Godfrey Bloom

A recent response for a fund manager.... It may be of interest to readers...

I spent some time in the City on Monday night with the movers and shakers and there is an interesting split. Youngsters at the banks think the Euro can be saved, oldies like me on the macro-economic side feel the Euro is doomed and will actually die around about March.

The bond markets are telling us the latter are right. As I predicted there is now a cash squeeze, particularly in the dollar. Hence sterling’s significant fall against it over the last few weeks. Commodities and bonds will continue to slide bringing down already relatively cheap equities. Notwithstanding low interest rates cash is King and will remain so now for some time.

Gold will and is being dragged down by this scramble for cash to cover positions. All of which, of course, we knew would happen. The market is difficult to call short term, but with gold I still anticipate buying opportunities in the mid to late $1500s.

The sterling investor will be protected by this later in 2012 as world markets increasingly realise external debt per capita in the UK is $143,242. Dollar cash is a good call, short T Bills better which is why I was trying to find a fund that could accommodate this eight weeks ago.

We are on the edge of the holocaust which will play out in the next 4 months. There is no hiding place but dollars and gold. Client expectations need to be managed, indeed warned is a better word.

Kind regards
Godfrey

If you have an idle moment over Christmas you might like to Google up Mr Justice Cranston. You might also have a look at some of the pathetic judgements he has made in his career and ask the question, should there be a cull of these sort of judges who seem so out of touch with the ‘man on the Clapham Omnibuses’ view of what is fair.

It might also beg the question, should lawyers with political connections get preferment in a legal system which should be impartial. However, I must say if I am ever in trouble myself I hope I get Cranston who certainly does not feel punishment has much to do with crime.

There seems to be some fundamental untruths floating around in the political ether. Unless these are addressed no serious and proper response can be forthcoming to the problems facing the UK today. The two main untruths are as follows.

1. that Financial Services need more regulation. The failure -- as reluctantly admitted by the increasingly absurd Lord Turner -- is misguided and fundamentally flawed regulation. We can presumably expect another 4 million words from Brussels, only this time French words!

Mark Threipland, an FSA lawyer, said: "We have launched the tailored handbooks as part of our commitment to make the FSA easier to do business with". Cheers Mark! So what is the FSA idea of helping the small business? The smaller rulebook is 1,000 pages long - about the same size as Tolstoy's War and Peace!!!! Still this is better that the full 10,000 page handbook which still exists for larger firms.

The Lord's Prayer has 66 words.
The Ten Commandments have 179 words.
The Gettysburg Address is just 286 words.
The small FSA handbook 400,000 words.
The FSA handbook has approx 4,000,000 words.

2. External debt per capita. That we can afford to give money to the IMF to bail out bankrupt Eurozone countries, or third world countries permanently on the scrounge for freebies from gullible middle class politicans at Westminster.

Whilst the euphoric applause still rings in our ears for the first prime minister not to unfurl the white flag in Brussels as he walks down the steps of his aircraft lets remind the children in the City, the tribal euro sceptic Tories and even the suicidal Britain haters, the Liberal Democrats, that the deal was down fourteen months ago in Strasbourg.

All the British parties with the exception of UKIP voted in favour of moving the regulation of the City to Brussels. In subsequent plenary sessions they have voted for or sometimes abstained from votes harmful to the City of London, which you will need no reminding contributes 11% of the exchequer's tax take every year (and probably more if peripheral services are taken into account.)We still have a neo-socialist caucus in Brussels hostile to the City spiritually and culturally. We can now expect an avalanche if not just stupid and ill informed legislation but qualified majority voted vindictive legislation. I heard the word 'pariah' used over the weekend amongst the usual spin and lying by the usual suspects BBC, Channel 4, Sky. Well, let's go for it and stop the £50 million we send them every day. If we are so nasty, it would be wrong to embarrass them with our money.

Nothing has changed, people, the only way is out!

If the Liberal Democrat MPs and MEPs fear self government so much let them get jobs as Muesli salesmen, 'diversity' officers, equal opportunity spokesmen, climate change fascists, or 'elf and safely inspectors and leave governing the nation to those with the balls for it.

I notice Norway, Switzerland and Russia have stronger export links. Yet they are not members of the EU

I see the boon-dogglers of Durban stretched their all expenses paid sunshine holidays another day.

Two reasons, as I understand it...

1. The weather in the Northern hemisphere is freezing, so another day on the beach is welcome.

2. The agreement to set up the special climate fund to benefit the leaders of third world countries by taxing poor people in Europe and North America. Mercedes, Lear Jets, Rayban sunglasses, Rolex watches and Parisian apartments do not pay for themselves.