It Ain't Easy Being Ben

No Laughing Matter: Bernanke Delivers Princeton Commencement Address Saturday, June 8th, 2013   It Ain't Easy Being Ben   A "worthy and challenging pursuit"... if you can stomach it... What the Fed wouldn't do to keep the markets interested... Plus, all the essays from earlier in the week, neatly archived for your perusal...       For some investors, crime pays extremely well? Thanks to Shannon A. Wren, a Florida drag racer with a history of alleged amphetamine use... Who brokered the sale of more than $15.8 million in computer parts to the U.S. government and U.S. companies... And thanks to Colin McCash, age 31, and his gang of thieves who robbed two Loomis security guards and mercilessly shot one of the guards as he prepared to refill an ATM... Fast-acting investors could soon see gains of $13,233% or more! Which also means they could be drinking Champagne and eating Beluga caviar every night for the remainder of their lives. Want to join them? Click here to find out how.       Peter Coyne, checking in from Baltimore, MD... Peter Coyne "Public service isn't easy," Ben Bernanke told the class of 2013 during his commencement address at Princeton last week. "But in the end, if you are inclined in that direction, it is a worthy and challenging pursuit." Heh. We're still trying to decide if he was serious. "Economics is a highly sophisticated field of thought," Bernanke said, delivering the money line from the whole speech, "that is superb at explaining to policymakers precisely why the choices they made in the past were wrong." We didn't expect it... but we're fairly certain the Fed chairman was paraphrasing F.A. Hayek. "The curious task of economics," the Nobel laureate wrote in his classic tome The Fatal Conceit, "is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design." Hayek wasn't cracking a smile. But with the Fed purchasing $85 billion in assets per month, Bernanke had to be joking. For all the quantitative easing, Bernanke could at least keep stocks going in one direction. "The broad market has suffered since mid-May." wrote our Greg Guenthner in Thursday's Rude Awakening. "Back in the U.S., housing has become the big freakout trade. "Investors have absolutely shellacked the S&P Homebuilders Index. It's down 9% since mid-May, doubling up the broad market's losses. All this tapering talk [from Bernanke] has investors thinking the housing market might call it a year." Heh. As the steward of the "lender of last resort," one of Bernanke's jobs is to keep the market off balance and guessing. It's the only way to keep folks interested in the market... In our view, something's gotta give. Below, you'll find our top five essays trying to determine where and when. Will it come by virtue of the "Zero Hour" scenario? Watch this video! Then grab your spot at our free online seminar with Jim Rogers and Ed D'Agostino at the Countdown to the Zero Hour this Tuesday, June 11, 2013, at 11 a.m. EDT.       This Will Change the Global Gold Markets FOREVER... It's BIGGER than when Nixon closed the gold window... It's STRONGER than Bernanke's printing machines... It has FASTER potential gains than any event in history... And you're invited to learn all about it in one exclusive event: Click here or the video above to gain FREE access...       This Week in the Daily Reckoning...   Ingots or Apples? By Byron King Individuals make long-term choices to protect their wealth in gold. Meanwhile, institutions and other Big Money buffaloes follow their herd instinct and sell. It's a rough time for resource investors in precious metals and the mining space. Here's how you should deal with it. The "Zero Hour" Scenario By Addison Wiggin This is "Zero Hour" -- the day you can mark on a calendar when the price of real metal breaks away forever from the quoted price on CNBC's ticker. You will be glad you hold the physical metal when it arrives. Gold on the Sales Rack By Jeff Clark The ultimate issue with gold stocks is whether gold itself will rise or fall. There are key reasons why I think gold's trend will resume its upward course, and why you should pay attention to the "advertising" before dumping your shares... Love, War and Politics: Abe Channels the Gipper By Addison Wiggin We've dissected Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "third arrow" reform so you don't have to. The details might be fuzzy, but we've seen this missile's trajectory in the past. It didn't end will then, and it won't end well now. Here's what you need to know before Japan leads the West into the abyss. Downside: After the Returns Stop Diminishing By Bill Bonner Nowhere on Earth... at no time in history... did a 100% free economy exist. Everywhere, in every epoch, there were restrictions, laws, regulations, theft, subsidies, slavery and other distortions. Still, here's why you should still keep an ideal economy in mind.       Ronald Reagan's Little-Known "Loophole" In October 1986, Ronald Reagan created one "off the radar" investment loophole. By refusing to force companies and the government to pay for what you see below, Reagan opened up the floodgates for investors... Savvy individual investors have been quietly earning "gasoline payback" checks every month -- for decades. What's more, Big Oil has been footing the bill... Click here to learn how you could enroll in this energy-backed "income plan" today...         BE SURE TO ADD dr@dailyreckoning.com to your address book.       Additional Articles & Commentary:         To end your Daily Reckoning e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from Daily Reckoning, feel free to cancel your free subscription here. By submitting your email address, you consent to Agora Financial delivering daily email issues and advertisements. The Daily Reckoning is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We do not rent or share your email address. Please read our Privacy Statement. For any further comments or concerns please email us at dr@dailyreckoning.com. If you are you having trouble receiving your Daily Reckoning subscription, you can ensure its arrival in your mailbox by whitelisting the Daily Reckoning. © 2013 Agora Financial, LLC. 808 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore MD 21202. 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