Fisher Capital Management News: Record gold prices fuel increase in scams

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — With gold prices at an all time high, state regulators are warning investors to beware of scam artists.

“With a really bad economic downturn, with the recession, not only does it cause the average person to become fearful, but it also causes the scam artists to come out because they know that everybody is far more vulnerable than they were before,” stated Judith Shaw, administrator of the Maine Office of Securities.“Anytime somebody is telling you that they can give you a high rate of return with little or no risk to you, you really need to think twice about that,” she added.

In recent weeks her office has received several calls from residents concerned about transactions they have made buying and selling gold.  She says many of the advertisements on the internet, radio and television make claims that are not backed-up by the companies actions.

“They send their money, there is a promise that the gold exists – maybe gold bullion – and that the seller who has reached out and made the contact will save that gold or silver in some safe location,” explained Shaw.  “The danger is in many cases the gold doesn’t exist.”

She recommends people do their business locally, because the state has regulations in place to protect consumers that may not be in place in other states where these companies are located.

“As with anything, check to see if the entity is regulated by the state of Maine and check with the appropriate agency to make sure that there are no problems, issues or bad marks as to that entity,” she said.  “We all have to be wise consumers, whether we are purchasing gold or some other commodity, or whether we are choosing to sell a personal possession.”

At Maine Gold and Silver in South Portland, record gold prices have their showroom flooded with customers looking to sell off unwanted items, or invest in bars and coins of gold and other precious metals.

“We have a track record,” explained John Colby.  “Customers depend on us and we pay high prices.  We have people driving 2 or 3 hours to see us.”

He says gold prices fluctuate, so they use technology to give customers up to the second prices whether buying or selling.

“There is volatility,” said Colby.  “Right now gold has gone down about 20 bucks from its high on the day, but in the long term I think gold and silver are going much, much higher.”

Shaw recommends consumers interested in selling gold or other precious metals check the price at a couple of businesses to get a better idea of the value of the item they intend to sell and find the best price.

She says people should also ask about how the metal will be weighed, the price will be determined and the quality verified.

She does not recommend people send their unwanted jewelery away in an envelope in the hopes that someone, somewhere else will give them a better price.  She says it is easier to keep your money than fight to get it back.

She also says if someone is using high pressure tactics, walk away and take your business elsewhere.

If you are interested in buying gold and silver, she suggest consumers call the Maine Office of Securities at 207-624-8581 or visit their website before investing.  The state maintains a database of reputable companies and can help determine if a seller is on the level.

Shaw says if you do buy gold from an out of state company, you should have the metal shipped to you and store it in a secure location like a bank’s safety deposit box or vault.

She also says be aware of any fees imposed for shipping and the transaction before completing the deal.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said Shaw.  “It may sound like an old cliche, but it is absolutely right on.”

Fisher Capital Management Strategies: Mining scam ends BS Yeddyurappa innings as Karnataka chief minister

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-31/news/29835710_1_bs-yeddyurappa-mining-scam-bookanakere-siddalingappa-yeddyurappa

BANGALORE: Rocked by a spate of scams and in the wake of a damning indictment by a Lokayukta report on illegal mining, the 38-month tenure of Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa as chief minister of the first ever BJP government in the South came to an abrupt end on Sunday.

Sunday’s resignation brings the curtain down on the rule of Yeddyurappa whose term in office was marked by intermittent rebellion from his own party men seeking his ouster and opposition protests demanding his resignation over allegations of corruption, nepotism and favouritism.

An ardent RSS activist, Yeddyurappa dragged his feet over putting in his papers initially, but gave in to the diktat of the party high command, after it took a serious view of his defiance.

Credited with playing a pivotal role in installing the maiden BJP government in the South, Yeddyurappa began his innings on a controversial note facing huge public outcry for the police firing on farmers in Haveri, a north Karnataka district town, within ten days of assuming office in 2008.

Yeddyurappa faced a political coup staged by Bellary mining magnate G Janardhana Reddy in September 2009, after he ferried more than 60 BJP MLAs to Hyderabad and Goa seeking his ouster at a time when most parts of North Karnataka was devastated by floods following heavy rain.

The BJP high command’s intervention managed to defuse the crisis and helped him stay in power but he had to bow to the demand of rebels to sacrifice his trusted aide Shobha Karandlaje from the ministry and also a key official in his secretariat.

Even as Yeddyurappa began to consolidate his position, the opposition JDS accused him of nepotism and favouritism by denotifying lands and allotting lands in favour of his sons, son-in-law and other family members.

Unfazed by former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s attack on him, Yeddyurappa also hit back at the JDS leader’s family levelling similar allegations against them also.

The 68-year-old Yeddyurappa faced yet another threat to his chair when 11 BJP rebels and five independents, who supported his government, shot off a letter to Governor H R Bhardwaj on October six last year, withdrawing support.

Yeddyurappa had to face floor test twice in a gap of three days between October 11-14. The Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah’s order disqualifying the rebels, was ultimately set aside by the Supreme Court during this May.

fisher capital management strategies >> Cold War Vet Spied On Communists- Launched into history

Casa Grande man was Navy intelligence agent and first to fire a Polaris missile

By LARRY LOCKHART
News Editor

Published: Friday, April 1, 2011 9:23 AM MST

Steven King/Dispatch, Ward Roy, a World War II and Korean War veteran, talks about his military experiences Wednesday afternoon at his home in Casa Grande.

Ward Roy lived an exciting life during his 21-1/2 years enlisted in the Navy. Some might say it was a charmed life.
“Hitler saved my life,” Roy said recently in the living room of his Casa Grande home.
That’s because Roy, now 90, was serving in the Navy at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu in 1940 and part of 1941. But because the Germans were disrupting shipping in the Atlantic Ocean, the unit with which Roy served was moved to the Atlantic to chase German submarines. Not long after, on Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The surprise attack sank eight U.S. ships and killed 2,402 men, wounding 1,282 more.
“We were based in Bermuda, patrolling in the Azores,” Roy explained. “We came in off patrol on a Saturday night. The attack on Pearl Harbor was Sunday afternoon [Bermuda time].”
Though he was in relative safety in the Atlantic, Roy’s discharge from the service was postponed.
“I had 42 days to do when they bombed Pearl Harbor,” he said. So instead of shipping off to New York the night of the attack to prepare to be discharged, it was more duty for the young electronic technician. He already had served nearly four years after enlisting Feb. 2, 1938.
The excitement was just beginning for Roy. He later served on the USS George Washington, one of the nation’s ballistic missile submarines. He was an inadvertent intelligence agent during the occupation of Japan after World War II when activists were trying to gain information to block formation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, or SEATO. He also gave the order to fire the first two Polaris test missiles in 1960.
“We went from submarine to submarine checking their missiles before they test fired,” Roy said. He added that his unit had about 500 pounds of “mobile” equipment, broken down into sizes that would fit through a submarine’s hatch, along with “several miles of cable.”
He served in the occupation force in Japan from December 1945 to February 1947 and became an unofficial intelligence agent by accident. He and a couple of buddies had stopped in a bar for a while one evening, and the locals seemed suspiciously intent on separating him from his friends. He reported the incident to superiors after returning to his ship and was taken to see intelligence officers not long after that.
It turns out the bar he had visited was a known hangout for communists trying to disrupt SEATO, but the activists knew all of the U.S. intelligence agents so they weren’t able to infiltrate the bar. He was asked if he was willing to work for them and immediately agreed. It helped that he had a Japanese girlfriend and knew the Japanese language, though he didn’t let that be known in his subsequent visits to the bar. Whenever the communists would begin speaking Japanese, he’d ask his girlfriend “What are they saying?” when in fact he understood most of their conversations and reported back on what he heard. He said he spent five months as an agent.
After losing a civilian job after the war and being single, Roy enlisted again when the Korean War started. His final tour was spent riding trains out of Los Angeles in a mixed-branch military police operation. Some of those trains plied Southern Pacific rails through Casa Grande, though he didn’t move here until April 2003. A native of Massachusetts, he lived south of Denver before coming to Casa Grande eight years ago.
Arizona’s heat doesn’t bother him, he said. “I worked in the boiler room,” he explained.