hamburg ~ the north

sun in hamburg? OMD! it was soooo clever 2 wait with my sightseeing till today :-). well, for us land rats is the 'whole north' a huge fish market, so lets go out and check if it really is ... what if not so? well, im not going 2 change my life-long prejudices only cos the reality were somehow different, u see?

gonna find me?city map ;-)

my insights from 'the north'? folks, it is true, hamburg is a fish market! ive told ya yesterday, didnt i? they serve sandwich with fish, pizza with fish, seafood with fish, im not sure abt coffee, but probably also coffee with fish, who knows? btw, wanna know what do they use instead of trams? ferry boats! unbelievable! ferry boats on rivers elbe + alster ...

and hamburg is really cheap, at least compared 2 munich. everything was cheaper 2day than i thought it will be: food, drinks, public transport, entry fees, sightseeing (just sit down on a deck of a ferry boat and watch, watch, watch ... it is really as easy as that in hamburg :o)

whats my overall impression? I LOVE HAMBURG! pls dont tell that too loud abt me when in munich, promised? most positive surprise? the whole city hall from 1897 with its soooo nice facade, inner yard and rooms inside (ive taken a guided tour there) and on top this huuuuge building is constructed on 4000 wooden piles ... hell, am i visiting venice or what? any disappointments? well, the sex district reeperbahn / kiez. it is a busy multi-lane street with cars, busses, sex shops, pubs, gambling halls etc. ... and there was not a single young, pretty, erotically charged lady there who fell in love with me ... hmmmm ... of course, there were few mostly grandma-like prostitutes who would do everything for money, but i only wondered if there are really chaps who would like this kind of 'love' :-( ... well, prolly some drunken sailors at night ... OMG! poor guys ...

ok, lets prepare for the next day of ultimate bridge crossing tour [with approx 2,500 bridges (???) maybe the city with the most bridges in the world] and there is also an old tunnel below the river elbe somewhere in the haven which is awaiting me soooo badly ;-)

coffee with fish? of course, i just had one 4 breakfast 2day ... no wonder that the hamburgers (hamburghese?) consume the most fish per capita out of all 16 german states. anybody surprised?

btw, why the hell hamburg? ive joined my crazy wife for an introduction-seminar on quantum healing by frank kinslow on friday evening ... "healing through pure awareness" ... i liked the guy but decided 2 run through the streets / canals of hamburg anyway ...

dont worry, there will be also some hamburg pictures later on ... unfortunately, hamburg was destroyed few times by fire (esp. 1842) and badly destroyed by british (?) bombing at the end of WW2, so there are not all buildings historical and so pretty old, but there are still many traditional houses left and few were also reconstructed and yes, imho is the city developing itself in a nice style further ... => PICTURES ~ maybe too many ~ just skip few of them ;o)
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pittsburgh, pennsylvania, usa

my most interesting insight? my journey started just when i arrived ... its a strange world, that north american continent, u know? but anyway, i liked it ...

why the hell pittsburgh? well, my brother + his family live there for the next few months :-)

pittsburgh = venice of north america? not really, just toooo much snow water out there ;o)

pittsburgh = an old industrial city? yep, it surely was! is steel city still industrial a lot? hmmmm, i dont really know, but i think it is and it still looks like accordingly 😀

st. patrick's day ~ st. patty's day is celebrated not just by irish folks 🍻🍀🍺

a green beer?

wanna more pictures? steel+ketchup city ~ enjoy ~ u have told u want 😉

even more pictures? on the road ~ enjoy as well

so what was in canada + usa soooo different to old europe? a lot, e.g.:

• many, many old folks who still have to work … is there no retirement money in usa, canada? 
• a no alcohol world? well, in both ontario + pennsylvania its not so easy 2 get a beer in supermarket, fast food shop, in the street … hell! the guys are not allowed to drink a beer after their hamburger but they can go as soldiers to foreign countries and kill thousands of people? hmmmmmm … 
• there are plenty of ATMs everywhere! so i would suppose they pay a lot of stuff cash, crazy me! the (credit) card is king! ive paid even USD 6 via credit card in order to get the needed allowance stamp to enter the usa (visa waiver program). … and forgot/lost my credit card near the niagara falls … lets hope i only withdrawn the money from the ATM and the machine kept my card. well, i will discover soon, my money withdrawal + the possible hostile transactions will be processed in germany on monday or tuesday i think … and yes, i could already block my card. well, it was a loooong and costly phone call from the lake erie to my german bank office cos i wanted 2 block only my card and not the whole bank account, my wife would kill me otherwise ;) … i think this would be in usa/canada much easier, isnt it? most strange situation? if you want to refill your gas and pay cash, you have to give the cashier some card, passport, key or some other stuff 1st, otherwise he fears u wouldn’t pay at all ... craaazy! it is abt 30 dollars or the like :-(. sometimes i just paid some concrete amt of dollars in front and hoped i havent purchased much too much or much too few gas this time … 
• in general, many thinks seems to work very easy and very fine here, in germany we use to over complicate everything … don’t ask me how difficult it was to figure out in internet + subway station, how much shoudda i pay on top of my regular monthly public transport ticket (~ zone) to get to the munich airport … and ive prolly paid the wrong charge anyway. in toronto it was easy, easy, easy! 3 dollars and you can go by bus + subway as long as you want to without leaving the bus / subway system. no zones + time limits + other complicated crap
• free ice-skating 4 the public in toronto 
• soooo many chinese folks + shops in toronto 
• many (easy) rules of behaviour and controls out there as if the people know what to do otherwise, most rules are concerning security 
• the two strangest things? 
• => a) the house prices in pittsburgh are so damned cheap that i don’t know if i still should concentrate my attention 2 the stock market or simply buy as many houses in some nice neighborhoods in pittsburgh as possible (e.g. $180,000 INCLUDING the ground which would cost in a worse neighborhood in munich nearly a million €uros and u still hadnt any roof above your head 
• => b) yes, i felt the most time like in lodz / poland and i liked it!!! crazy, isnt it? the main reason were the many old red brick houses / factory buildings and huuuge supermarkets beside the ‘exit’ roads in toronto + pittsburgh. hmmmm, maybe look all early industrial cities the same, do they? my familiar places like munich or slovakia look definitely different … last but not least: very, very, friendly + helpful people everywhere😍

good bye, north america, good bye😄

PDAC, toronto, niagara falls / canada

canada is abt ice-hockey, isnt it?

PDAC conference/show ~ sooo many mining companies, u see? well, after 2 hours walking through the show looks every booth the same, so lets show ya only one of them ~ the globex mining dream quartet:

folks, im too busy + too tired 2 post anything, will prolly collect my insights and the remained memories on my flight back :-)

...

wanna know how my vacation begun? ok, after managing all these administrative things like booking a flight + hotel 4 the few 1^st nights, packing all needed stuff etc im sitting in air canada plane moving forward 2 toronto. the last time i left the €uro-zone is already few months ago (it was poland / czech republic in december, u know?), so of course i have tried 2 change some money at the airport … a damned mistake of mine! the thieves banks asked for a exchange rate u wouldn’t believe. the fx qoute is 1.35 CAD for 1 €ur. what do u think i got for 100 €uros? 133 dollar or 130? or prolly only 125 cos there is a stupid banking monopoly with 1 (one!) single bank company at munich’s airport? well, it was even less than that ~ 120 CAD, which was 126 minus the 5 euros commission ;-(. i hate these thieves! let them go bankrupt in the next financial crisis a la 2008 …

the flight was fine, anyway … i just wonder abt the mom + dad type of personnel here, the german airlines employ rather the young + pretty model type of stewardess J

well, the PDAC show was interesting and exhausting - soooo damned many companies, soooo many talks to companies' representatives i knew already from the munich precious metals show and also many discussions with companies & folks i didnt knew till now in this four busy days and nights. why also nights? well, ive attended few receptions in the nearby hotels as well (few silver companies together, guyana gold, mcewen capital, 1st majestic silver, ...). but u know what? even if smaller, i like the munich show more, anyway. why? its more attractive 2 me cos there are also many gold&silver coin dealers and thus its more money related than torontos companies' presentations booths  ... and yes, in munich there are many open presentation by well known experts for all attendees and not only (closed) events for invited guests ...

a picture says more than 1,000 words? so what abt few PICTURES? lets move to my picasa albums:

• 1st sightseeing day
• 2nd sightseeing day
• pictures from the niagara falls

orko silver

(source: orko silver)

folks, instead of the usual investor lunch event, there was an investor dinner yesterday ... well, there is a lot to say, but its too late now and im leaving tomorrow to toronto for the PDAC show, so gonna post few insights from director's mike devji's presentation later ... btw, orko will also attend the PDAC, so u could speak directly 2 orko's representatives there :-)

still wanna know few details? here we go:

• ownes one of world's largest silver deposits in mexico
• strong partnership with pan american silver (PAAS). as agreed, PAAS can get 55% of the projecting  by spending some money on the property and developing the project up to certain level (feasibility study?). well, 45% from 10m ounces of silver isnt bad, is it? u know whats even better? im also shareholder of PAAS, so i dont have to care abt the remaining 55% as well :-)
• overview abt usage of silver + outlook abt future silver market developments + the shortage of physical silver will prolly continue further, so we neednt worry too much abt the price of silver ... just imagine if silver socks becomed the best selling socks in the world, there are sooooo many feet on planet earth, OMG! lol
• the current high-high-high price helps orko a lot cos PAAS is prolly going to make an open pit mine and take out all silver available instead of the original plan of mining only few high grade veins underground
• orko is currently my 4th biggest position, so i dont complian abt the high silver prices either :-)
• ...

good luck, my dear orko miners, good luck ;-)

the stock market does not go down ...

folks, believe me, the stock market does not go down! why? well, there is simply too much liquidity out there (ie what we former called money). its as simple as that :-)

(source: http://www.daytrading.de/2011/02/the-stock-market-does-not-go-down/)

usa, europe, grerat britain, china, brazil, japan, ... btw, is russia + zimbabwe missing there? btw, who is the guy with the many gold bars behind him? any idea out there?

gold, silver, copper? catalyst copper? PDAC in toronto!

 i took a day off, a great day, i think. why?

a) ive bought some gold, physical, of course ... pls do not laugh too loud abt me that ive been sleeping sooooo many years and started buying at record high prices around $1,400 per ounce ... better late than never, u know? well, ive been buying silver before :-) ... btw, i dont consider silver cheap anymore, so have turned my attention 2 gold, my guts feelings told me 2 do so, u see? its as simple as that! folks, yesterday, by an accident ive saw the chart of the gold/silver ratio somewhere in the internet ... i couldnt believe my eyes and im sure u cant imagine either ..... buuuuuut gold is currently at the cheapest level since 1998 compared 2 silver, not to paper, of course. is it really true that ive had that much luck with my timing? OMG!

(source: executive bulletin via stockcharts.com)

b) ive decided 2 crash JP morgan chase! thats are prolly the most ugly silver market riggers on planet earth, so why not teach them a lesson? just kidding, u know i dont believe in all that 'evil' manipulation stuff, dont u? of course, there is a lot of manipulation in the 'paper' world of bonds + currencies and some manipulation also in other financial markets like gold / silver / equities / commodities, but thats the way the markets work for years, so lets accept that, my dear ;o). anyway, ive bought 1oz physical silver in order 2 support folks who are trying to crash the silver short sellers like JPM + HSBC via buying physical silver and/or choosing delivery on their march silver futures instead of cash settlements => go silver go!

(source: klarblick.blogspot.com)

c) copper? catalyst copper! next investor lunch event in the nice käfer's restaurant 2day. what abt few impressions? here we go:

(source: http://www.catalystcopper.com)

• junior explorer company with a promising copper project in central mexico
• NI 43-101 compliant independent resource estimate already existent, low grades 0.5% Cu => open pit mine planned, very good infrastructure (roads, railroad, nearby port, power + water supply), good relationship to local government + local communities
• partnership with teck cominco which allows teck to get 60% of the project 
• nice presentation by the CEO john w. greenslade who in his matter of fact manner not only presented catalyst, but also told a lot abt copper, mexico, doing business with chinese/ koreans / mexicans, drug wars in northern mexico, mining business in high-grade Cu regions like congo + zambia, ...
• copper, copper, copper + some gold, silver & molybdenum as by-products
• same procedure as always with euroscandic's picks: im already invested since few weeks cos i try to avoid the road show effect + applied for catalyst's newsletter + gonna follow the developments + decide later if i will increase my 'pilot buy' position in the future => this investment stuff is sooooo easy!
• down 10% today => wtf?
• any risks? well, there will be some financing needed (dilution of existing share/ownership structure) in order to cover the expenses 2 bring the mine into production and maybe also some difficulties down the road .... and yes, the start of the production + cash flow is not going to happen before 2013 ... btw, who knows the price of copper by 2013?
• ...

d) talked 2 my investor buddies => #jarobuys:

• south boulder ~ potash in eritrea ~ much 2 expensive i think and prolly even more promotion + potash boom driven instead of companys fundamental development (~ eg the recent take-over wave in saskatchewan ~ potash corp + potash one + bhp billiton + K&S). me, stupid idiot, why didnt i buy few shares in november when ive read the companys presentation sheet in the catalogue of precious metals + mining fair? at that time was the price approx AUD 0.75 ... the price 2day ie only two and half months later? AUD 4.80 ...
• allana potash ~ potash in ethiopia ~ the same story as above ~ much 2 expensive thus bought only a very small position
• belvedere resources ~ nickel in finland, increased my existing line

e) came home after a looong walk through munichs parks along the isar river and bought rice + natural gas via my trading account. rice is down a lot, but at least gas didnt collapse 2day ... go commodities go!

good luck, my lovely new investments, good luck!

ps: march 1st, 2011: folks, ive just bought a ticket 2 toronto (expensive like hell!) and gonna visit the PDAC gold+silver show next week!

with gold at a new high-high-higher all-time-high @ $1,435 per ounce it is going 2 be a crazy time there, i think 

btw, whos gonna join me there?

PDAC International Convention Trade Show & Investors Exchange - Mining Investment Show

said NO 2 WAR in munich 2day!

politics meets war industry @ the 'security' conference in munich ;-(
LETS FIGHT AGAINST THEM! 

folks, dont allow them to destroy the planet, todays weapon are far to 'good', u know? of course, ive been among the protesters again. well, 2day i didnt succeed to attend the main demonstration through the streets of munichs old centre cos i had 2 pick up my youngest daughter @ school after her skiing course week, but ive joined the protest and the protesters in front of old city hall later. ive been 3 hours there as the protest lasts as long as the official program takes place in order to tell the war planners we dont wanna  them in our city and we not wanna them at all!

there were many different groups there: workers unions, green + left parties, some christian organisations, young people, old people, egyptians, ethiopians, tunisians, afghans, iraqis, ..., free thinkers like me and ... police! a lot of police :o(. well, there were police units in light green uniforms, green, dark green, blue and black uniforms - their weapons and safeguard equipment was also very different. from usual every day outfit up to heavily armed guys with steel helmets and firearms :-(

folks, we shouldnt allow them 2 waste our tax money on wars, we shouldnt go deeper and deeper into debt in order to order more and more bombs, airplanes, war ships, nuclear weapons making the attending companies richer and richer and causing death of innocent people all over the world!

LETS JOIN 4 PEACE AND A GREEN FRIENDLY PLANET! LETS REACH THE CRITICAL MASS  AND FORCE THE CHANGE 4 BETTER LIFE 4 ALL FOLKS ALL OVER THE WORLD ;-). (like the eastern germans reached 12 years ago and the egyptians recently. bye-bye, mubarak! bye-bye dictators + weapons + politicians + war)! NO MONEY 4 WEAPONS! NO DEBTS 4 WARS! never :-).

folks, what do u think abt my following idea? well, lets destroy the fraudulent paper money system!!!  it is as easy as that! without paper money, printing press, endless debts and deficits, there would be no such stupid wars like e.g. against afghanistan possible. just imagine all money were gold & silver, what do you think, how long would the western 'democracies' waste their hard earned and saved gold + silver on such stupid 'investments' like wars on iraq, iran, terror, afghanistan, etc? not toooo long, isnt it? there were also no senseless (nature destroying) subventions, financial bubbles, bailouts, etc. in current dimensions possible. btw, do u know how to destroy the paper ('fiat') money system? its very very easy, just destroy the believes of the average tom+joe abt paper money :-). thx to the fractional reserve banking there is only 2%-10% of all money available in the bank safes as physical money, thus only the first 5% to 10% would get any money out of their accounts anyway. even better than simply to withdraw own money from the banking system is imho to buy gold and silver and other hard assets (fair priced commodities + farm land + real estate + shares in honest businesses/companies + etc). of course, we shouldnt lend any money to governments either! (our money comes as debt of s.o. else into the system, mostly as debt of governments). whos gonna join me and all the other gold bugs out there in this matter?

there will be few pics 2morrow, the battery of my camera is recharged right now :-)

you know what? ive decided to visit the centre of war planning, the noble hotel bayerischer hof now! gonna there with my wife 4 a drink, lets hope angela merkel, hillary clinton and many other taxpayers-money-waster are still there. why? of course, dont wanna drag all these bad eggs and tomatoes back home :o)).  ..... such a shame! police blocked all streets leading 2 the hotel bayerischer hof (=next taxpayers money wasted) ... well, the war lords fear the public! of course they know why ;-(

pictures? lets move 2 picasa + enjoy ;o)

what abt the last years event? here we  go ;-)