Market Bugle - by Mike Landfair

Besides watching for the public offering of ZPower, I would like to know how much silver is needed for each battery, for that new demand just increases the attractiveness of the precious metal.

Most of the time silver was used exclusively in daily commerce, some time with gold, but gold always functioning for large purchase and international trade only. MOST of the time the standard coin of the realm was a silver coin, with the gold coins valued in terms of the silver coins (symmetallism, not bimetallism).

We have now arrived at what is probably the culminating monetary and economic crisis of the last 200 years. It is possible we will see the death of national fiat currencies. It is also possible now with gold and silver backed electronic currencies that all national Central Bank currencies could be replaced within 24 months, once the panic starts.

And, the company said it has signed a deal with "one of the major" PC makers to use its silver-zinc batteries in a notebook line slated for 2009.

ZPower is a privately held corporation that has raised over $54 million in funding since its inception in 1996. Major investors include Intel Capital, OnPoint Technologies, a strategic private equity firm funded by the US Army, and PowerVentures, a private equity group.

Existing laptop owners will be unable to take advantage of Silver-Zinc batteries when they arrive on the market. New laptops will have to be specially designed to handle the new batteries but can be "dual chemistry enabled" allowing them to use both Lithium Ion and Silver Zinc. Silver Zinc is expected to be initially offered as a premium upgrade option.

Why does this matter? Energy markets are nervous about Georgia because it is home to the Baku-Tbilisi pipeline, which transports about a million barrels of oil a day. A million barrels is a tiny percentage of global demand, but the crisis still spooked the markets (with reason). Pipelines in the Ukraine, in contrast, are responsible for delivering 85% of Europe's gas supply.

Naturally, we cannot deny the fact that the price of oil has gone up rather tremendously (despite the big pull back) but was it really because the world’s machineries are immediately consuming every single drop of oil produced by the exporting countries, or was it because greed has found another instrument in oil to take advantage of the market’s gullibility?

Albert Einstein referred to compound interest as the “8th wonder of the world.” It’s the same powerful concept that keeps millions of people in debt to their creditors, yet also produces millions of dollars when practiced over a long period of time.

Reuters reported that tankers are currently not going into (Georgian oil port of) Batumi while the other Georgian oil port of Supsa is operating only partially.