harvard University.
He also serves on the board of trustees of the Columbia Acorn Funds where he
serves as a member of the governance and compliance committees.
Paul Sturm
Director
Morningstar, Inc.
Paul Sturm served as a member of Morningstar's advisory board beginning in
1998 and was elected to the board of directors in 1999. Since 1992 he has worked
at SmartMoney magazine, where he currently writes a monthly column on
investing.
From 1985 to 1989, he was assistant managing editor for BusinessWeek.
From 1980 until 1985 he held a similar position at Forbes. Prior to
that, Sturm worked as a business writer for a variety of publications based
in New York, Washington, and London.
Sturm holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Oberlin College and a master's
degree in journalism from Columbia University. He received a law degree from
Georgetown University Law Center.
Tao Huang
Chief Operating Officer
Morningstar, Inc.
Tao Huang is chief operating officer of Morningstar, Inc. and responsible
for corporate strategy and directing the day-to-day operations of the company.
Huang joined Morningstar in 1990 as a software developer and from 1996 to
1998 served as chief technology officer. From 1998 to 2000, Huang served as
senior vice president of business development and head of international operations.
Huang holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Hunan University
in China, a master's degree in computer science from Marquette University,
and a master's degree in business administration from the University of
Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Don Phillips
Managing Director & Director
Morningstar, Inc.
Don Phillips is a managing director of Morningstar, Inc. and responsible for
corporate strategy, research, and corporate communications. He has served on
the company's board of directors since August 1999. Phillips joined Morningstar
in 1986 as the company's first mutual fund analyst and soon became editor of
its flagship publication, Morningstar ® Mutual Funds™, establishing
the editorial voice for which the company is best known. Phillips helped to
develop the Morningstar Style Box™, the Morningstar Rating™, and
other distinctive proprietary Morningstar innovations that have become industry
standards. Journalists regularly turn to Phillips for his insight on industry
trends. Investment Advisor magazine has named him to its list of the
most influential people in the financial planning industry. Financial Planning magazine
has named Phillips one of the planning industry's "Movers & Shakers." Registered
Rep. has named him one of the investment industry's 10 key players.
Phillips holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas
and a master's degree in American Literature from the University of Chicago.
In case you forgot my earlier ruminations about the Monetarists and the Chicago
School of Economics - let's not forget how the late great Murray N. Rothbard
explained,
"Friedmanite [Chicago School] monetarists hate
gold with a purple passion and wish all power to government fiat money."
For those of you who really think you've never been mugged in Chicago - think
again.
It seems to me we've all - at least - been berated!
|