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The BBC and the Associated Press (AP) recently reported that Chinese authorities prevented their journalists from visiting mineshafts and bat caves in China’s Yunnan Province, where a team of Chinese scientists conducted research on the source of the CCP virus, which sparked the COVID-19 pandemic.Meanwhile, the World Health Organization will send a team of scientists to China this month to investigate the origin of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, known by the scientific name SARS-CoV-2. But the international community has questioned WHO’s role in enabling the Chinese regime to conceal the spread of the virus in the early stages...

Around noon on Sunday, March 31, Alicia Judy, 40, left her home in Scottsdale to run 16 to 18 miles on the Spur Cross Trail, which would lead her to Skull Mesa, a breathtaking summit surrounded by towering cactus trees. The path was very familiar to Judy, an experienced trail runner and nurse who has been running through the parks in her area regularly since moving to Arizona five years ago. Still, she studied the map before she left, double-checked her route with a fellow hiker on the trailhead, and made sure to pack her phone, compass, water, and maps...

Rescuers have called off attempts to save a man who fell into an abandoned mine shaft, despite video footage showing he was still breathing. The 28-year-old man fell 190ft into part of Murphy's Mine Complex in Jersey Valley, Nevada, on Wednesday. But the shaft was so unstable that parts of the walls were crumbling and rocks were hitting rescuers on the head, forcing teams to postpone the operation.

Amazing pictures

CHLORIDE, Ariz. - Two girls riding an all-terrain vehicle fell into a mine shaft, killing one while the other remained trapped overnight, authorities said Sunday. The 10-year-old girl was pulled out in the morning with injuries. A rope team descended into the vertical shaft, where the 13-year-old girl was found dead, sheriff's spokeswoman Sandy Edwards said. Efforts were under way to remove her body. Edwards did not know how far down the girls had fallen and did not know whether the girls' relationship. The pair went missing about 7 p.m. Saturday and never came back. Officials discovered they were the...

A 27-year-old man was killed Friday night when he was sucked into a 10-foot-deep hole that opened up suddenly in a two-story home in rural Alta, Placer County sheriff's deputies said Saturday. The victim's body remained in the hole Saturday night, and efforts to extract it will resume this morning, Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Dena Erwin said.

Gloom permeates the gold community these days. The bull is bucking its members off like they were toddlers trying to ride a brahma. This is why, I suppose, so few ever make any money in the great secular bull markets of history. Too many "experts" succumb to the overwhelming negativity that comes with the nasty corrections. And their skittish readers stampede after them. What follows is a short essay on the big picture of gold and silver shares. It has evolved out of readings from a wide array of prescient analysts such as Richard Russell, Jim Sinclair, Steven Saville, Robert...

Pollution Suspected Cause of Anomaly in River's South Branch MOOREFIELD, W.Va. -- The South Branch of the Potomac River is as clear as bottled water here, where it rolls over a bed of smooth stones about 230 miles upstream from Washington. But there is a mystery beneath this glassy surface. Many of the river's male bass are producing eggs. Scientists believe this inversion of nature is being caused by pollution in the water. But they say the exact culprit is still unknown: It might be chicken estrogen left over in poultry manure, or perhaps human hormones dumped in the river...

Unedited. The stock market demonstrated dynamics of a vulnerable speculative Bubble this week. Volatility was extraordinary, especially in the more speculative areas of the marketplace. For the week, the Dow gained 2% and the S&P500 added 1%. The Transports jumped 2.5%, increasing y-t-d gains to 29%. The Utilities were about unchanged. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical index added 2.5% (up 43% y-t-d) and the Morgan Stanley Consumer index increased 1%. The leading S&P groups were Steel, Movies & Entertainment, and Automobile Manufacturers. The broader market was exceptionally volatile, but ended the week with decent gains. For the week, the small...

This is an abbreviated Bulletin. The liquidity and speculation-driven U.S. stock market came to life again. For the week, the Dow and S&P500 added about 2%. The Utilities and Morgan Stanley Consumer indices also gained about 2%. Economically sensitive issues outperformed, with the Transports gaining 3% and the Morgan Stanley Cyclical index increasing 4% (up 38% y-t-d). The S&P Homebuilding index jumped 5% this week, increasing y-t-d gains to 98%. The S&P Retail Stores index added 3% this week, with 2003 gains of 44%. The broader market caught fire. The small cap Russell 2000 jumped almost 4%, increasing year-to-date gains...

Over-liquefied markets came flying back this week. For the week, the Dow and S&P500 gained about 2%. The Utilities were unchanged, while the Morgan Stanley Consumer index added 2%. Not surprisingly, economically sensitive issues and sectors continue to outperform. For the week, the Morgan Stanley Cyclical index jumped 5%, increasing y-t-d gains to 36.5%. The Transports added 3% (up 26.0% y-t-d). This week saw the S&P Homebuilding index added 4% (up 82% y-t-d), and the S&P Steel index surged 10% (up 34% y-t-d). The broader market performed well. The small cap Russell 2000 jumped 4% (up 38% y-t-d) and...

Rumors of the 2003 market rally's imminent death have been greatly exaggerated in recent months. But according to one analyst with an enviable track record, the end days are finally here, and it's time to prepare for a sickening plunge into December and beyond. The doomsayer is Michael Belkin, one of the few investment analysts who has emerged from the recent boom, bust and reboom with his reputation not just intact, but aglow. Most independent researchers build careers as all-bull or all-bear, but not this guy. Operating out of a home office on Bainbridge Island in the Puget Sound near...

My now habitual apology for an unedited Bulletin. It was another unsettled week for global equity, currency, Credit and commodity markets. For the week, the Dow, S&P500, Transports, Morgan Stanley Consumer and Morgan Stanley Cyclical indices all declined about 1%. The Utilities added 1%. The more speculative areas of the market performed the worst. The small cap Russell 2000 declined 3%, while the S&P400 Mid-cap index dipped 1%. The NASDAQ100 and Morgan Stanley High Tech indices declined 2%, while The Street.com Internet index shed 3%. The Semiconductors declined 2% and the NASDAQ Telecommunications index lost 1%. The Biotechs mustered...

October 19, 2003 Inventory Statistic May Hearken Economic Malaise Rather Than Rebound by Willett & Alway Understanding the implications that business inventories have on the broader U.S. economy is a game of context. If you focus on the statistic in abstraction from longer term trends in the economy you can build a coherent argument that escalating inventories are auspicious in the immediate term. Contrarily, the same statistic situated within the proper long-term context emerges as less immediately promising. Since the former opinion is being trumpeted by The Street, it may be of some service to elucidate the latter opinion...

My apologies, again, for an unedited Bulletin. For the week, the Dow was slightly positive and the S&P500 slightly negative. Economically sensitive issues outperformed, with the Transports and Morgan Stanley Cyclical indices adding 1%. The Utilities and Morgan Stanley Consumer indices were unchanged. The broader market was its usual volatile self, but ended the week about flat. The small cap Russell 2000’s slight advanced increased its year-to-date gain to 36%. The S&P400 Mid-cap index was unchanged. The highflying technology sector gave up a little air. For the week, the NASDAQ100 declined 1% and the Morgan Stanley High Tech index...

A funny thing happened last week. Mortgage rates remained basically unchanged, inching up just 2 basis points to 5.81% from 5.79% a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. But demand for refinance loans and purchase loans dropped. Like a rock. This was not your garden-variety drop. It was a huge plunge: Applications for refi loans sank more than 22%. Applications for purchase loans crashed 19%. Refinance applications are now down MORE THAN 75% from their late-May peak while purchase applications are at their lowest level since April. What's going on? It's pretty obvious ... * The...

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - A U.S. mortgage finance regulator has pushed back to October the release date of its investigation of accounting irregularities at Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News), an official said on Wednesday. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight was due to make public at the end of September the results of its inquiry into an accounting scandal at Freddie Mac, a spokeswoman said. The report will now be out in either early or mid-October, she said. "It's not a hold-up. It's just in doing a thorough examination, one winds up working on very complex transactions, and...

After repeated warnings from currency analysts and market advisors (including yours truly) that the U.S. currency system is on the verge of becoming a blocked, two-tier system we now have confirmation that the country is one step closer to realizing this. When fully implemented, the new U.S. dollar will mean a "banana republic" type currency and across-the-board devaluation. According to a CNN/Money news wire report of Oct. 7, the new U.S. $20 bills will be released this week at banks across the country. Meanwhile, the Fed and its Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) will hold a nationwide series of...

=DJ GE Mortgage Insurer Unit Lets Triple-A Rating Go . By Christine Richard Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--GE Mortgage Insurance, a unit of General Electric Co. (GE), Friday said it plans to run its operations at capital levels consistent with a double-A rating and give up its triple-A ratings. That was followed promptly by action from the ratings agencies. Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings downgraded their triple-A insurer financial strength ratings for GE Mortgage to double-A and assigned a stable outlook. "It simply makes sense for us to use our capital as efficiently as possible," Tom...

It was one more unsettled week for global financial markets, as equities, bonds, currencies, and commodities all seemingly traded with dizzying volatility. Our stock market was choppy, but ended the week little changed. The Dow, S&P500, Transports and Morgan Stanley Cyclical indices posted fractional declines. The Utilities added 1% and the Morgan Stanley Consumer index enjoyed a slight gain. The broader market was largely unchanged, with the small cap Russell 2000 slightly positive and the S&P400 Mid-cap index slightly negative. The NASDAQ100 was flat for the week. The highflying technology sector generally underperformed. The Morgan Stanley High Tech index...