Financial assets now represent more than 82% of the net worth of both households and U.S. non-financial corporations, according to Federal Reserve Z.1 Flow of Funds data. The concentration of private net worth in financial assets, rather than real assets or productive capital, has reached the highest extreme in history.

Graphic via williambanzai7

The global, central-bank, front-running, bond Ponzi is now $76 trillion. Every cabalist, from George Soros to Bill Gross to Paul Singer, is conducting predictive programming warnings on it. Last week, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett chimed in on CNBC with the genius contention that the Fed has created asset bubbles. It is my contention that, beyond butt covering, most of these criminal cabalists are setting up some form of shorts against the Ponzi. They have all but admitted it, and I have noted them on these pages.

The biggest Aunt Millie patsy among the marks is the Bank of Japan and Japan’s institutions. They will be totally wiped out in the early stages of a rout. But there are plenty of others. This will make the Greek exercises look like a pleasant stroll in a park.

Financial repression: If I didn’t know any better (sic), I would think the banks are afraid of cash bank runs and a crack-up boom flight to real assets. 

Banking restrictions for customers are getting to be quite shocking, and it’s not just about forcing savers to pay for deposits. Chase Bank rolled out new restrictions on what can be put into safe deposit boxes. The “Updated Safe Deposit Box Lease Agreement” customers must now sign states: “You agree not to store any cash or coins other than those found to have a collectible value.”

In France, individuals will not be allowed to make cash payments exceeding €1,000. Additionally, cash deposits and withdrawals totaling more than €10,000 per month will be reported to Tracfin, an anti-fraud and money laundering agency.

Spain has prohibited cash transactions over €2,500. The justification? “To crack down on the black market and tax evaders.” In Sweden and Denmark the use of cash is steadily being eliminated.

Forbidden: Don’t you dare make a bug-out bag

In Israel, individuals and businesses are still allowed to make small cash transactions, but eventually all transactions will be converted to electronic forms of payment. This is particularly notable for a culture and people long known historically to keep bug-out bags containing real assets at the ready.

Meanwhile, you can rest assured that the “real owners,” as George Carlin called them, have more than just bug-out bags set to go — even if the “little people” are restricted.

“If banknotes are outlawed, you will be forced to hold money that is a liability of a commercial bank (deposits) and refused access to money that is the liability of the central bank (bank notes) … In such a world, zero-yielding gold would be a high-yielding instrument.” — Russell Napier

It may not have seemed so to despondent precious-metal holders, but the commitment of traders this week was very notable and very bullish. There was a large 15,995 long liquidation from managed money slingers and 11,731 fresh shorts.

This took POG $20 lower. But it took nearly a 27,700 position flip to do it. Wow, some abnormal standard deviation no doubt. These FUBAR algo boyz love to sling the paper. Given this circumstance, the gold price was quite resilient in its ability to withstand. Then, in Friday’s session, it looked like the slingers tried to short even more into the post-Potemkin Village rally attempt as open interest surged by 10,350.

Click on picture to enlarge

In the small backwater realm of real assets, there is a glaring and bullish volcanic divergence between the MACD and HUI prices. Just sayin’.