Tuesday, May 22, 2012

US Citizens Now One Step Closer To Becoming Permanent Tax Slaves


My sense is that the government has been watching the number of expatriates rise over the years, and simultaneously watching the value of the exit tax fall… and they’ve been looking for an excuse to make sweeping (i.e. retroactive) changes. Eduardo Saverin is the perfect excuse. The Facebook co-founder’s recent renunciation of US citizenship has become a rallying cry for politicians to go back in time and steal money from former citizens retroactively…plus establish a larger base for future tax revenues. This is a truly despicable thing to do considering that these former citizens followed the appropriate rules at the time, paid the tax, and moved on with their lives. Now Uncle Sam wants to go back in time to unilaterally change the deal, and expect everyone to abide even though they’re not even citizens anymore. The arrogance is overwhelming. More importantly, this bill is also a major deterrent for people who are thinking about renouncing US citizenship today.

 

UNCLE SAM BULLYING BROKERS OVER SILVER?...

Woody O’Brien breaks the news that he’s decided to do a “Barnhardt’ and get out of the markets while the gettin’ is good. Regulators appear to be warning O’Brien that Federally regulated brokers should not be giving advice to the common folks about buying physical silver… The questions is: Why does physical silver scare regulators so much? Perhaps it’s because physical silver is the Achilles’ heel of the corrupt fiat banking system. Visit Woody’s website here.





Does The Gold "Support Channel" Mean The Drop Is Over?

With the inevitable chatter of further easing from the ECB and the 'Fed must act soon surely' to monetize Facebook shares, this chart via UBS shows the longer-term support channel suggesting, at least for those who follow technical analysis, that gold's dip may be over...





Nigel Farage On Europe's Economic Suicide

Dismissing the propaganda-like vision of growth and jobs that is now at the forefront of any and every word from the status-quo seekers that are the European Elite, England's Nigel Farage notes the hypocrisy of the forthcoming summit's agenda. The Euro itself was supposed to create growth and jobs and yet it is actively destroying both of those things - more of the same - as the medicine is killing the patient. He attacks the idea that the world will end if Greece were to exit the Euro - "European leaders say if Greece leaves the sky will fall in - it won't!" - though notes that there will indeed be a difficult few weeks - and when challenged by a Greek politician (who questions what will happen when gas prices for Greeks rise on Farage's suspected 50% devaluation in the Drachma), Nigel, offering the other side of the coin related to real growth, investment, and innovation to compete with expensive imports pointedly remarks: "Give Greece a chance because stuck inside the Euro, you are going to be literally destroyed".




The Other Euro Flaw

We have not been shy to point out the potential (and now proven) flaws in the Euro experiment (here, here, and here for example) over the past year or so but UBS reminds us that while most people remain fixated on the absence of a fiscal transfer union in so large a monetary union (to offset incidents of inappropriate monetary policy) as Eurobonds and Federalism come back to the fore; it is the second flaw - the absence of an integrated banking system (backed implicitly by a credible lender of last resort) - that should be getting front-page headlines. As Niall Ferguson noted at Zeitgeist this morning, "Structural reforms will work but will not work this week" and in the meantime, TARGET2 balances grow out of control and the longer the 'problem' remains, the worse it becomes leaving an implicit infinitely supported firewall as the only interim solution. While most who foresaw the Euro as implicitly leading to federalism were right, it seems the link to a German dominance (of ECB rulings and general fiscal and monetary decisions) has been the ultimate outcome. While an integrated banking system would do nothing to change the relative competitiveness or growth issues that plague Europe, the 'essential' internal capital flows would be sustained. Is this sort of integration a realistic prospect? The politics is not especially propitious.




JPM Hires Ex-SEC Chief Enforcement Officer To Help Prop Trading Loss Damage Control

For anyone who had doubts that the JPM CIO debacle was only just starting, the just broken news by Bloomberg that the firm has hired former SEC enforcement chief William McLucas "to help respond to regulatory probes of the firm’s $2 billion trading loss" should put all doubts to rest. Because the last thing JPM needs now is to be perceived as engaging in even more regulatory capture (its current general counsel was also previously a head of enforcement at the SEC) . Yet because it is doing precisely this, means that the offsetting cost, namely the fallout that will be associated with the CIO unwind if and when completed (and we will know for sure when the Q2 earnings are released at the latest), will be fast and furious.







People power, gold and silver – huge rebound ahead

by Zig Lambo and JT Long, MineWeb.com
Leonard Melman, veteran precious metals analyst, discusses the implications of the recent European elections on the prospects for the gold and silver markets and their likely huge rebound. Gold Report interview.
TGR: It seems that economists can plan and recommend, and politicians can negotiate and maneuver, and pundits can analyze and predict all they want, yet when the people don’t want to play along, it can all mean nothing. Of course, we’re talking about the elections in France and Greece. What’s going on?
Leonard Melman: What’s going on is that the monetary authorities in Europe have decided that austerity is the only way out of the financial dilemma, which I find kind of amusing, because it is their Keynesian activities that created those policies in the first place.
TGR: So, you aren’t looking for $75/oz silver as some people are?
LM: Not quite this year. But if this massive disillusion and even distrust of public monetary authorities occurs, who knows what numbers we could be looking at in 2013? But, $55/oz seemed about right when I made the forecast in writing and I’ll stick with it.
Read More @ MineWeb.com



Currency Devaluation: Short & Long Term Effects

Admin at Marc Faber Blog - 1 hour ago
Normally, if you let your currency weaken significantly, it may help you near term but equally it causes a lot of long-term economic damage. - *in NDTV * *Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.*




FORECLOSURE MEDIATION IS A BOOBY TRAP

from Deadly Clear:
Mediation suggested by the courts – like modification, is a trap. It buys time for the banks to dummy up more records and documents, while lulling the homeowner into a false sense of security and reliance that the servicer can actually perform a modification. In most cases they can’t.
The number of fraudulent assignment of mortgage documents filed in the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances, like many other states is appalling. Compounding the assignment fraud is the gigantic number of unrepresented homeowners in these foreclosure and eviction actions. These homeowners have absolutely no understanding that an assignment of mortgage even exists or that it is fraudulent, assigned too late to a New York or Delaware trust, was filed with intent to defraud and has clouded their title.
Read More @ DeadlyClear.wordpress.com




This Is Your Bond Market. This Is Your Bond Market On Fedroids... And Germany Goes Zero Coupon


The following chart from Dylan Grice does a good job of demonstrating, once and for all, what is going on in the bond market. And speaking of bond markets, a few hours ago the German debt agency announced that it will for the first time ever, issue zero coupon 2 year bonds, which as the name implies will pay zero cash interest. In other words, Germany, sick and tired of being the only good cash collateral in Europe, is gradually halting the payment of any cash interest on its paper. After all: why should it? Coming soon to a market near you: negative interest bonds, where one pays the government for the privilege of holding repoable collateral. This is not a joke.




Patriot Coal Plunges On Report Of Bankruptcy Advisor Pitch

Wondering why PCX is plummeting, and slowly taking the entire energy complex lower? It is due to the following report from DebtWire as of last night, and reposted this morning.




Egan Jones Cuts Spain To BB- From BB+

From Egan-Jones: "Spain will inevitably be faced with sizable payments to support its banking sector and for its weaker provinces. Assets of Spain's largest two banks exceed its GDP. We are slipping our rating to "BB"; watch for requests for support from the banks."




Economists. What (Or Who) Are They Good For?

"Economists today primarily serve the needs of powerful interests at the expense of society in general" is how Robert Johnson - the frighteningly honest Executive Director of INET - describes the self-indoctrinating field of study that remains in such seemingly high regard in the nation. In an excellent and forthright brief interview with Stifterverband, Johnson notes that "Economists are very much accused of 'only seeing the economy through the eyes of the model' as opposed to seeing the economy and building a model as a map of what reality is." And while "when the people become anxious they want the expert to tell them what's going to happen. And they feel good when their anxiety is relieved because they think they understand the future. But if the expert instead of telling the truth is selling snake oil - a false story - when that is unmasked the expert becomes the scapegoat." Overall he believes 'economists' did a great disservice to mankind and suggests a number of approaches to "cleaning up after that". Sadly, he opines, "At the core, economics is about politics and about power, and the question for the economists is whose power are you going to serve as an expert."





The EU Political Game of Growth Vs. Austerity is Akin to Polishing the Brass on the Titanic

from Gains Pains & Capital:
France and other, weaker EU members have begun pushing for “growth.” This in of itself reveals how clueless the political elite in the EU are (economic growth in Europe is synonymous with living beyond one’s means and/or living off of others… the very policies that have lead to the EU Crisis).
Indeed, this shift from focusing on austerity to growth is really just a switch from one side of a coin to the other… without actually addressing the fact that the coin itself has no value as a concept.
Let me explain.
Both growth and austerity are political hot buttons that fail to address the core issues plaguing the Euro-zone. Those core issues are:
1) Age demographics, which courtesy of a welfare state translates into…
2) Massive unfunded liabilities and debt overhang that stifles growth…
3) And an unwillingness to innovate or pursue democratic capitalism
When political leaders talk about austerity today, they’re not even actually addressing real austerity. France, for instance, is balking at the prospect of submitting to more “austerity measures” when it actually increased its spending by $62 billion from 2009-2011.
Read More @ GainsPainsCapital.com






The Confiscation Conundrum in Europe

by Wolf Richter, Testosterone Pit.com:
No one likes paying taxes. You’d think. And it’s not just income taxes but a slew of other taxes. In San Francisco, we already have an 8.5% sales tax—but propositions to increase the state portion are worming their way onto the November ballot. At least we get to vote on it. And if it passes, it’s our own @#%& fault. In Japan, efforts to raise the national consumption tax from 5% to 8% by 2014 and to 10% by 1015 have led to a groundswell of opposition and a nasty political fight—yet Japan is the one country of all developed countries whose budget deficit and national debt are truly catastrophic.
But if my premise is correct that no one likes paying taxes, what the heck happened in Europe? Eurostat has just published Taxation Trends in the European Union, and it leaves reasonable people gasping. The good news first—or the bad news, depending on the point of view….
Read More @ TestosteronePit.com




Traitor... Trent Lott explains support for treaty he once said would create ‘UN on steroids’

by Steven Nelson, DailyCaller.com:

Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott told The Daily Caller on Monday that he isn’t a hypocrite for lobbying in favor of a treaty he emphatically denounced as recently as 2007.
Lott said that he no longer believes the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea — also known as the Law of the Sea Treaty — would “cede our national sovereignty, both militarily and economically,” as he said five years ago when the issue was last brought before the Senate.
The treaty would grant the United Nations unprecedented taxing authority over American companies by transferring permitting and royalty payments currently made to the U.S. government for offshore drilling to the International Seabed Authority, a U.N.-created agency that would have the power to redistribute billions of dollars to other countries.
It would also commit the United States to accept international arbitration of maritime disputes.
For three decades, the United States has declined to sign on.
“Over time, circumstances change,” Lott told TheDC. “The world has changed from an economic and military standpoint. … Some people say ‘we have the biggest, baddest navy fleet in the world, we’ll go and do what we want to,’ [but] we ought to be careful about how we think about that.”
Read More @ DailyCaller.com




China trumps India to lead oriental gold rush

by Clifford Coonan, Irish Times:
There are strong cultural and religious reasons why India has traditionally been the world’s biggest buyer of gold, but China is poised to overtake the subcontinent this year as its biggest source of demand.
Between them, China and India account for more than half of all the gold bought globally.
Inflation fears and a dearth of useful investment outlets means China looks set to be the biggest buyer of gold in 2012.
Gold consumption rose 7 per cent to a record 255.2 metric tonnes in the first quarter, despite the global slowdown, which puts China on track to overtake India this year, the World Gold Council said last week. China is already the number one producer of gold.
Demand for bullion in China could jump by as much as 30 per cent this year to between 900 and 1,000 metric tonnes, from 769.8 metric tonnes last year.
Read More @ Irishtimes.com




TSA Backlash Prompts Move Away From Pat Downs

Federal agency looking to develop new wanding-style device for searches
by Paul Joseph Watson, Prison Planet:

Following a massive nationwide backlash, the TSA looks set to move away from invasive pat downs and return to wanding-style searches of travelers.
Although the change will initially apply only to travelers who pass through a body scanner, the fact that the federal agency is actively attempting to reduce the number of physical pat downs, the most controversial of which involve TSA screeners literally touching people’s genitals, represents a victory of sorts for anti-TSA campaigners.
“In an effort to minimize the number of physical pat-downs that screeners must conduct at U.S. airports, DHS is inviting R&D proposals from companies and organizations that can develop handheld devices that weigh less than five pounds and which could resolve “anomalies” detected when passengers are sent through Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) equipment,” reports Government Security News.
Read More @ PrisonPlanet.com




Gold Signals Trouble Ahead

from Gold Money:
Precious metals are still struggling to gain ground in the face of persistent fears about the eurozone and the threat of a 2008-style market meltdown. The CFTC’s latest Commitments of Traders Reports for the gold and silver futures market in America shows managed money (read: hedge funds, commodity trading advisors, etc) holding their largest short positions in these markets since September 2008. Is The Great Crash coming?
The GotGoldReport comments, however, that if recent history is any guide these large short positions are more often that not an indicator that we are getting close to a bottom, as the chart suggests.
Gold remains trapped in a range between $1,550 and $1,600, after failing yesterday to settle above $1,600. Silver is holding above $28 just about, but it’s not going to take much in the way of selling to take the price down to just above $26 if we get more depressing economic news. The plunge in the newly issued Facebook shares is an apt metaphor for the broader malaise affecting markets at the moment.
Read More @ GoldMoney.com




Why The Market Is Up: Goldman Just Dumped On Stocks

 Back on March 21, Goldman’s Peter Oppenheimer released the “Long Good Buy, The Case For Equities“, which was Goldman’s subversive attempt to rally equity into buying all the stocks that Goldman had to offload, as well as buy all TSYs that GS clients had to sell. Needless to say, Goldman top ticked the market and stocks have tumbled ever since, even as the 10 Year soared from 2.5% to the current ~1.75%. So what? Well, this morning the same analyst, precisely two months on the anniversary of his once in in a lifetime buying opportunity for stocks, has released a new report with the header: “Near-term risks are to the downside.” That’s all the market needed to grasp that Goldman’s prop desk is now buying every piece of risk hand over fist. Futures have soared ever since. Some of the reverse psychology findings in the note:
Read More @ Zerohedge.com




Battleground Chicago

by Stephen Lendman, SJLendman.Blogspot.com:
Chicago police have an odious reputation for brutality. It’s well deserved. On Sunday, it showed up forcefully. The whole world watched.
Baton-wielding cops confronted protesters violently. Official policy is swing first, ask questions later, and blame victims for police thuggishness. More on that below.
On May 9, a National Writers Union (NWU) Chicago Chapter press release said:
“In 1968, the Democratic Party came to the City to nominate a president. What happened then became a part of Chicago’s history: a massive public uprising of protest against an unjust war and a corrupt political system that created a massive local reaction within the City’s police department. Violence and chaos resulted.”
Forty-four years later things went from bad to worse. Imperial wars rage out of control. Obama, the peace candidate, itches for more. Belligerent nations never run out of targets or reasons to attack them.
Read More @ SJLendman.Blogspot.com





Ron Paul takes Republican Party of Minnesota by storm

from RTAmerica:





Not-so-happy Tuesday

from TF Metals Report:

Just some wild-eyed speculation here so proceed at your own risk.
Recall first the concept of “Happy Tuesday”. The idea behind it is this: After a week of downside manipulation, The Cartels attempt to “cover their tracks” ahead of the CoT survey each Tuesday. The Cartel short-covering (buying) on Tuesdays would often lead to UP days, thus the term “Happy Tuesday”. Pondering this yesterday, I came up with the idea that today would be a DOWN day. Why? The opposite effect, actually. The short squeeze in gold of late last week was likely initiated by new longs being added by The Cartel and their buddies. Yesterday and today, in order to “cover their tracks” and not make this week’s CoT appear even more bullish, selling ensues. Ring the register, book some profits and paint the CoT, all in one move.
Read More @ TF Metals Report.com




Agnico CEO Calls for $3,000+ Gold for the First Time Ever

from KingWorldNews:
Today one of the top CEO’s in the world told King World News that gold will trade over $3,000 within twenty four months. Sean Boyd, CEO of $6.5 billion Agnico Eagle, also stated that prior to this, “I’ve never been at the $3,000+ number, ever, in 27 years.” Boyd also discussed the mining shares, but first, here is what Boyd had to say about the action in the gold market: “I think you’re in a situation right now where the problems in Europe are front page and it has hurt the euro. So the US dollar is stronger. If you look at the US dollar, that story is on page 3 or 4. It will be a front page story soon. The debt ceiling has to be raised and we really haven’t fixed a lot of the issues, whether it’s in the US or in Europe.”
Sean Boyd continues @ KingWorldNews.com




Patriot Act documents to remain government secrets, rules federal judge

by J. D. Heyes, Natural News:
An open society is a free society, and the media’s primary job in helping to maintain a free, open society is to shine the light of scrutiny on government. In doing so the media lives up to its (supposed) mantra of afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted. The only thing that could possibly get in the way of that mission is, of course, the government, through one of its surrogates in the federal court system.
In an effort to shed some light on how the government interprets its own PATRIOT Act, New York Times reporter Charlie Savage filed suit against the federal government last fall to get some answers after a Freedom of Information request was shot down by the Justice Department, which said the interpretation was “classified.”
His suit followed several earlier warnings by Democratic Sens. Mark Udall of Colorado and Ron Wyden of Oregon, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who said in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. in September they believe the public has been misled about how the government is interpreting the law.
Read More @ NaturalNews.com




Only one way out of this mess

by David McWilliams, David McWilliams.ie:
The only thing that can stop the euro from breaking apart in the short term is old-fashioned capital controls. Otherwise, more and more money will flow from the periphery to the core. The weaker the peripheral countries become, the higher the risk of political instability and the greater the risk of a change in policy.
Peripheral Europe – including Ireland – suffers from that most politically regressive type of economic policy, one that hurts but doesn’t work. And it doesn’t work eventually – it doesn’t work at all and never has worked anywhere.
A policy that hurts but doesn’t work will become an ex-policy in short order. If all the countries in the euro had full control over their currencies, they wouldn’t tolerate a policy that hurts but doesn’t work. But because they don’t have control, they have to tolerate a policy which hurts but doesn’t work until it becomes insufferable.
However, right now, we do not have control over the currency we use. For a currency to be described meaningfully as a “country’s currency” or “our currency”, we have to be able to print the currency freely or not as we choose, and we have to be able to change its value as we choose.
Read More @ DavidMcWilliams.ie




Punk Economics 4: Irish Referendum Preview

by Punk Economics:






Siege of Chicago: Anti-NATO march baton charged

from RussiaToday:




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