More shocks

CHILE - Strong aftershocks from a powerful earthquake hit northern Chile on Thursday as the government erected a working military hospital and promised hundreds of other portable dwellings for 15,000 left homeless by the quake. Government and army workers scrambled to distribute tons of food, water and medicine after the 7.7 magnitude quake struck near the desert village of Quillagua in the foothills of the Andes on Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring more than 150.
Major aftershocks shook the region Today, including one of magnitude 6.2 and another of magnitude 6.8, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of further damage or injuries. The earthquake destroyed or damaged 4,000 houses and the local hospital, blocking roads, crushing cars and knocking out power across northern Chile, officials said. This port city of 27,000 and the nearby mining town of Maria Elena were the hardest hit, and presidential spokesman Ricardo Lagos Weber said both would be declared disaster areas to expedite aid delivery.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE

Chile was where the tsunami was generated that hit Hawaii, the April Fools Tsunami. Chile is having one earthquake after another the ones In the ocean are the ones to watch.
Region: OFFSHORE ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
Geographic coordinates: 22.830S, 70.369W
Magnitude: 6.3 Mw Depth: 35 km
Universal Time (UTC): 20 Nov 2007 17:55:55

Quake in Chile and tsunami

A large 7.7 mag. quake hit Chile one hour ago. No reports of damage or injuries at this time. Region: Antofagasta, Chile. Geographic coordinates: 22.189S, 69.843W. Magnitude: 7.7 Mw. Depth: 60 km. Universal Time (UTC): 14 Nov 2007 15:40:53. Time near the Epicenter: 14 Nov 2007 12:40:53. Local standard time in your area: 14 Nov 2007 15:40:00. Location with respect to nearby cities: 101 km (63 miles) WNW (290 degrees) of Calama, Chile.
A Tsunami watch is in effect for Hawaii. There is a possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than one hundred kilometers from the earthquake epicenter. Due to the only limited sea level data from the region, it may not be possible for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center/NOAA to rapidly confirm nor evaluate the strength of a tsunami if one has been generated.

antarctic quake

USGS and EMSC reports a 'RARE' moderate 5.8 Mag. EARTHQUAKE
hit November 5, 2007, 105 km SSE of Casey Station in the
Australian Antarctic Territory there. The earthquake was
located on the tectonic plate, away from the plate boundary.
Earthquakes in the Antarctic are rare!

Stockmarket crash is coming

THE man responsible for investing $41 billion of the State's money has warned mum-and-dad investors to prepare for a massive sharemarket crash.He says a dramatic downturn is inevitable as the rapid rate of investment is unsustainable, and the repercussions of the $300 billion subprime lending crisis in the US are yet to be felt fully. State Treasury has revealed that Victoria looks set to lose just $1.9 million directly from the subprime fiasco. But the chief investment officer of the Victorian Funds Management Corporation, Leo de Bever, is taking no chances, telling The Sunday Age that he is managing the risk of further losses "as best as humanly possible" by shifting investments to safer options. Mr Baillieu warned that millions of dollars of taxpayers' money was at risk and accused the Premier of failing to come clean about potential losses.
The boom of the past five years could not be sustained and mum-and-dad investors stood to lose if they did not act now. "Nobody wants to leave the party when markets are doing what they are doing, people want to enjoy it to the fullest … (but) it's time to buckle down." While market experts suggest moving investments into safer options — such as buying government bonds, gold or shares in consumer staples — could prove prudent, they are not predicting the downturn will be so drastic.Shane Oliver, chief economist and head of strategic investments at AMP Capital Investors, agreed that after the strong run, the Australian sharemarket was due for a correction, but said, despite the more volatile market and further expected problems in the US financial system, he believed "the conditions are just not there for a crash".But some key US banks are already in trouble, with reports that regulators are investigating Merrill Lynch for trying to hide the extent of its losses. And The Guardian newspaper has reported that another British bank, thought to be Barclays, has received an emergency loan from the Bank of England.

Protecting Your Financial Self

For your information, gold above $782 by 3% means $882 - $889 and then on to $1050.
It does not matter if it is next week or next month. It is coming as the price of gold makes its way to $1650.
I have no doubt that $1650 will come. My concern is not that it will not happen, but that I am much too conservative in my long-term price objective since 2000.
Last week’s story is becoming too common to ignore. Keep in mind that all this damage has occurred because of a small part of the gigantic mountain of over the counter derivative paper, which if official figures are correct is only 5% of the total. What do you think the financial landscape would look like if 1/3 of the OTC derivative mountain were to melt? It will.If major international investment banks can be torn apart how can we have faith in the small local institutions that hold most of your ready cash? How about all those retirement plans that prevent you from securing ownership without the need to pay a penalty tax? When I said “This is IT,” it is not something that I take lightly. Never in 49 years in finance have I seen a set of circumstances so challenging to the man in the street.If there is a severe financial challenge to the man in the street, there is possible decimation on the top. Decimation may well be too conservative a statement because that means one out of ten. Right now it looks like 80% of major names have problems from their principle position in the issuance of over the counter derivatives. It should not be a shock because the financial capacity to perform on these instruments depends on the balance sheet of the loser in the transaction. Add to that no clearinghouse financial structure and performance is not improbable but impossible in a crunch.That I am getting at is a simple question. Are you prepared?You would be amazed how little space $1,000,000 in gold coins takes up. $100,000 looks like a small loaf of bread. Now you can see the actual transformation from the US dollar to gold as a currency of choice. It has happened.When gold is purchased as money there is no reason why you should play it as a speculative item trying to buy it cheaply as it may well leave you in the lurch.It becomes more important now to take delivery of whatever investments you have in shares as paper certificates. Whenever a broker tells you it cannot be done it is either self-serving or rank stupidity. Once you do have them in your position DO NOT lose them.The basic goal now is to eliminate intermediaries between your assets and yourself. What do you stand to lose by taking this action, a few percentage points interest, and a tax advantage? You gain the advantage of possession in the financial world that is separating people from billions, probably trillions of dollars. It cannot be contained among the Blue Blood International Investment firms. This is coming our way and you cannot simply weave and duck to avoid it. You need to be your own bank, your own broker and your own central bank.If the once most respected international investment firms are teetering, if not already broke, how can you sit by without taking precautions? You have nothing to lose and your fortune to protect. If there is no need for the actions I am suggesting then simply put it back. No bank will refuse your money if you wish to deposit it. No broker will turn you away if you want to convert your paper certificate back to a transfer agent’s computer entry.
Author:Jim Sinclair http://www.jsmineset.com/

comet 17P/Homes

A most amazing eruption is occurring on comet '17P/Holmes'. The size of this comet was at 17 magnitude on October 24th, then suddenly began to brighten like crazy. Now it has already reached 3rd magnitude and is easily visible to the naked eye as reports from Japan indicate. "Perseus does not look familiar to us (astronomers) due to the bright stellar object now. The comet looks like a bright, yellow star, and only magnification reveals a fuzzy coma around the dusty core." '17P/Holmes' was discovered in 1892 thanks to a similar outburst, and hope is that the further development will be similar now: the coma should expand over time but stay bright for a week or more.

Storms

A central Queensland hospital was damaged and lost power after storms continued to pummel the state for the fifth straight day.An Emergency Management Queensland spokesman said incoming rain caused a blackout at Moura hospital after a roof was blown off.He said the roof came off an elevated walkway between buildings at the hospital. Back-up generators were used as electricians worked to restore power and emergency crews repaired the roof. Falling trees damaged two Moura homes and another at nearby Biloela. The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Wide Bay and Burnett areas north of Brisbane at about 7.50pm (AEST) on Thursday. A spokesman said "very dangerous thunderstorms" were detected near Dalby, Bell, Bunya Mountains, Kingaroy and Kilcoy, west of Brisbane - an area that copped a battering on Wednesday night. Twenty-two homes in Jandowae, west of Brisbane, were damaged, with 15 partially losing their roofs and three homes completely without their roofs.A bureau spokesman said a more general severe thunderstorm warning was also current for the Central Coast and Whitsundays, Capricornia in central Queensland, Maranoa and Warrego, Darling Downs and Granite Belt, west of Brisbane, and parts of the Central Highlands and central west.He said golf ball sized hail was reported to have fallen 60km north of Alpha, in the state's central west, at 3.30pm (AEST).The wild storms have been felt all the way into the corridors of power in Queensland.Premier Anna Bligh told state parliament of the "chaos" when an official state function was affected by a lightning strike earlier this week."The first of those storms here in south-east Queensland earlier this week saw 10,000 lightning strikes across the Brisbane region in just a few hours," she said.Ms Bligh told parliament that crews had restored power to more than 160,000 homes and businesses in south-east Queensland since Sunday. "There is always a silver lining, though. We have had some rain, which is great to see," Ms Bligh said. "In the last 24 hours we have seen 19mm into the Wivenhoe Dam and 218mm into North Pine (dam)."