Monday, July 30, 2012

Deflation? Don’t Count On It…

by James J Puplava, Financial Sense:

Deflationists and inflationists have been arguing for years. Each side has data to back up its claims, and the public doesn’t see a clear winner. One of those data points is what historically occurs when an overburden of debt finally blows up, an event that’s almost certainly dead ahead for us. Deflationists will point to periods in history where deflation resulted. But there’s more to the argument, says Jim Puplava of Financial Sense. He emphatically states, “The outcome depends on whether or not the economy is operating under a fiat currency system, because there’s never been a deflationary depression when one’s been in place.”
When I saw this claim, I wanted to hear more, because deflationary forces seem strong at the moment. And which way this goes has direct and significant implications for investments, including gold. Here’s my interview with Jim.
Read More @ Financial Sense.com



Eric Sprott: US In a Recession, and Stimulus Policies Won’t Help

from Forrest Jones and Kathleen Walter, MoneyNews:
The United States has likely slid into another recession despite repeated attempts by the Federal Reserve to jolt the economy with stimulus measures that, in reality, have done little more than inflate asset prices, said Eric Sprott, chairman of Sprott Money Ltd.
Since the downturn several years ago, the Fed has rolled out two rounds of quantitative easing (QE1 and QE2), which injected a combined $2.3 trillion into the economy to stave off decline via buying bonds held by banks, a policy often dubbed as printing money out of thin air that sows the seeds for inflation down the road.
Weak economic indicators are fueling talk that the Fed will roll out a third round of quantitative easing.
Such a move would come right on the heels of the recent decision to extend a Fed program that buys up longer-dated Treasury bonds in the market while simultaneously selling short-term government debt, dubbed by the markets as Operation Twist.
Fed officials themselves say continued use of these tools — all designed to push borrowing costs down throughout the economy — are becoming more likely.
Meanwhile in Europe, the European Central Bank has juiced its own economy via providing banks with a round of low-cost loans known as long-term refinancing operations (LTROs).
Read More @ MoneyNews.com



2.5 Million Oz of Silver Withdrawn From Brinks’ Registered Vaults, JPM Transfers 90k Oz to Scotia

from Silver Doctors:
We have unprecedented silver inventory volatility to report from Friday’s COMEX silver action, with the big news being a massive 2.5 million ounce REGISTERED (dealer) silver withdrawal from Brink’s.
There was a total of 4 inventory movements involving dealer (registered) inventories, and 9 total inventory movements to report.
Besides the massive withdrawal from Brink’s vaults, there was also an 89,842.240 ounce silver withdrawal from JP Morgan, and a coinciding identical 89.942.240 oz deposit into Scotia Mocatta.
In summary: We’re long Post-It-Notes.
Read More @ Silver Doctors



Gold & Silver To Surge As Money Pours Into These Markets

from KingWorldNews:

Today Stephen Leeb told King World News, “There is no plan for growth, and so in this type of environment people are going to remain very frightened.” Leeb, who is Chairman of Leeb Capital Management, also predicted, “This will lead to an ocean of paper money moving into the gold and silver markets.”
The acclaimed money manager also discussed Europe and the US, but first, here is what Leeb had to say about the ongoing crisis: “One thing that defines us today is fear, at least in this country. We are a very frightened people right now. For the first time that I’ve seen we’ve had a dramatic drop in median income. I’m not talking over the last 20 or 30 years, I’m talking about since this horrible recession began.
Stephen Leeb continues @ KingWorldNews.com



Audit the Fed Moves Forward!

by Dr. Ron Paul, Paul.house.gov:

Last week the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed my legislation calling for a full and effective audit of the Federal Reserve.  Well over 300 of my Congressional colleagues supported the bill, each casting a landmark vote that marks the culmination of decades of work.  We have taken a big step toward bringing transparency to the most destructive financial institution in the world.
But in many ways our work is only beginning.  Despite the Senate Majority Leader’s past support for similar legislation, no vote has been scheduled on my bill this year in the Senate.  And only 29 Senators have cosponsored Senator Rand Paul’s version of my bill in the other body.  If your Senator is not listed at the link above, please contact them and ask for their support.  We need to push Senate leadership to hold a vote this year.
Understand that last week’s historic vote never would have taken place without the efforts of millions of Americans like you, ordinary citizens concerned about liberty and the integrity of our currency.  Political elites respond to political pressure, pure and simple.  They follow rather than lead.  If all 100 Senators feel enough grassroots pressure, they will respond and force Senate leadership to hold what will be a very popular vote.
In fact, “Audit the Fed” is so popular that 75% of all Americans support it according to this Rasmussen poll.  We are making progress.
Of course Fed apologists– including Mr. Bernanke– frequently insist that the Fed already is audited.  But this is true only in the sense that it produces annual financial statements.  It provides the public with its balance sheet as a fait accompli: we see only the net results of its financial transactions from the previous fiscal year in broad categories, and only after the fact.
Read More @ Paul.house.gov


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Mapping The Real Chinese Economy From The Bottom-Up

Our earlier discussion of the rapid slowdown in Asia trade volumes and the anecdotal evidence of growthiness issues across many industries brings up the seemingly dichotomous relationship between top-down 'data' such as GDP or PMI and bottom-up sector-level activity. As BofAML points out, there has been a significant improvement in data collection in this activity data which enables 'outsiders' to cross-check macro data and potentially obtain leading information. As markets have become skeptical of China's macro data, so the effort to search for alternative measures such as power output, container throughput, and rail transport seems worthwhile. Though not perfect by any means, the higher frequency data mapping flowchart below and a comprehension of the upstream vs downstream activity flows seems to go a long way towards building a credible view on the real state of the Chinese economy - for better or for worse.




LinkedIn Profile Collusion Among Terminated UBS Libor Traders?

Previously we presented an expose on various Geneva-based hedge funds traders, all of whom were implicated in Libor manipulation in their current or prior positions, which promptly resulted in the halting of trading privileges of one of the named individuals. Tonight it is time to back away from the buyside and to refocus on the banking sector, in the process jumping a few hundred kilometers to the northeast and that other Swiss banking capital, Zurich, where we get to do a quick run through several UBS Libor traders. Pardon, make that ex-traders. And make that "short-term interest rate" traders which naturally means OIS, IRS, FRA, Money Markets and, sometimes Euribor. In other words, all the other various IR derivatives which will blow up next as the Libor inquiry gets deeper and deeper into the Swiss rabbit hole. But before the global media juggernaut gets there, in about 6-8 weeks, we will do a quick roster of several voluntarily "retired" UBS traders, all of whom are now "looking for new challenges" and a rather amusing finding.



FLASHBACK: How HSBC Launders Money For Western Terrorism

[Ed. Note: Just a gentle reminder, this is the corporation acting as "Custodian" for the GLD ETF. Caveat emptor my friends.]
from Help Free the Earth:

A Senate report has revealed that British International banking giant HSBC financed terrorist groups and funneled Mexican drug money into the US economy. The bank’s bosses have apologized (congratulated each other) for their “misconduct” (crimes).
David Bagley, HSBC’s Head of Group Compliance, resigned after admitting during the Senate subcommittee hearing that the company had made many lapses (committed many crimes).
What was the destination of the laundered money? The money trail led to Western sponsored terrorist groups (mercenaries) in Libya, Syria and Iran. Their mission? To destabilize, disarm and overthrow nations surrounding Israel with the help of NATO.
NARCO BANKING
The report cites HSBC’s activities in Mexico. Mexico was treated as a low-risk client even though Mexico is a known hub for drug trafficking and money laundering. HSBC’s Mexican affiliate bank transported a total of $7 billion in hard cash to HSBC’s American bank HBUS from 2007 to 2008. The money OBVIOUSLY came from illegal drugs sales.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is a (corrupt) US financial regulator that failed to regulate (report) HSBC’s (criminal) activities.
The OCC reported multiple failings on the part of HSBC in 2010 to implement anti-money laundering measures, namely its failure to monitor $60 trillion in bank transfers and 17,000 account alerts detailing suspicious activity. 60 TRILLION????
Read More @ Help Free the Earth



Paralysis: Grid Down in India – 370 Million Left Without Power (Are We Vulnerable?)

by Mac Slavo, SHTFPlan:

As power grids in emerging and developing nations take on more demand than ever before, it was only a matter of time before the strain became too much to bear. This morning the weakness in global grid systems became apparent when some 370 million residents in northern India were left without power:
Northern India’s power grid crashed Monday, halting trains, forcing hospitals and airports onto backup power and providing a dark reminder of the nation’s inability to feed a growing hunger for energy as it strives to become an economic power.
Some small businesses were forced to shut for the day. Buildings were without water because the pumps weren’t working, and the vaunted New Delhi Metro, with 1.8 million daily riders, was paralyzed during the busy morning commute.
Read More @ SHTFPlan.com



Republicans Call for Total Gun Ban is The Ultimate Betrayal!

from TheAlexJonesChannel :

The recent deluge of attacks against the second amendment were completely predictable in the aftermath of the Colorado massacre, but what perhaps wasn’t so expected was the fact that a lot of them have come from so-called Republicans.
Although normally aligned with the right to keep and bear arms, over the last week numerous self-proclaimed conservatives have proven themselves to be wolves in sheep’s clothing.
The most recent rhetorical assault on gun rights came Sunday courtesy of Reagan appointee and so-called intellectual anchor of the Supreme Court’s conservative wing, Justice Antonin Scalia.
Other luminaries on the political right did not wait long before joining their contemporaries on the left to call for gun rights to be restricted.
Within 48 hours of the ‘Batman’ shooting, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, labeled a “GOP kingmaker” in the United States, voiced his support for restricting the second amendment, tweeting, “We have to do something about gun controls.”
Similarly, in several shows broadcast in the days following the Colorado massacre, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly has repeatedly advocated the creation of a national database of gun owners, currently prohibited by federal law, joining the likes of Piers Morgan, Michael Moore and Michael Bloomberg in savaging the second amendment.
Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol also reacted to the Aurora shooting by calling for a reinstatement of the assault weapons ban. He was joined by talk radio host Michael Savage, who despite modeling himself as one of the Obama administration’s most ardent critics also advocated reintroducing the ban. With so-called “conservatives” like this, who needs liberals?



NATO states may soon move from war mongering against the Syrian regime to real action

by Russia Today:

The U.S. military chief says the fighting in Syria’s largest city of Aleppo will ultimately be ‘a nail in President Assad’s coffin’. Leon Panetta is currently on a Middle East tour, promising to continue to push for Assad’s departure. RT spoke to Michel Chossudovsky from the Centre for Research on Globalization. He believes there are indications that NATO states may soon move from war mongering against the Syrian regime to real action.



Modern Banks and Banking Are Terrible!

by The Daily Bell:
The Good Book tells us there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 good folk who’ve never strayed from the path of virtue. That being the case, the angels upstairs must be singing the Hallelujah Chorus these days over the return of Sanford I. Weill, a Wall Street legend, to the ranks of the righteous … In a television interview last week, Weill allowed that repealing Glass-Steagall was a grievous mistake. He would, he said, downsize the big banks. – Star Ledger
Dominant Social Theme: We need to return to highly regulated banking.
Free-Market Analysis: Sandy Weill is sending shivers up the legs of those who are partial to financial regulation. In asserting he was wrong and that Glass-Steagall was a prudent regulation, he has now assumed the role of a Wall Streeter who understands that when it comes to the securities industry, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and Nancy Pelosi are a mitigated or unmitigated good.
Wait, please … A couple of points. The most important: Modern banks and modern banking are terrible! We’ll return to Mr. Weill in a moment.
Read More @ TheDailyBell.com



“The mining shares have already bottomed” – David Morgan

from silverguru:





Global Financial Ponzi Scheme: Malicious Fraud and Cover-ups at the Highest Levels

by Nick Hodge, Wealth Daily:
Is what we’re all chasing even real? Trades and investments we make today are largely done electronically.
You aren’t trading gold-backed dollars for commodities or equity in a company. You’re trading a string of ones and zeros for another string of ones and zeros.
Think about it… When’s the last time you took delivery of a commodity or were sent a stock certificate after you bought shares?
Half the time, I’m in and out of trades faster than something could be stamped and delivered. So, how do we even know those commodities or shares are real?
JPMorgan, for example, is estimated to have sold between $1 billion and $3 billion of silver that doesn’t even exist. You or I would call that fraud. On Wall Street it’s called something like “naked short selling” or a “derivative” or “leverage” or some other bogus term to pull the wool over our eyes.
Read More @ WealthDaily.com



Debt crisis: ECB intervention hopes drive markets higher

by Angela Monaghan, The Telegraph:
European markets rose sharply amid mounting speculation of a dramatic intervention by the European Central Bank to arrest the crisis engulfing the region.
European markets rose sharply amid mounting speculation of a dramatic intervention by the European Central Bank to arrest the crisis engulfing the region.
Investors were buoyed as a meeting in Frankfurt between US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner and the Bank’s president Mario Draghi fuelled expectation of imminent policy action.
The IBEX 35 in Spain jumped 2.8pc to 6,801.8, while the DAX in Germany rose 1.3pc to 6,774.06, and the CAC 40 in France closed up 1.2pc at 3,320.71. In London the FTSE 100 rose 1.2pc to 5,693.63.
“Investors continued to gorge themselves on equities as on the prospects of further central bank stimulus in the very near term increased today,” said Angus Campbell, head of market analysis at Capital Spreads.
Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, added to the sense of urgency by warning the eurozone had reached a “decisive point” and has “no time to lose.”
Read More @ Telegraph.co.uk



Internet Giants Combine Forces Creating New Lobby to Control Capitol Hill

by Susanne Posel, Occupy Corporatism:
The titans of the internet, including Google, eBay, Amazon and Facebook, are combining forces under the blanket of a newly formed lobby group that wants to influence lawmakers on how they can manipulate the internet as well as how important they truly are.
In September of this year, the lobby groups called the Internet Association , will be based in Washington, DC, and headed by Michael Beckerman, former adviser of the Energy and Commerce Committee within the House of Representatives.
The Internet Association’s goal is to control the perspective of elected officials on internet technologies, their uses and cooperation with various federal agencies.
Read More @ OccupyCorporatism.com



TYRANNY ALERT: NSA Wants “EZ Pass” Control for Internet

by Kurt Nimmo, Info Wars:

General Keith Alexander, the NSA boss, wants the government to centralize the internet and force users to use a system analogous to EZ Pass.
EZ Pass is an RFID transponder system used for toll collection on roads, bridges, and tunnels in the United States.
“What we need for cybersecurity is something analogous to that,” Alexander told the annual Def Con computer hacking conference in Las Vegas.. “Think of us as the EZ Pass on the highway.”
“When you go down the highway, and you go down the EZ Pass lane, what you’re doing is sending that code. That system is not looking in your car, reading the e-mail, or intercepting anything, it’s just getting that code,” he said.
In other words, the government should vet all users with a checkpoint. “All you need to pass is the fact of a signature and IP address in real time, and we can take it from there,” said Alexander.
The super secret cryptologic intelligence agency wouldn’t track and scrutinize your behavior on the internet, according to Alexander. The EZ Pass “system is not looking in your car, reading the e-mail, or intercepting anything, it’s just getting that code,” he insisted.
Read More @ InfoWars.com



Michel Chossudovsky: US and NATO to Blame for Syria Violence

from GlobalResearchTV:

The US voices outrage at the Syrian Army’s success in clearing Syria’s largest city of Aleppo of anti-Damascus armed groups. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Sunday that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has lost all legitimacy by attacking the armed groups in the city.
This is while Syrian security forces are clearing more areas across the country of militants.
The United States has said it is enlarging its assistance to Syria’s fractured opposition. Also, according to Reuters, the White House will soon authorize greater covert assistance to the armed gangs. Washington has already thrown its support behind Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey for arming the Syrian opposition.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Professor Michel Chossudovsky, director of Centre for Research on Globalization, to further discuss the issue.


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