by Jim Sinclair, JSMineset.com:
My Dear Friends,
Iran is to be dropped out of the Swift system in Belgium. That means Iran could neither send or receive bank money wires.
That would slam Iran’s economy.
This is economic war at the highest level of conflict. This could start a greater move of central banks with fears of the West to increase and retrieve their gold positions. It certainly puts cash reserves held by central banks (which are computer entries anyway) into serious question as to security.
This is as serious as it gets in nuclear and economic terms. The only weapon that can be effective against Iran’s nuclear industry is Western nuclear deep penetration bunker busters.
Hold tight to your insurance investment positions.
Regards,
Jim
Original Source @ JSMineset.com
My Dear Friends,
Iran is to be dropped out of the Swift system in Belgium. That means Iran could neither send or receive bank money wires.
That would slam Iran’s economy.
This is economic war at the highest level of conflict. This could start a greater move of central banks with fears of the West to increase and retrieve their gold positions. It certainly puts cash reserves held by central banks (which are computer entries anyway) into serious question as to security.
This is as serious as it gets in nuclear and economic terms. The only weapon that can be effective against Iran’s nuclear industry is Western nuclear deep penetration bunker busters.
Hold tight to your insurance investment positions.
Regards,
Jim
Original Source @ JSMineset.com
12 Scary Debt Facts for 2012
by Jill Schlesinger, Finance.Yahoo.com:
As President Obama unveiled the 2013 fiscal year budget, the nation’s financial situation came back into sharp focus. Experts say partisan gridlock in Washington means the budget will probably go nowhere.
Considering this is an election year, however, expect politicians to harp on facts, figures and terms that most Americans weren’t taught in high school. To help out, it’s time to dredge up lots of scary facts to make you pay attention.
Before we get going, a quick primer on the number TRILLION:
Read More @ Finance.Yahoo.com
As President Obama unveiled the 2013 fiscal year budget, the nation’s financial situation came back into sharp focus. Experts say partisan gridlock in Washington means the budget will probably go nowhere.
Considering this is an election year, however, expect politicians to harp on facts, figures and terms that most Americans weren’t taught in high school. To help out, it’s time to dredge up lots of scary facts to make you pay attention.
Before we get going, a quick primer on the number TRILLION:
Read More @ Finance.Yahoo.com
Gold: 1980 vs Today
When
gold was undergoing its latest (and certainly not greatest)
near-parabolic move last year, there were those pundits consistently
calling for comparisons to 1980, and the subsequent gold crash. Yet even
a simplistic analysis indicates that while in the 1980s gold was a
hedge to runaway inflation, in the current deflationary regime, it is a
hedge to central planner stupidity that will result as a response to
runaway deflation. In other words, it is a hedge to what happens when
the trillions in central bank reserves (at last check approaching 30% of
world GDP). There is much more, and we have explained the nuances
extensively previously, but for those who are only now contemplating the
topic of gold for the first time, the following brief summary from futuremoneytrends.com captures
the salient points. Far more importantly, it also focuses on a topic
that so far has not seen much media focus: the quiet and pervasive expansion in bilateral currency agreements
which are nothing short of a precursor to dropping the dollar entirely
once enough backup linkages are in place: a situation which will likely
crescendo soon courtesy of upcoming developments in Iran, discussed here previously.
by SGT:
Please read this AP news headline as posted by the Star Tribune: Terror suspect accused of planning to detonate explosives arrested near Capitol in FBI sting
Now, please look at the picture attached to the article. Can you say “Police State”?
The original caption under that picture included a statement declaring that the FBI provided the suspect, Amine El Khalifi of Alexandria, Va (Ed. Note: conveniently located near CIA headquarters), with what he believed to be a vest wired with explosives.
I wish I had screen grabbed that caption, because the caption under the picture has since been changed to read: “Capitol Police officer Angel Morales, stands on guard on the West side of the Capitol in Washington Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. A 29-year-old Moroccan man was arrested Friday in an FBI sting operation near the U.S. Capitol while planning to detonate what police say he thought were live explosives.”
But once again we see the FBI doing what they do so well. They provide the means and the patsy in order to create a “real terror threat”, which is then eagerly publicized by a far too accommodating mainstream media, to be absorbed by a zombified American public who will remember only the headline. Read More…
Please read this AP news headline as posted by the Star Tribune: Terror suspect accused of planning to detonate explosives arrested near Capitol in FBI sting
Now, please look at the picture attached to the article. Can you say “Police State”?
The original caption under that picture included a statement declaring that the FBI provided the suspect, Amine El Khalifi of Alexandria, Va (Ed. Note: conveniently located near CIA headquarters), with what he believed to be a vest wired with explosives.
I wish I had screen grabbed that caption, because the caption under the picture has since been changed to read: “Capitol Police officer Angel Morales, stands on guard on the West side of the Capitol in Washington Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. A 29-year-old Moroccan man was arrested Friday in an FBI sting operation near the U.S. Capitol while planning to detonate what police say he thought were live explosives.”
But once again we see the FBI doing what they do so well. They provide the means and the patsy in order to create a “real terror threat”, which is then eagerly publicized by a far too accommodating mainstream media, to be absorbed by a zombified American public who will remember only the headline. Read More…
Whistleblower: U.S. Army Colonel Says Pentagon Lies About ALL Progress In Afghanistan
by Patrick A. Heller, CoinWeek.com:
In my previous column, I discussed how the COMEX Commercial traders in the silver market increased their net short position by more than 71 million ounces from January 17 through February 7. Let me explain in more depth how the COMEX operates, just what it means for the Commercial traders to establish a net short position, and how they could protect themselves from a high risk of loss when holding a large short position.
In general, the COMEX is a platform to trade physical metals without the bother of having to take or make delivery of a bulky asset. First off, a seller cannot sell a short contract unless there is another party to buy it to take an offsetting long position. Therefore, all long and short positions in the COMEX silver market should net to zero. At the extreme, the outstanding long contracts would be covered 100% by physical silver in the COMEX bonded warehouses. However, since most traders of COMEX contracts do not intend to take possession of the underlying physical commodity, there is only a fraction of physical silver in COMEX warehouses to fulfill delivery of contracts. COMEX silver contracts are for 5,000 ounces of pure silver made up of five 1,000 ounce bars.
Read More @ CoinWeek.com
As I have Been Telling You for 3 years...BTFD...(Buy The F i n g Dips...)
In my previous column, I discussed how the COMEX Commercial traders in the silver market increased their net short position by more than 71 million ounces from January 17 through February 7. Let me explain in more depth how the COMEX operates, just what it means for the Commercial traders to establish a net short position, and how they could protect themselves from a high risk of loss when holding a large short position.
In general, the COMEX is a platform to trade physical metals without the bother of having to take or make delivery of a bulky asset. First off, a seller cannot sell a short contract unless there is another party to buy it to take an offsetting long position. Therefore, all long and short positions in the COMEX silver market should net to zero. At the extreme, the outstanding long contracts would be covered 100% by physical silver in the COMEX bonded warehouses. However, since most traders of COMEX contracts do not intend to take possession of the underlying physical commodity, there is only a fraction of physical silver in COMEX warehouses to fulfill delivery of contracts. COMEX silver contracts are for 5,000 ounces of pure silver made up of five 1,000 ounce bars.
Read More @ CoinWeek.com
As I have Been Telling You for 3 years...BTFD...(Buy The F i n g Dips...)
Investor appetite for gold is heating up, in part because of signals
from hedge fund guru John Paulson, the guy who saw the real estate
meltdown coming in 2007 and became a billionaire as a result.
The Paulson & Co. founder “told investors it’s time to buy the metal as protection against inflation caused by government spending, ” Bloomberg reported today.
Read More @ WealthCycles.com
The Paulson & Co. founder “told investors it’s time to buy the metal as protection against inflation caused by government spending, ” Bloomberg reported today.
“By the time inflation becomes evident, gold will probably have moved, which implies that now is the time to build a position in gold,” New-York based Paulson said in a letter to investors obtained by Bloomberg. Armel Leslie, a spokesman for Paulson, declined to comment.Bloomberg reported that 12 of 22 companies surveyed had a buy on gold, with five surveyed neutral.
Read More @ WealthCycles.com
Eric Sprott - Central Banks Don't Have Enough Gold
[Ed. Note: I should apply... I'm always scanning for news on these dirt-bags, anyways... Why not get paid?]
from ActivistPost.com:
FEMA still seems to be smarting from the media accurately reporting their disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina, and the increased exposure of their intended use for so-called “FEMA Camps.”
This week they announced that they are seeking public relations and media monitoring help from private contractors.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) opened bidding for “commercial media broadcast monitoring service” on a February 15th post on the government’s Federal Business Opportunities website.
FEMA is seeking media monitoring firms who will be responsible for rapidly monitoring, archiving, and measuring all news and transcripts related to their activities 24/7. They are expected to be able to evaluate the “publicity value” of media coverage and possess “editing capabilities.”
Read More @ ActivistPost.com
from ActivistPost.com:
FEMA still seems to be smarting from the media accurately reporting their disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina, and the increased exposure of their intended use for so-called “FEMA Camps.”
This week they announced that they are seeking public relations and media monitoring help from private contractors.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) opened bidding for “commercial media broadcast monitoring service” on a February 15th post on the government’s Federal Business Opportunities website.
FEMA is seeking media monitoring firms who will be responsible for rapidly monitoring, archiving, and measuring all news and transcripts related to their activities 24/7. They are expected to be able to evaluate the “publicity value” of media coverage and possess “editing capabilities.”
Read More @ ActivistPost.com
Exclusive: Why Judge Andrew Napolitano Was Fired!
by Andy Hecht, Sovereign-Investor.com:
President Obama, in a scandalous show of bad faith and dereliction of his sworn duty, proposed a phony FY 2013 budget plan this week that increases spending from $3.8 trillion in 2013 to $5.8 trillion in 2022.
True to his New Deal socialist antecedents, the Obama budget will add to the bloated size and scope of the federal government and the national debt. Each American’s share of this debt is now $49, 211.27.
Here is a right-on comment about the Obama budget by Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer: “The president knows that we are headed over a cliff. He just wants to get past Election Day as he does on everything. But this is a budget worthy of Greece and for the president of the United States to offer it knowing how dire our situation is, is truly scandalous.”
Read More @ Sovereign-Investor.com
I know I posted this twice...now read it this time...
My Dear Friends,
Dear CIGAs,
Click the chart to enlarge in PDF format
Dear Friends,
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Today’s update from John Williams’ www.ShadowStats.com.
- Annual “Core” Inflation Rose for 15th Straight Month
- Year-to-Year January Consumer Inflation: 2.9% (CPI-U), 3.1% (CPI-W), 10.5% (SGS)
- Headline CPI and PPI Inflation Rates Understated Due to Unstable Seasonal Factors
"No. 419: January CPI, PPI, Real Retail Sales and Housing Starts "
http://www.shadowstats.com
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
It is time to reconsider the impact of Greece on the Euro.
May I suggest you listen to the Ellis Martin interview as we are nearing some action on Greek debt where it is discussed.
Germany Sees Greek Deal Within Days By Tony Czuczka and James G. Neuger – Feb 17, 2012 10:42 AM ET
Angela Merkel at the chancellory building in Berlin on Feb. 17, 2012. Photographer: Michele Tantussi/Bloomberg
Play Video
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — Riccardo Barbieri, an economist at Mizuho International Plc, discusses the possible consequences of restructuring Greece’s debt. He speaks with Owen Thomas and Linzie Janis on Bloomberg Television’s "Countdown." (Source: Bloomberg)
Play Video
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — Germany wants euro-area finance chiefs to avoid splitting consideration of a 130 billion-euro ($171 billion) Greek rescue and a bond swap to cut the nation’s debt load at a meeting next week, coalition lawmakers were told by German government officials in a briefing. David Tweed reports on Bloomberg Television’s "First Look" with Caroline Hyde. (Source: Bloomberg)
Play Video
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Somebody will go to Hell for this!
Vatican told to pay taxes as Italy tackles budget crisis
End of controversial property tax breaks leaves the Pope facing €600m-a-year bill Michael Day
Friday 17 February 2012
After several years of scandal in which the Catholic Church has faced allegations of financial impropriety, paedophile priests and rumours of plots to kill the Pope, the Vatican is now facing a new €600m-a-year tax bill as Rome seeks to head off European Commission censure over controversial property tax breaks enjoyed by the Church.
As the EC heads closer to officially condemning the fiscal perks enjoyed by the Catholic Church and introduced by the Berlusconi administration, Prime Minister Mario Monti has written to the Competition Commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, saying that the Vatican will resume property tax, or Ici, payments.
Mr Almunia said in 2010 that the exemption amounted to state aid that might breach EU competition law. A parliamentary proposal by the Italian Radicals party last August to repeal the exemption, with a successful petition on Facebook, upped the pressure. A spokesman for Mr Almunia appeared to give the thumbs-up yesterday: "It is a proposal that constitutes a significant progress on the issue and I hope will be implemented," he said.
"This is a victory for public pressure," said Mario Staderini, the leader of the Italian Radicals party. "We’ve managed to break down – a little bit – the wall protecting the Church."
The Vatican avoids Ici tax on about 100,000 properties, classed as non-commercial, including 8,779 schools, 26,300 ecclesiastical structures and 4,714 hospitals and clinics.
Estimates of its annual saving from avoiding the levy range widely from €600m to €2.2bn. The Church, however, says the tax exemption is worth only €100m a year. Neither is it clear from Mr Monti’s comments how much Ici tax the Church will now have to pay.
More…
Congress Acts to Extend Aid to Jobless and Payroll Tax Cut By JOHN H. CUSHMAN JR. and ROBERT PEAR
Published: February 17, 2012
WASHINGTON — With members of both parties expressing distaste at some of the particulars, Congress on Friday voted to extend payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits and sent the legislation to President Obama, ending a contentious political and policy fight.
The vote in the House was 293 to 132 with Democrats, who are in the minority, carrying the proposal over the top with the acquiescence of almost as many Republicans. The Senate followed within minutes and approved the measure on a vote of 60 to 36.
“One hundred sixty million Americans,” said Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who, as chairman of the Finance Committee, led negotiations over the measure with the House. “That’s the number of Americans who are helped by this bill.”
President Obama has said he will sign the bill as soon as Congress passed it, with lawmakers seeking to wrap up the legislation before leaving on the President’s Day break.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Here is news that will not have legs in Main Street media.
CBO: Longest Period of High Unemployment Since Great Depression
CBO: U.S. enduring the longest period of high unemployment since the Great Depression By Alex M. Parker
February 16, 2012
After three years with unemployment topping 8 percent, the U.S. has seen the longest period of high unemployment since the Great Depression, the Congressional Budget Office noted in a report issued today.
And, despite some recent good news on the economic front, the CBO is still predicting that unemployment will remain above 8 percent until 2014. The report also notes that, including those who haven’t sought work in the past four weeks and those who are working part-time but seeking full-time employment, the unemployment rate would be 15 percent.
The CBO made its comments in a report examining the long-term effects of joblessness, and possible policy options to boost employment, including unemployment insurance reforms and job training programs. The report came at the request of Democratic Michigan Rep. Sander Levin, but Republicans quickly jumped on the chance to bash President Obama’s stimulus program, which is also reaching its three-year anniversary today.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Looks like Wall Street has influenced the Mob to think big when it comes to liquidity.
Record $6 Trillion of Fake U.S. Bonds Seized By Elisa Martinuzzi – Feb 17, 2012 7:18 AM ET
Italian anti-mafia prosecutors said they seized a record $6 trillion of allegedly fake U.S. Treasury bonds, an amount that’s almost half of theU.S.’s public debt.
The bonds were found hidden in makeshift compartments of three safety deposit boxes in Zurich, the prosecutors from the southern city of Potenza said in an e-mailed statement. The Italian authorities arrested eight people in connection with the probe, dubbed “Operation Vulcanica,” the prosecutors said.
The U.S. embassy in Rome has examined the securities dated 1934, which had a nominal value of $1 billion apiece, they said in the statement. Officials for the embassy didn’t have an immediate comment.
The financial fraud uncovered by the Italian prosecutors in Potenza includes two checks issued through HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) in London for 205,000 pounds ($325,000), checks that weren’t backed by available funds, the prosecutors said. As part of the probe, fake bonds for $2 billion were also seized in Rome. The individuals involved were planning to buy plutonium from Nigerian sources, according to phone conversations monitored by the police.
The fraud posed “severe threats” to international financial stability, the prosecutors said in the statement.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
China central bank in gold-buying push By Jack Farchy in London
February 16, 2012 8:37 pm
The World Gold Council believes China’s central bank made significant gold purchases in the final months of 2011, contributing to a surge in the country’s imports.
Marcus Grubb, managing director for investment at the WGC, a lobby group for the gold mining industry, told the Financial Times that buying by the People’s Bank of China could explain a large discrepancy between Chinese imports and the WGC’s estimates of consumer demand in the country
“There is absolutely a discrepancy in the import figures,” said Marcus Grubb. “The obvious inference is that the central bank is buying.”
His comments mark the first public statement from a senior gold industry executive pointing to purchases by the Chinese central bank, a trend that many others have highlighted privately. The PBOC did not respond to questions on Thursday.
China’s imports from Hong Kong, which account for the majority of its overseas buying, soared to 227 tonnes in the last three months of 2011, according to data published by Hong Kong. Mine production in the country, the largest gold producer, stood at about 100 tonnes in the quarter, implying total supply of at least 330 tonnes.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Lehman Crisis Veterans Warn Europe Leaders Against Provoking Greek Default By Sandrine Rastello and Simon Kennedy – Feb 17, 2012 7:23 AM ET
Neel Kashkari, who was on the policy frontlines when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. crumpled in 2008, warns European governments against pushing Greece too far as they impose conditions for aid.
“It can be very politically satisfying to be tough, but if an uncontrolled default were to lead to contagion around the euro zone, that could be very damaging for all of Europe and for the global economy,” said Kashkari, who four years ago was an aide to then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and now is head of global equities at Pacific Investment Management Co.
Kashkari is not alone among the Treasury veterans who fought the worst financial turmoil since the Great Depression and now say the euro area should be careful of taking too hard a line with Greece. Their battle-seasoned advice: Avoid encouraging a default unless first acting to ensure foreign economies and banks are protected from the aftershocks.
“This seems like brinkmanship on the part of the European leaders,” said Phillip Swagel, the Treasury’s former chief economist, who now teaches at the University of Maryland in College Park. “The better approach is to prepare for a future failure so they have a more credible threat to allow Greece to default and possibly leave the euro zone.”
More…
Dear CIGAs,
In the following weekly interview with Ellis Martin of www.EllisMartinReport.com I discuss the possibility of Greece leaving the euro dollar community as well as how the strength of the Euro really effects the US dollar and Gold.
Also discussed this week is how gold fits into this picture and the value of buying stocks versus value shopping for real estate.
We continue on with the ongoing ISDA issue of non-declared defaults discussed in earlier interviews.
The interview is wrapped up by discussing China’s contribution and welcoming to the IMF and how they are helping ease the debt crisis in Europe and how this leads to stimulus money landing in the hands of the banks, not on Mainstreet.
President Obama, in a scandalous show of bad faith and dereliction of his sworn duty, proposed a phony FY 2013 budget plan this week that increases spending from $3.8 trillion in 2013 to $5.8 trillion in 2022.
True to his New Deal socialist antecedents, the Obama budget will add to the bloated size and scope of the federal government and the national debt. Each American’s share of this debt is now $49, 211.27.
Here is a right-on comment about the Obama budget by Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer: “The president knows that we are headed over a cliff. He just wants to get past Election Day as he does on everything. But this is a budget worthy of Greece and for the president of the United States to offer it knowing how dire our situation is, is truly scandalous.”
Read More @ Sovereign-Investor.com
by Brittany Stepniak, WealthWire.com:
As the weekend draws near, silver investors are happy with the way silver reacted to the Greek government’s austerity measures.
Silver prices are staying steady with
moderate moves upward while most other markets are responding in a
flustered-like, chaotic manner.
According to a metals analysts with INTL FCStone,
Edward Meir, “Most markets are still overextended and may be entering a
‘buy the rumor, sell the news’ type of mode now that the Greek issue is
entering its final stages.”
On the other hand, Australian media sources are saying that money managers holding silver, gold, and copper futures and options had raised their “net long options” last week.
Read More @ WealthWire.comI know I posted this twice...now read it this time...
My Dear Friends,
Iran is to be dropped out of the Swift system in Belgium. That means Iran could neither send or receive bank money wires.
That would slam Iran’s economy.
This is economic war at the highest level of conflict. This could
start a greater move of central banks with fears of the West to increase
and retrieve their gold positions. It certainly puts cash reserves held
by central banks (which are computer entries anyway) into serious
question as to security.
This is as serious as it gets in nuclear and economic terms. The only
weapon that can be effective against Iran’s nuclear industry is Western
nuclear deep penetration bunker busters.
Hold tight to your insurance investment positions.
Regards,
Jim
Dear CIGAs,
Click the chart to enlarge in PDF format
Dear Friends,
As the dollar intraday reached for the .80 plus level yesterday it
ran directly into what I will call cash selling or dollar
diversification.
That .80 to .82 level is a fundamental level the dollar is unlikely
to penetrate. Don’t get too bearish on the euro as selling into a
Chinese basket can be bad for your financial health. Selling into the
China basket in copper from $1 up has not been too wise.
Regards,
Jim
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Today’s update from John Williams’ www.ShadowStats.com.
- Annual “Core” Inflation Rose for 15th Straight Month
- Year-to-Year January Consumer Inflation: 2.9% (CPI-U), 3.1% (CPI-W), 10.5% (SGS)
- Headline CPI and PPI Inflation Rates Understated Due to Unstable Seasonal Factors
"No. 419: January CPI, PPI, Real Retail Sales and Housing Starts "
http://www.shadowstats.com
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
It is time to reconsider the impact of Greece on the Euro.
May I suggest you listen to the Ellis Martin interview as we are nearing some action on Greek debt where it is discussed.
Germany Sees Greek Deal Within Days By Tony Czuczka and James G. Neuger – Feb 17, 2012 10:42 AM ET
Angela Merkel at the chancellory building in Berlin on Feb. 17, 2012. Photographer: Michele Tantussi/Bloomberg
Play Video
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — Riccardo Barbieri, an economist at Mizuho International Plc, discusses the possible consequences of restructuring Greece’s debt. He speaks with Owen Thomas and Linzie Janis on Bloomberg Television’s "Countdown." (Source: Bloomberg)
Play Video
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — Germany wants euro-area finance chiefs to avoid splitting consideration of a 130 billion-euro ($171 billion) Greek rescue and a bond swap to cut the nation’s debt load at a meeting next week, coalition lawmakers were told by German government officials in a briefing. David Tweed reports on Bloomberg Television’s "First Look" with Caroline Hyde. (Source: Bloomberg)
Play Video
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Somebody will go to Hell for this!
Vatican told to pay taxes as Italy tackles budget crisis
End of controversial property tax breaks leaves the Pope facing €600m-a-year bill Michael Day
Friday 17 February 2012
After several years of scandal in which the Catholic Church has faced allegations of financial impropriety, paedophile priests and rumours of plots to kill the Pope, the Vatican is now facing a new €600m-a-year tax bill as Rome seeks to head off European Commission censure over controversial property tax breaks enjoyed by the Church.
As the EC heads closer to officially condemning the fiscal perks enjoyed by the Catholic Church and introduced by the Berlusconi administration, Prime Minister Mario Monti has written to the Competition Commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, saying that the Vatican will resume property tax, or Ici, payments.
Mr Almunia said in 2010 that the exemption amounted to state aid that might breach EU competition law. A parliamentary proposal by the Italian Radicals party last August to repeal the exemption, with a successful petition on Facebook, upped the pressure. A spokesman for Mr Almunia appeared to give the thumbs-up yesterday: "It is a proposal that constitutes a significant progress on the issue and I hope will be implemented," he said.
"This is a victory for public pressure," said Mario Staderini, the leader of the Italian Radicals party. "We’ve managed to break down – a little bit – the wall protecting the Church."
The Vatican avoids Ici tax on about 100,000 properties, classed as non-commercial, including 8,779 schools, 26,300 ecclesiastical structures and 4,714 hospitals and clinics.
Estimates of its annual saving from avoiding the levy range widely from €600m to €2.2bn. The Church, however, says the tax exemption is worth only €100m a year. Neither is it clear from Mr Monti’s comments how much Ici tax the Church will now have to pay.
More…
Congress Acts to Extend Aid to Jobless and Payroll Tax Cut By JOHN H. CUSHMAN JR. and ROBERT PEAR
Published: February 17, 2012
WASHINGTON — With members of both parties expressing distaste at some of the particulars, Congress on Friday voted to extend payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits and sent the legislation to President Obama, ending a contentious political and policy fight.
The vote in the House was 293 to 132 with Democrats, who are in the minority, carrying the proposal over the top with the acquiescence of almost as many Republicans. The Senate followed within minutes and approved the measure on a vote of 60 to 36.
“One hundred sixty million Americans,” said Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who, as chairman of the Finance Committee, led negotiations over the measure with the House. “That’s the number of Americans who are helped by this bill.”
President Obama has said he will sign the bill as soon as Congress passed it, with lawmakers seeking to wrap up the legislation before leaving on the President’s Day break.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Here is news that will not have legs in Main Street media.
CBO: Longest Period of High Unemployment Since Great Depression
CBO: U.S. enduring the longest period of high unemployment since the Great Depression By Alex M. Parker
February 16, 2012
After three years with unemployment topping 8 percent, the U.S. has seen the longest period of high unemployment since the Great Depression, the Congressional Budget Office noted in a report issued today.
And, despite some recent good news on the economic front, the CBO is still predicting that unemployment will remain above 8 percent until 2014. The report also notes that, including those who haven’t sought work in the past four weeks and those who are working part-time but seeking full-time employment, the unemployment rate would be 15 percent.
The CBO made its comments in a report examining the long-term effects of joblessness, and possible policy options to boost employment, including unemployment insurance reforms and job training programs. The report came at the request of Democratic Michigan Rep. Sander Levin, but Republicans quickly jumped on the chance to bash President Obama’s stimulus program, which is also reaching its three-year anniversary today.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Looks like Wall Street has influenced the Mob to think big when it comes to liquidity.
Record $6 Trillion of Fake U.S. Bonds Seized By Elisa Martinuzzi – Feb 17, 2012 7:18 AM ET
Italian anti-mafia prosecutors said they seized a record $6 trillion of allegedly fake U.S. Treasury bonds, an amount that’s almost half of theU.S.’s public debt.
The bonds were found hidden in makeshift compartments of three safety deposit boxes in Zurich, the prosecutors from the southern city of Potenza said in an e-mailed statement. The Italian authorities arrested eight people in connection with the probe, dubbed “Operation Vulcanica,” the prosecutors said.
The U.S. embassy in Rome has examined the securities dated 1934, which had a nominal value of $1 billion apiece, they said in the statement. Officials for the embassy didn’t have an immediate comment.
The financial fraud uncovered by the Italian prosecutors in Potenza includes two checks issued through HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) in London for 205,000 pounds ($325,000), checks that weren’t backed by available funds, the prosecutors said. As part of the probe, fake bonds for $2 billion were also seized in Rome. The individuals involved were planning to buy plutonium from Nigerian sources, according to phone conversations monitored by the police.
The fraud posed “severe threats” to international financial stability, the prosecutors said in the statement.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
When since 2001 have they not been buyers?
Our long time readers will recall our comments on Chung Phat.
China central bank in gold-buying push By Jack Farchy in London
February 16, 2012 8:37 pm
The World Gold Council believes China’s central bank made significant gold purchases in the final months of 2011, contributing to a surge in the country’s imports.
Marcus Grubb, managing director for investment at the WGC, a lobby group for the gold mining industry, told the Financial Times that buying by the People’s Bank of China could explain a large discrepancy between Chinese imports and the WGC’s estimates of consumer demand in the country
“There is absolutely a discrepancy in the import figures,” said Marcus Grubb. “The obvious inference is that the central bank is buying.”
His comments mark the first public statement from a senior gold industry executive pointing to purchases by the Chinese central bank, a trend that many others have highlighted privately. The PBOC did not respond to questions on Thursday.
China’s imports from Hong Kong, which account for the majority of its overseas buying, soared to 227 tonnes in the last three months of 2011, according to data published by Hong Kong. Mine production in the country, the largest gold producer, stood at about 100 tonnes in the quarter, implying total supply of at least 330 tonnes.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
When Lehman was flushed the OTC derivative problem lost any chance of a solution.
There was a solution before the flush.
Should a default occur in Greece, confirmed by the ISDA,
(International Swaps and Derivatives Association) the CDS (credit
default swaps) pile of crap is finished.
Lehman Crisis Veterans Warn Europe Leaders Against Provoking Greek Default By Sandrine Rastello and Simon Kennedy – Feb 17, 2012 7:23 AM ET
Neel Kashkari, who was on the policy frontlines when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. crumpled in 2008, warns European governments against pushing Greece too far as they impose conditions for aid.
“It can be very politically satisfying to be tough, but if an uncontrolled default were to lead to contagion around the euro zone, that could be very damaging for all of Europe and for the global economy,” said Kashkari, who four years ago was an aide to then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and now is head of global equities at Pacific Investment Management Co.
Kashkari is not alone among the Treasury veterans who fought the worst financial turmoil since the Great Depression and now say the euro area should be careful of taking too hard a line with Greece. Their battle-seasoned advice: Avoid encouraging a default unless first acting to ensure foreign economies and banks are protected from the aftershocks.
“This seems like brinkmanship on the part of the European leaders,” said Phillip Swagel, the Treasury’s former chief economist, who now teaches at the University of Maryland in College Park. “The better approach is to prepare for a future failure so they have a more credible threat to allow Greece to default and possibly leave the euro zone.”
More…
In the following weekly interview with Ellis Martin of www.EllisMartinReport.com I discuss the possibility of Greece leaving the euro dollar community as well as how the strength of the Euro really effects the US dollar and Gold.
Also discussed this week is how gold fits into this picture and the value of buying stocks versus value shopping for real estate.
We continue on with the ongoing ISDA issue of non-declared defaults discussed in earlier interviews.
The interview is wrapped up by discussing China’s contribution and welcoming to the IMF and how they are helping ease the debt crisis in Europe and how this leads to stimulus money landing in the hands of the banks, not on Mainstreet.
Please listen!
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