The Four Paths Forward For The Euro Area
From
what seemed like a very low bar on expectations, last week's summit
headlines surprised modestly on the upside, even if the details remain
far from clear - and implementation even murkier. Political talk of
wanting to break the link between sovereign and banking risk was
well-received by markets - but we remind all that talk-is-cheap with
these Euro-pols. As Goldman noted this weekend, "we do not see the outcome as a game changer",
rather can-kicking until one of four possible endgames are realized.
The absence of any explicit commitment to plans for fiscal or political
integration; the lack of reference to any pan-European deposit
insurance; and Ms. Merkel's limited concessions (to ensure passage of
the growth compact) to the terms on which the existing pool of EFSF/ESM
resources are offered leaves the underlying issue - the terms
on which mutualisation of financial risk is offered by Germany in
return for mutualization of control over fiscal decisions throughout
the Euro area - remaining inharmonious. German tactical concessions at the summit do not change their basic position on this issue: that discipline, reform and consolidation must be achieved and cemented first
before mutualization of financial obligations is possible. Looking to
the future Goldman sees four paths for the Euro are from here - and short-term too many crucial issues are left unresolved.
From
what seemed like a very low bar on expectations, last week's summit
headlines surprised modestly on the upside, even if the details remain
far from clear - and implementation even murkier. Political talk of
wanting to break the link between sovereign and banking risk was
well-received by markets - but we remind all that talk-is-cheap with
these Euro-pols. As Goldman noted this weekend, "we do not see the outcome as a game changer",
rather can-kicking until one of four possible endgames are realized.
The absence of any explicit commitment to plans for fiscal or political
integration; the lack of reference to any pan-European deposit
insurance; and Ms. Merkel's limited concessions (to ensure passage of
the growth compact) to the terms on which the existing pool of EFSF/ESM
resources are offered leaves the underlying issue - the terms
on which mutualisation of financial risk is offered by Germany in
return for mutualization of control over fiscal decisions throughout
the Euro area - remaining inharmonious. German tactical concessions at the summit do not change their basic position on this issue: that discipline, reform and consolidation must be achieved and cemented first
before mutualization of financial obligations is possible. Looking to
the future Goldman sees four paths for the Euro are from here - and short-term too many crucial issues are left unresolved.On The USD's Demise
Last
week the BEA published it preliminary take on the international
investment position (IIP) of the country. As Citi's FX team note, the
IIP measures foreign investment assets minus native assets owned by
foreigners. In the US, the IIP has been negative (meaning the US is a
debtor nation) since 1985. The US’s IIP deficit reached USD 4.03trn in 2012, up sharply from 2.47trn in 2011. As a share of nominal GDP, the IIP deficit reached a record (for the US) of -27%. Commonly accepted wisdom based on a combination of models and experience is that an IIP bigger than +30% of GDP or smaller than -30% is a problem.
On the IIP surplus side, having too big of a net creditor position
leads to a perennially strengthening currency that chokes out industry
and stokes deflation (think JPY). On the IIP deficit side, having too
big of a net debtor position leads to a debt spiral. High debt leads to
reluctant external creditors charging ever high interest rates, which
leads to economic stagnation and ultimately crisis. The US may not be able to run another dozen years of 3-6% current account deficits without starting to look like a ponzi scheme - but while risk aversion flows (and rates) suggest there is little to worry about, we have noted again and again the moves behind the scenes in global trade flows to shift away from the world's current numeraire.The Dark (Pool) Truth About What Really Goes On In The Stock Market: Part 2
Haim Bodek thought practically nonstop for days about what the trade-venue representative had told him that night at the New York party. The way that the abusive order types worked made him think back to a document he’d been given by a colleague that summer as he researched what was going wrong at Trading Machines. The document was a detailed blueprint of a high-frequency method that was said to be popular in Chicago’s trading circles.It was called the “0+ Scalping Strategy.”
by Ellen Brown, Global Research:
On Friday, June 29th, German Chancellor Angela Merkel acquiesced to
changes to a permanent Eurozone bailout fund—“before the ink was dry,”
as critics complained. Besides easing the conditions under which
bailouts would be given, the concessions included an agreement that
funds intended for indebted governments could be funneled directly to stressed banks.
On Friday, June 29th, German Chancellor Angela Merkel acquiesced to
changes to a permanent Eurozone bailout fund—“before the ink was dry,”
as critics complained. Besides easing the conditions under which
bailouts would be given, the concessions included an agreement that
funds intended for indebted governments could be funneled directly to stressed banks.
According to Gavin Hewitt, Europe editor for BBC News, the concessions mean that:
[T]he eurozone’s bailout fund (backed by taxpayers’ money) will be taking a stake in failed banks.Read More @ GlobalResearch.ca
Risk has been increased. German taxpayers have increased their liabilities. In future a bank crash will no longer fall on the shoulders of national treasuries but on the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a fund to which Germany contributes the most.
In the short term, these measures will ease pressure in the markets. However there is currently only 500bn euros assigned to the ESM. That may get swallowed up quickly and the markets may demand more. It is still unclear just how deep the holes in the eurozone’s banks are.
Equity Analysts: "In A Bull Market, You Don't Need Them. In A Bear Market, They'll Kill You"
From bull market gods and goddesses of the 1980s and 1990s, stock analysts now preside over a much more modest kingdom.
Nic Colas, of ConvergEx notes that the world has moved on to new
golden calves, from currencies (with great leverage) to exchange traded
funds (with generally less volatility) to macro analysts
(the current Zeuses and Heras). This even extends to the world of the
retail investor – there are far more Google searches in the U.S. for
"Storage auctions" (246,000/month) than for "stock research" (just
33,000/month), and the rate of decline resembles a fast-decaying
radioactive particle. With asset price correlations near 90%
for a wide range of investment choices, the on-off switch to market
direction sits in Washington, Frankfurt, Beijing, and other centers of
political and central bank power. Nic believes stock research
will make a comeback for both technological (systemically delivering
information to algorithmic traders) and cyclical reasons - as old-school stock research, with sector analysts, is ultimately tied to the fortunes of the equity market. And for analysts and stock market investors, that inflection point cannot come too soon.GSR Warns of Economic, Monetary, and Political Upheaval Ahead
Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 7 hours ago
The gold to silver ratio (GSR), a long standing intermarket measure of
liquidity (risk-on versus risk off), has broken out to the upside again.
This breakout increases the probability of a liquidity-driven crisis going
forward. These breakouts of 1971, 2001 and 2008 and preceded significant
economic, monetary, and political upheaval. Coordinated liquidity
injections (stimulus and bailouts)...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other
content, and more! ]]Learning To Laugh At the State
I’ll be the first to admit the incredible aggravation I feel whenever liberty is trampled upon by the state’s obedient minions. Everywhere you look, government has its gun cocked back and ready to fire at any deviation from its violently imposed rules of order. A four year old can’t even open a lemonade stand without first bowing down and receiving a permit from bureaucrats obsessed with micromanaging private life. The state’s stranglehold on freedom is as horrendous as it is disheartening. The worst part is that the trend shows no signs of slowing down, let alone reversing. Politicians are always developing some harebrained scheme to mold society in such a way to circumvent the individual in favor of total dictation. If it isn’t politicians, then it’s an army of unelected bureaucrats acting as mini-dictators.from Matlarson10:
by James Turk, Gold Money:
I am an avid reader of monetary history. Of late I have been focusing
on the monetary events of the 1920s and 1930s. By learning from the
maelstrom that riled the global financial scene during those two
tumultuous decades, I aim to better understand present circumstances
because there are many similarities between then and now.
I’ve just finished a fascinating book published in 1955 entitled Confessions of The Old Wizard. It is the autobiography of Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht, whose improbable name reflects his North Schleswig ancestry and his father’s admiration of an American newspaper editor.
For those not familiar with him, Schacht is generally given credit for ending in 1923 the Weimar Republic hyperinflation and putting Germany once again on a sound monetary footing, commendable feats which earned him the nickname “The Old Wizard”. He did this first as Commissioner of the Currency for the Finance Ministry and thereafter as President of the Reichsbank. For these achievements, he received worldwide acclaim as well as fame, if that word accurately describes the popular attention and respect given to a skilled central banker.
Read More @ GoldMoney.com
I am an avid reader of monetary history. Of late I have been focusing
on the monetary events of the 1920s and 1930s. By learning from the
maelstrom that riled the global financial scene during those two
tumultuous decades, I aim to better understand present circumstances
because there are many similarities between then and now.I’ve just finished a fascinating book published in 1955 entitled Confessions of The Old Wizard. It is the autobiography of Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht, whose improbable name reflects his North Schleswig ancestry and his father’s admiration of an American newspaper editor.
For those not familiar with him, Schacht is generally given credit for ending in 1923 the Weimar Republic hyperinflation and putting Germany once again on a sound monetary footing, commendable feats which earned him the nickname “The Old Wizard”. He did this first as Commissioner of the Currency for the Finance Ministry and thereafter as President of the Reichsbank. For these achievements, he received worldwide acclaim as well as fame, if that word accurately describes the popular attention and respect given to a skilled central banker.
Read More @ GoldMoney.com
from, Silver Doctors:
The BBC this morning has published details from a 2008 meeting with
the Bank of England’s Paul Tucker with Barclays Bob Diamond in which the
BOE allegedly advised Barclays’ submitters to provide data to the
British Banker’s Association LIBOR setting committee’s that the bank was
paying lower borrowing rates than was actually the case.
Tyler Durden is already all over the report, pointing out that JP Morgan and Bank of America at the time were reporting borrowing rates far below even nationalized competitors (which intuitively should have had lower borrowing costs than still private banks such as The Morgue).
With market rumors that a US bank will be dragged into the LIBOR scandal, Zerohedge predicts IF the SEC actually decides to hand down a wrist slap to a US bank over LIBOR manipulation (more like outright fraud), it will be either Bank of America or JP Morgan as the most egregious offenders.
From Zerohedge:
Why hold bonds that pay 3% or less, when gold, on average, has been up
an average of 18% per year since the year 2000? And silver has done
better!
Silver and gold will continue to rise for years to come because the government continues to spend money it does not have.
If you invested $10,000 into bonds paying 3% in the year 2000, you would now have $14,258.
Had you put $10,000 into gold in the year 2000, you would now have $72,876 worth of gold.
Whoever said that “gold does not pay interest” gave “epic fail” investment advice, and got the concept completely wrong. It’s not the interest, it’s the capital appreciation that counts!
Gold is at all time highs, but we are nowhere near an ultimate market high yet, as gold is only $1600/oz. The prior high in 1980 was $850/oz., which would be $8,500 if you adjusted for inflation of the monetary base, which has increased ten times, from $1.8 trillion to about $18 trillion. In 1975, gas prices increased beyond $.50/gallon. Today, gas is nearing $5/gallon, nearly ten times as much.
Read More @ SilverStockReport.com
The BBC this morning has published details from a 2008 meeting with
the Bank of England’s Paul Tucker with Barclays Bob Diamond in which the
BOE allegedly advised Barclays’ submitters to provide data to the
British Banker’s Association LIBOR setting committee’s that the bank was
paying lower borrowing rates than was actually the case.Tyler Durden is already all over the report, pointing out that JP Morgan and Bank of America at the time were reporting borrowing rates far below even nationalized competitors (which intuitively should have had lower borrowing costs than still private banks such as The Morgue).
With market rumors that a US bank will be dragged into the LIBOR scandal, Zerohedge predicts IF the SEC actually decides to hand down a wrist slap to a US bank over LIBOR manipulation (more like outright fraud), it will be either Bank of America or JP Morgan as the most egregious offenders.
From Zerohedge:
We already know that Barclays has been exposed to be manipulating Libor on an epic scale. And even with all this, it still could manage to only be in the third best quartile? If they were manipulating their Libor submissions they sure sucked at it. Which of course is why even the BOE got involved.Read More @ SilverDoctors.com
However, it begs the question: what about the Libor submissions of the three then “healthiest” banks: Bank of America, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank. If Barclays was manipulating and gaming Lie-bor, only to fall even below the median submission, does this mean that these three banks were all furiously coming up with totally meaningless numbers? And how long until the SEC comes up with a US scapegoat bank to mimic the FSA’s bold action on Barclays?
by Jason Hommel, SilverStockReport.com
Why hold bonds that pay 3% or less, when gold, on average, has been up
an average of 18% per year since the year 2000? And silver has done
better!Silver and gold will continue to rise for years to come because the government continues to spend money it does not have.
If you invested $10,000 into bonds paying 3% in the year 2000, you would now have $14,258.
Had you put $10,000 into gold in the year 2000, you would now have $72,876 worth of gold.
Whoever said that “gold does not pay interest” gave “epic fail” investment advice, and got the concept completely wrong. It’s not the interest, it’s the capital appreciation that counts!
Gold is at all time highs, but we are nowhere near an ultimate market high yet, as gold is only $1600/oz. The prior high in 1980 was $850/oz., which would be $8,500 if you adjusted for inflation of the monetary base, which has increased ten times, from $1.8 trillion to about $18 trillion. In 1975, gas prices increased beyond $.50/gallon. Today, gas is nearing $5/gallon, nearly ten times as much.
Read More @ SilverStockReport.com
… But Receive Only a Light Slap on the Wrist
from Washington’s Blog:
We noted Friday:
Specifically, more than $800 trillion dollars worth of investments are pegged to the Libor rate. As the Wall Street Journal reports today:
from Washington’s Blog:
We noted Friday:Barclays and other large banks – including Citigroup, HSBC, J.P. Morgan Chase, Lloyds, Bank of America, UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland– manipulated the world’s primary interest rate (Libor) which virtually every adjustable-rate investment globally is pegged to.We actually understated the impact of the Libor scandal.
That means they manipulated a good chunk of the world economy.
Specifically, more than $800 trillion dollars worth of investments are pegged to the Libor rate. As the Wall Street Journal reports today:
More than $800 trillion in securities and loans are linked to the Libor, including $350 trillion in swaps and $10 trillion in loans.
Read More @ WashingtonsBlog.com
from, Silver Doctors:
Over the past year, SilverDoctors has documented several cartel raids
in which the bullion banks dumped over an entire year’s global mining
output in silver during paper raids.
Many have doubted the validity of these claims, as the official open interest reported by the CME the next day is often less than the reported volume of paper contracts dumped during the raid.
Andrew Maguire has released an excellent commentary dissecting the 515 ton paper ‘gold’ raid launched by the bullion banks immediately prior to the Fed’s release of the June FOMC statement. Maguire clarifies how the cartel can accomplish the raid and yet not have the occurrence appear in the CME OI report.
Andy states that of the 165,000 paper gold contracts dumped on the market: ‘Almost all these contracts were subsequently covered by the bullion bank into the days pit close thereby not showing up in the closing OI #. This is a standard MO. Through concentration, creating sufficient new supply at commonly watched pivots in a very short period of time to swamp any bids distorting true supply demand fundamentals, then once the momentum is turned down, to buy back all originating short positions into freshly pitched longs and a whole array of freshly invited new shorts.’
Read More @ SilverDoctors.com
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Over the past year, SilverDoctors has documented several cartel raids
in which the bullion banks dumped over an entire year’s global mining
output in silver during paper raids.Many have doubted the validity of these claims, as the official open interest reported by the CME the next day is often less than the reported volume of paper contracts dumped during the raid.
Andrew Maguire has released an excellent commentary dissecting the 515 ton paper ‘gold’ raid launched by the bullion banks immediately prior to the Fed’s release of the June FOMC statement. Maguire clarifies how the cartel can accomplish the raid and yet not have the occurrence appear in the CME OI report.
Andy states that of the 165,000 paper gold contracts dumped on the market: ‘Almost all these contracts were subsequently covered by the bullion bank into the days pit close thereby not showing up in the closing OI #. This is a standard MO. Through concentration, creating sufficient new supply at commonly watched pivots in a very short period of time to swamp any bids distorting true supply demand fundamentals, then once the momentum is turned down, to buy back all originating short positions into freshly pitched longs and a whole array of freshly invited new shorts.’
Read More @ SilverDoctors.com
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by Paul Cahlan, The Independent:
The interest-rate fixing scandal could leave British banks exposed to multi-billion-pound civil actions, experts have warned.
City insiders have raised the prospect of “BP-style” mass litigation against Barclays and other banks implicated in the Libor scam. BP was forced to set aside $20bn (£12.6bn) to just to cover civil compensation claims resulting from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, and still faces a raft of civil litigation.
Some lawsuits have already started in the US, including one filed by US broker Charles Schwab against a number of banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS.
Fears that Britain’s leading banks will face a wave of costly actions were highlighted in a memo from analysts at investment bank Morgan Stanley (MS) following a meeting with Barclays’ embattled chief executive Bob Diamond on Thursday. The memo said: “[We believe] shares will continue to drift lower until we have much greater certainty on the following: litigation risk (taking BP as a case in point), political and regulatory backlash [and] management’s accountability.”
Read More @ TheIndependent
The interest-rate fixing scandal could leave British banks exposed to multi-billion-pound civil actions, experts have warned.City insiders have raised the prospect of “BP-style” mass litigation against Barclays and other banks implicated in the Libor scam. BP was forced to set aside $20bn (£12.6bn) to just to cover civil compensation claims resulting from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, and still faces a raft of civil litigation.
Some lawsuits have already started in the US, including one filed by US broker Charles Schwab against a number of banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS.
Fears that Britain’s leading banks will face a wave of costly actions were highlighted in a memo from analysts at investment bank Morgan Stanley (MS) following a meeting with Barclays’ embattled chief executive Bob Diamond on Thursday. The memo said: “[We believe] shares will continue to drift lower until we have much greater certainty on the following: litigation risk (taking BP as a case in point), political and regulatory backlash [and] management’s accountability.”
Read More @ TheIndependent
by Jill Treanor, TheGuardian:
Marcus Agius, the chairman of Barclays,
is resigning in a move intended to take some of the pressure off the
embattled bank’s chief executive, Bob Diamond, who has faced calls to
quit following the interest rate fixing scandal.Amid growing political pressure for a top-level departure – and a weekend of high drama during which the bank insisted on Saturday that Agius had no plans to go – the chairman’s departure is expected to be announced with an apology. Agius is expected to say he is “truly sorry” for the interest rate rigging fine which “let down” customers and employees.
He is likely to stay on while a full-time successor is found, as the Financial Services Authority, the City’s regulator, would need to approve the position.
Read More @ TheGuardian.co.uk
by Ethan A. Huff, Natural News:
A Minnesota mother has decided that her state’s health department is
completely out of line in demanding that she stop distributing raw milk
to members of her buying club, and has chosen instead to continue
helping these families in her area access this highly medicinal food
even if it means going to jail.
Charlene Chan-Muehlbauer of St. Anthony Park near St. Paul, Minn., is one of several mothers involved in a local cooperative that take turns picking up raw milk from a farm 90 miles away, and hauling it back to the Twin Cities for distribution. Since Minnesota law allows for raw milk sales only on the farm, Charlene has offered to have her garage serve as a legal drop point for the milk.
In accordance with state law, members of Charlene’s buying club each pay the farm directly for their milk, and later pick it up from Charlene’s drop point. The setup is a convenient, practical way for raw milk buyers in the Twin Cities area to access their milk without having to each drive separately to the farm to pick it up.
Read More @ NaturalNews.com
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Courtesy of CIGA Bill H.
Not so SWIFT! June 27th?
To all; the U.S. "blinked" yesterday by granting China (and others) a 6 month extension of "sanctions" being levied for trading with Iran. Sanctions were scheduled to begin yesterday where anyone trading for oil with Iran were supposed to be locked out of the SWIFT payment transfer system. http://freebeacon.com/obama-admin-gives-china-sanctions-pass/ I wrote maybe 2 month ago that "locking the world out" of the SWIFT system was akin to playing Russian roulette with all 6 chambers loaded. China has been quite busy over recent months making deals with their major trading partners to make trade settlement in Yuan or in their trading partner’s currency to ensure that SWIFT cut off would not stop trade.
This really is big news folks because what started out as a "threat" by the U.S. has turned out to be an expose’ of the Dollar’s Achilles heel. Yes I am sure that China’s trade would have been disrupted to some extent but the decline in demand for Dollars would (and will in the future) have torpedoed the Dollar unlike any event seen before. This "blink" shows that our fearless leaders finally have figured out the errors of their logic, what would have been a broken leg or arm requiring maybe 6 weeks to heal for China turns out to not be worth pointing a fully loaded gun at our own heads.
So we didn’t pull the trigger so all is well, right? No, the damage is done and our bluff was called, this rabbit is not going back into the hat no matter how hard we try. The SWIFT system has already been "skirted" by multiple side deals where countries plan to settle in their own currencies. This is the same thing as when a banking system actually goes down, yes trade and business slows but deals are still made and settled in barter. I don’t know what the logic was that excluding anyone from the SWIFT system was such a big stick but it surely isn’t and now can no longer used for any leverage. While China was touring the globe and doing deals (buying up resources), they were making these alternative settlement deals AND just so happened to purchase the LME which, oh by the way, will be moved to Hong Kong.
I do want to mention something that was questioned and even laughed at for months now, June 27th. Does this day ring a bell? June 27th was the day that Jim Sinclair said would be an inflection point for the Dollar where the world would be changed forever. Well, the 27th came and went, yet to the average snoozer and probably most of the whiners who wrote in, in total panic to Mr. Sinclair, the world is still here and nothing has changed. Well, the world has changed and the U.S. no longer has the financial big stick called "SWIFT" to wield, we wasted it and it now resembles wet spaghetti! Is the Euro up because Europe has figured out how to "save itself? Did they really come up with a plan? No, the one minor detail as it always is and has been is, "where is the money coming from". Coincidence that Gold is up $50 today? I think not, Gold is depressed yes and deserves a wicked bounce, that is the nature of cycles but I find it very hard to believe that Gold is "up because Europe is not going to collapse". First off, if Europe does collapse in a heap, Gold will explode in value as Euro capital will accrue into Gold’s value. I personally think that Gold’s move today is in response to the Dollar’s Achilles heel being exposed.
Was Jim Sinclair correct about June 27th? I think that this time he has split the many of his previous bullseye calls right down the center like Robin Hood. His $1,650 Gold call was off by a whopping 6 months even though he made the call 9 years earlier! This time he missed by a day because it took roughly 24 hours for the world to figure out that the "SWIFT bluff" not only turned out to be a bluff but turns out to be a MAJOR shift in power from West to East. China no longer needs the SWIFT system yet we HAVE to have it to create (false) Dollar demand. This, while at the same time COMEX is losing it’s importance as the LME moves to Hong Kong with contracts that can be trusted.
Let’s see what happens from here but it looks to me like THE bottom in the precious metals is in which is another way of saying the top is in for the Dollar. It will be interesting to watch how much Treasury supply will need to get soaked up by The Fed in the future as the "not so SWIFT" bluff turned out far differently than whatever warped logic had forecast. Gold will be taken up and out of the system (too expensive for individuals to buy) by Central Banks as the need to replace balance sheet black holes comes to fruition. The policy responses from the West have become totally amazing, we have made it far too easy for the East. Regards, Bill H.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Courtesy of CIGA Ed P.
L’or est le souverain des souverains. (Gold is the sovereign of sovereigns) –Antoine de RIVAROL
To consider the [Supreme Court] as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions is a very dangerous doctrine, placing us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges are as honest as other men…and not more so, with the same passions for party, power, and privilege. Their power is extremely dangerous, as they are in office for life and not responsible, as the other functionaries are, to elective control. – Thomas Jefferson.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Banking scandal: how document trail reveals global scam
It’s not a comfortable weekend for the men heading some of the world’s biggest banks. Barclays has already been hit by a £290m fine for rigging interest rates but that could be dwarfed by a series of global lawsuits which could cost banks billions Jamie Doward
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 30 June 2012 16.01 EDT
The interest rate rigging scandal that has engulfed Barclays was the result of a coordinated attempt at collusion by traders working for a coterie of leading banks over at least five years, according to a series of lawsuits and legal rulings filed in courts in Asia and North America.
The lawsuits allege the fraud was extensive, spanning at least three continents and involving trades worth tens of billions of pounds. The allegations raise further serious questions about the banks’ ability to police themselves and the role of senior management in monitoring the activities of their employees.
In a 28-page statement of facts relating to last week’s revelation that Barclays had been fined a total of £290m, the US Department of Justice discloses how a network of traders working on both sides of the Atlantic conspired to influence both the Libor and Euribor interest rates – the rates at which banks lend to each other. It was, in effect, a worldwide conspiracy against the free functioning of the market.
The size of the fines was significant and the opprobrium heaped on Barclays unremitting. "This is the most damaging scam I can recall," said Andrew Tyrie, chair of parliament’s Treasury select committee. "It appears that many banks were involved and Barclays were the first to own up."
Indeed, as politicians bay for his blood this weekend, the one source of comfort for Bob Diamond, the embattled Barclays chief executive, is that his bank appears to have been merely one of several involved in the scandal.
For their own sake, many of his fellow senior bankers will be hoping this weekend that he does not go the way of Northern Rock’s Adam Applegarth and RBS’s Fred Goodwin – ousted by a tidal wave of public fury.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Cable: The City is a massive cesspit
Business Secretary and Mervyn King savage culture at scandal-hit banks Oliver Wright , Simon English, Jim Armitage
Saturday 30 June 2012
The Government was under growing pressure last night to call a public inquiry into the behaviour of Britain’s bankers as the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, admitted the sector was a “massive cesspit” that needed cleaning up.
Even business leaders turned on the City and demanded a cull at the top of British banks, with some investors at Barclays agitating for a management change after its £290m fine for trying to fix Libor, the rate banks charge to borrow from each other.
The Bank of England Governor, Sir Mervyn King, launched a scathing attack on the banking industry and demanded a "real change in culture".
Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Barclays, could be called before Parliament as early as Wednesday to answer questions about when he first became aware of the practice. The bank’s chairman, Marcus Agius, will probably also be called to appear "if he is still in a job," sources on the Treasury Select Committee said.
Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, called for a judge-led inquiry into the industry, asserting that the problem "goes far beyond individuals". But he also singled out Mr Diamond, adding to the pressure on him to resign: "I think it’s pretty clear that change is required at Barclays. It’s very hard to see that being led by Bob Diamond."
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Iran vows to confront "malicious" embargo By Marcus George
DUBAI | Sun Jul 1, 2012 8:20am EDT
(Reuters) – Iran pledged to counter the impact of a European Union oil embargo which took full effect on Sunday, saying it had built up $150 billion in foreign reserves to protect itself.
The EU ban on crude imports is part of a push by Western countries aimed at choking Iran’s export earnings and forcing it to curb a nuclear programme they fear includes weapons development. Tehran says it has no such plan.
"We are implementing programmes to counter sanctions and we will confront these malicious policies," Mehr news agency quoted central bank governor Mahmoud Bahmani as saying.
He said the effects of the sanctions were tough but that Iran had built up $150 billion in foreign reserves.
The European Union banned new contracts for imports of Iranian crude in January, but allowed existing ones to continue until July 1. EU firms are also barred from transporting Iranian crude or insuring shipments under the sanctions.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
The Prophecy of the White Buffalo Calf is Proof that American Indians Were the First ‘American’ Naturalists
The white buffalo calf holds special significance to American Indians- especially the Oceti Sakowin (The People of the Seven Council Fires, also known as the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota, or the ‘Sioux’). As it is a crucial part of the teachings and prophecy of White Buffalo Calf Woman, the white buffalo calf is considered a sacred omen of change.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Bank of England expected to launch L50 billion QE Reported in GATA
Submitted by cpowell on 02:09AM ET Sunday, July 1, 2012. Section: Daily Dispatches compl
By Angela Monaghan
The Telegraph, London
Saturday, June 30, 2012
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9367178/MPC-expected-to-lau…
The Bank of England is poised to pump L50 billion of fresh stimulus into the ailing economy in a bid to drive Britain out of recession.
The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to vote for more bond purchases through quantitative easing (QE) when it makes its monthly decision on Thursday.
It would take the total spent under the programme to L375 billion.
Additional stimulus would come against a backdrop of a recession in Britain that is deeper than initially thought, a eurozone debt crisis that continues, and falling inflation.
Michael Saunders, economist at Citigroup, said: "We expect the MPC will restart QE at the upcoming meeting, in reaction to the persistent weakness of the UK economy, easing inflation worries, and ongoing European Monetary Union crisis."
The latest economic indicators suggest the economy may have contracted for a third successive quarter between April and June, having shrunk by 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 and by 0.3 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Philip Shaw, economist at Investec, said: "Domestically, the official numbers cast some doubt as to whether the economy has begun to expand again, following two quarters of contraction. Meanwhile, signs of a slowdown elsewhere in the world have intensified."
The case for more QE has also been strengthened by inflation, which fell to a 2 1/2-year low of 2.8 percent in May from 3 percent in April. Inflation has steadily fallen over recent months, after peaking at 5.2 percent in September last year.
Minutes of the June MPC meeting revealed growing support for more QE, with four out of the nine members voting in favour. While it was not enough to secure a majority, it represented a key shift and suggested the committee was moving closer to a collective view that the economy is in need of more stimulus. The Bank’s Governor, Sir Mervyn King, was among those voting for further asset purchases.
While the Government presses ahead with its austerity plan in order to reduce the deficit, there is little scope for a fiscal boost to the economy.
Monetary policy is already unprecedentedly "loose," with interest rates at an all-time low of 0.5 percent since March 2009, and QE at L325 billion.
The MPC has always said that it is ready to expand QE when necessary. Economists at Citigroup predict that QE will ultimately be expanded to a total of L500 billion. Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, said in May that the Bank should considering lowering interest rates as well as more QE to support the economy.
The British Chambers of Commerce believes more QE "may prove to be counterproductive" by stoking inflation.
David Kern, the BCC’s chief economist, said: "Adding to QE is not a risk-free policy, as it will limit the decline in inflation at a time when it is important for it to fall. This will be the most important single factor likely to underpin real incomes and boost demand in the UK economy."
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
A Minnesota mother has decided that her state’s health department is
completely out of line in demanding that she stop distributing raw milk
to members of her buying club, and has chosen instead to continue
helping these families in her area access this highly medicinal food
even if it means going to jail.Charlene Chan-Muehlbauer of St. Anthony Park near St. Paul, Minn., is one of several mothers involved in a local cooperative that take turns picking up raw milk from a farm 90 miles away, and hauling it back to the Twin Cities for distribution. Since Minnesota law allows for raw milk sales only on the farm, Charlene has offered to have her garage serve as a legal drop point for the milk.
In accordance with state law, members of Charlene’s buying club each pay the farm directly for their milk, and later pick it up from Charlene’s drop point. The setup is a convenient, practical way for raw milk buyers in the Twin Cities area to access their milk without having to each drive separately to the farm to pick it up.
Read More @ NaturalNews.com
from KingWorldNews:
On the heels of a massive rally in stocks, oil & gold, on Friday,
today Michael Pento, of Pento Portfolio Strategies, writes exclusively
for King World News to let readers know about the ‘Three Super Marios’
and ‘The Debt Monetization Game.’ He also discussed gold and the mining
shares, but first, here is what Pento wrote about what is happening
with the Three Super Marios: “In the past few days there
appears to have been a huge victory scored by Europe’s three Italian
Super-Marios. But appearances can be deceiving. Mario Balotelli scored
two goals for Italy’s Azzurri, in a victory against the Germans during
Thursday’s Euro 2012 semi-final Football game.”
Michael Pento continues @ KingWorldNews.com
On the heels of a massive rally in stocks, oil & gold, on Friday,
today Michael Pento, of Pento Portfolio Strategies, writes exclusively
for King World News to let readers know about the ‘Three Super Marios’
and ‘The Debt Monetization Game.’ He also discussed gold and the mining
shares, but first, here is what Pento wrote about what is happening
with the Three Super Marios: “In the past few days there
appears to have been a huge victory scored by Europe’s three Italian
Super-Marios. But appearances can be deceiving. Mario Balotelli scored
two goals for Italy’s Azzurri, in a victory against the Germans during
Thursday’s Euro 2012 semi-final Football game.”Michael Pento continues @ KingWorldNews.com
by Alasdair Macleod, Gold Money:
Early in 2011, the London Bullion Market Association began to push for gold to be recognised by the Basel Committee on Banking
Supervision as the ultimate high-quality liquid asset. It has been a
planned approach involving the wider financial community, with the
European Parliament voting unanimously to recommend that central
counterparties (basically regulated settlement intermediaries for
securities markets) accept gold as collateral under the European Market
Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). Lobbying by the LBMA certainly
contributed to this favourable outcome. A growing acceptance of gold as
collateral in regulated markets is forcing the Basel Committee to
reconsider the position of gold as a banking asset, which currently has a
50% valuation haircut. It is now a racing certainty the haircut will be
revised to zero, the same status as secure cash.
This is an important development for the physical gold market, and early warning of the change was signalled by a consultation document issued by the Fed and banking regulators in the light of forthcoming Basel 3 regulations1. It must have stuck in the Fed’s craw to have to circulate a proposal that “A bank holding company or savings and loan holding company may assign a risk-weighted asset amount of zero to cash owned and held in all offices of subsidiary depository institutions or in transit; and for gold bullion held in a subsidiary depository institution’s own vaults, or held in another depository institution’s vaults on an allocated basis, to the extent the gold bullion assets are offset by gold bullion liabilities.”(Page 291 and elsewhere).
Read More @ GoldMoney.com
Early in 2011, the London Bullion Market Association began to push for gold to be recognised by the Basel Committee on Banking
Supervision as the ultimate high-quality liquid asset. It has been a
planned approach involving the wider financial community, with the
European Parliament voting unanimously to recommend that central
counterparties (basically regulated settlement intermediaries for
securities markets) accept gold as collateral under the European Market
Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). Lobbying by the LBMA certainly
contributed to this favourable outcome. A growing acceptance of gold as
collateral in regulated markets is forcing the Basel Committee to
reconsider the position of gold as a banking asset, which currently has a
50% valuation haircut. It is now a racing certainty the haircut will be
revised to zero, the same status as secure cash.This is an important development for the physical gold market, and early warning of the change was signalled by a consultation document issued by the Fed and banking regulators in the light of forthcoming Basel 3 regulations1. It must have stuck in the Fed’s craw to have to circulate a proposal that “A bank holding company or savings and loan holding company may assign a risk-weighted asset amount of zero to cash owned and held in all offices of subsidiary depository institutions or in transit; and for gold bullion held in a subsidiary depository institution’s own vaults, or held in another depository institution’s vaults on an allocated basis, to the extent the gold bullion assets are offset by gold bullion liabilities.”(Page 291 and elsewhere).
Read More @ GoldMoney.com
from jackohoft:
Stephen Moore, Senior Economics Writer with the Wall Street Journal, told FOX and Friends this morning that nearly 75% of Obamacare costs will fall on the backs of those Americans making less than $120,000 a year.
Stephen Moore, Senior Economics Writer with the Wall Street Journal, told FOX and Friends this morning that nearly 75% of Obamacare costs will fall on the backs of those Americans making less than $120,000 a year.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Courtesy of CIGA Bill H.
Not so SWIFT! June 27th?
To all; the U.S. "blinked" yesterday by granting China (and others) a 6 month extension of "sanctions" being levied for trading with Iran. Sanctions were scheduled to begin yesterday where anyone trading for oil with Iran were supposed to be locked out of the SWIFT payment transfer system. http://freebeacon.com/obama-admin-gives-china-sanctions-pass/ I wrote maybe 2 month ago that "locking the world out" of the SWIFT system was akin to playing Russian roulette with all 6 chambers loaded. China has been quite busy over recent months making deals with their major trading partners to make trade settlement in Yuan or in their trading partner’s currency to ensure that SWIFT cut off would not stop trade.
This really is big news folks because what started out as a "threat" by the U.S. has turned out to be an expose’ of the Dollar’s Achilles heel. Yes I am sure that China’s trade would have been disrupted to some extent but the decline in demand for Dollars would (and will in the future) have torpedoed the Dollar unlike any event seen before. This "blink" shows that our fearless leaders finally have figured out the errors of their logic, what would have been a broken leg or arm requiring maybe 6 weeks to heal for China turns out to not be worth pointing a fully loaded gun at our own heads.
So we didn’t pull the trigger so all is well, right? No, the damage is done and our bluff was called, this rabbit is not going back into the hat no matter how hard we try. The SWIFT system has already been "skirted" by multiple side deals where countries plan to settle in their own currencies. This is the same thing as when a banking system actually goes down, yes trade and business slows but deals are still made and settled in barter. I don’t know what the logic was that excluding anyone from the SWIFT system was such a big stick but it surely isn’t and now can no longer used for any leverage. While China was touring the globe and doing deals (buying up resources), they were making these alternative settlement deals AND just so happened to purchase the LME which, oh by the way, will be moved to Hong Kong.
I do want to mention something that was questioned and even laughed at for months now, June 27th. Does this day ring a bell? June 27th was the day that Jim Sinclair said would be an inflection point for the Dollar where the world would be changed forever. Well, the 27th came and went, yet to the average snoozer and probably most of the whiners who wrote in, in total panic to Mr. Sinclair, the world is still here and nothing has changed. Well, the world has changed and the U.S. no longer has the financial big stick called "SWIFT" to wield, we wasted it and it now resembles wet spaghetti! Is the Euro up because Europe has figured out how to "save itself? Did they really come up with a plan? No, the one minor detail as it always is and has been is, "where is the money coming from". Coincidence that Gold is up $50 today? I think not, Gold is depressed yes and deserves a wicked bounce, that is the nature of cycles but I find it very hard to believe that Gold is "up because Europe is not going to collapse". First off, if Europe does collapse in a heap, Gold will explode in value as Euro capital will accrue into Gold’s value. I personally think that Gold’s move today is in response to the Dollar’s Achilles heel being exposed.
Was Jim Sinclair correct about June 27th? I think that this time he has split the many of his previous bullseye calls right down the center like Robin Hood. His $1,650 Gold call was off by a whopping 6 months even though he made the call 9 years earlier! This time he missed by a day because it took roughly 24 hours for the world to figure out that the "SWIFT bluff" not only turned out to be a bluff but turns out to be a MAJOR shift in power from West to East. China no longer needs the SWIFT system yet we HAVE to have it to create (false) Dollar demand. This, while at the same time COMEX is losing it’s importance as the LME moves to Hong Kong with contracts that can be trusted.
Let’s see what happens from here but it looks to me like THE bottom in the precious metals is in which is another way of saying the top is in for the Dollar. It will be interesting to watch how much Treasury supply will need to get soaked up by The Fed in the future as the "not so SWIFT" bluff turned out far differently than whatever warped logic had forecast. Gold will be taken up and out of the system (too expensive for individuals to buy) by Central Banks as the need to replace balance sheet black holes comes to fruition. The policy responses from the West have become totally amazing, we have made it far too easy for the East. Regards, Bill H.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Courtesy of CIGA Ed P.
L’or est le souverain des souverains. (Gold is the sovereign of sovereigns) –Antoine de RIVAROL
To consider the [Supreme Court] as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions is a very dangerous doctrine, placing us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges are as honest as other men…and not more so, with the same passions for party, power, and privilege. Their power is extremely dangerous, as they are in office for life and not responsible, as the other functionaries are, to elective control. – Thomas Jefferson.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
The rig is up!
Rigged markets are against the law and those who have rigged gold and
silver should be somewhat uncomfortable. It does not matter if
regulators regulate, but rather what the law is. It does not matter if
exchanges police their transactions because they are illegal. It does
not matter if the specialist claims ignorance, there is "know or should
have known."
The best is index balancing. What lovely cover to manipulation. How
about tape painting practices for years in the junior gold shares? Who
sold the good news releases constantly? What market maker effects those
famous after hours trades against the trend? What fund manager buys in
one fund to sell to another fund under the same or cooperating
management to paint the tape in wash sales effecting price? How about
those totally outrageous NASDAQ closes of other exchange listed shares
to prevent technical breakouts? There is a paper trail that you cannot
erase, and it will be found in discovery. The law is the law and
non-regulation by any party means nothing if properly advocated and
adjudicated. Think for a moment. Finding millions of mineable ounces is
good news for a gold company. Overcoming your dirty tricks adversary
publicly with significant redress is worth the same as 10,000,000 ounces
or more in my opinion.
Banking scandal: how document trail reveals global scam
It’s not a comfortable weekend for the men heading some of the world’s biggest banks. Barclays has already been hit by a £290m fine for rigging interest rates but that could be dwarfed by a series of global lawsuits which could cost banks billions Jamie Doward
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 30 June 2012 16.01 EDT
The interest rate rigging scandal that has engulfed Barclays was the result of a coordinated attempt at collusion by traders working for a coterie of leading banks over at least five years, according to a series of lawsuits and legal rulings filed in courts in Asia and North America.
The lawsuits allege the fraud was extensive, spanning at least three continents and involving trades worth tens of billions of pounds. The allegations raise further serious questions about the banks’ ability to police themselves and the role of senior management in monitoring the activities of their employees.
In a 28-page statement of facts relating to last week’s revelation that Barclays had been fined a total of £290m, the US Department of Justice discloses how a network of traders working on both sides of the Atlantic conspired to influence both the Libor and Euribor interest rates – the rates at which banks lend to each other. It was, in effect, a worldwide conspiracy against the free functioning of the market.
The size of the fines was significant and the opprobrium heaped on Barclays unremitting. "This is the most damaging scam I can recall," said Andrew Tyrie, chair of parliament’s Treasury select committee. "It appears that many banks were involved and Barclays were the first to own up."
Indeed, as politicians bay for his blood this weekend, the one source of comfort for Bob Diamond, the embattled Barclays chief executive, is that his bank appears to have been merely one of several involved in the scandal.
For their own sake, many of his fellow senior bankers will be hoping this weekend that he does not go the way of Northern Rock’s Adam Applegarth and RBS’s Fred Goodwin – ousted by a tidal wave of public fury.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
German law will not sink the Euro.
The idea that Mrs. Merkel pulled a fast one and did not give in to EU
bond market pressure is an assumption based on a long term negative
bias for the EU. Germany is beginning now to feel the pain of its
neighbors via German exports. When MSM cannot convince the sheeple
anymore that a total crisis is not in place, Germany will bow to the
markets (meaning politicians will do their politically expedient thing
regardless of consequences) however they have to do it, more
expeditiously than anyone can believe. Call it Blitzlaw.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
This City in London is not alone. Western world Finance is a cesspool and the people running are the turds.
Cable: The City is a massive cesspit
Business Secretary and Mervyn King savage culture at scandal-hit banks Oliver Wright , Simon English, Jim Armitage
Saturday 30 June 2012
The Government was under growing pressure last night to call a public inquiry into the behaviour of Britain’s bankers as the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, admitted the sector was a “massive cesspit” that needed cleaning up.
Even business leaders turned on the City and demanded a cull at the top of British banks, with some investors at Barclays agitating for a management change after its £290m fine for trying to fix Libor, the rate banks charge to borrow from each other.
The Bank of England Governor, Sir Mervyn King, launched a scathing attack on the banking industry and demanded a "real change in culture".
Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Barclays, could be called before Parliament as early as Wednesday to answer questions about when he first became aware of the practice. The bank’s chairman, Marcus Agius, will probably also be called to appear "if he is still in a job," sources on the Treasury Select Committee said.
Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, called for a judge-led inquiry into the industry, asserting that the problem "goes far beyond individuals". But he also singled out Mr Diamond, adding to the pressure on him to resign: "I think it’s pretty clear that change is required at Barclays. It’s very hard to see that being led by Bob Diamond."
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
No words are required. Just look at these guys.
Iran vows to confront "malicious" embargo By Marcus George
DUBAI | Sun Jul 1, 2012 8:20am EDT
(Reuters) – Iran pledged to counter the impact of a European Union oil embargo which took full effect on Sunday, saying it had built up $150 billion in foreign reserves to protect itself.
The EU ban on crude imports is part of a push by Western countries aimed at choking Iran’s export earnings and forcing it to curb a nuclear programme they fear includes weapons development. Tehran says it has no such plan.
"We are implementing programmes to counter sanctions and we will confront these malicious policies," Mehr news agency quoted central bank governor Mahmoud Bahmani as saying.
He said the effects of the sanctions were tough but that Iran had built up $150 billion in foreign reserves.
The European Union banned new contracts for imports of Iranian crude in January, but allowed existing ones to continue until July 1. EU firms are also barred from transporting Iranian crude or insuring shipments under the sanctions.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
This has taken place in Goshen, CT. I can throw a rock from my place and hit Goshen.
I had a significant bear in my back yard for 20 minutes (first time in over 30 years), and now a white buffalo born next door.
I will be there on July 28th. What we need so much is change everywhere.
The Prophecy of the White Buffalo Calf is Proof that American Indians Were the First ‘American’ Naturalists
The white buffalo calf holds special significance to American Indians- especially the Oceti Sakowin (The People of the Seven Council Fires, also known as the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota, or the ‘Sioux’). As it is a crucial part of the teachings and prophecy of White Buffalo Calf Woman, the white buffalo calf is considered a sacred omen of change.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Here comes the new QE game of a little bit at a time to confuse the
markets. QE will be dished out by the week or month in small amounts,
and you can be sure the Sheeple will not add the totals. QE might be
skipped to create MOPE from MSM of non-existent hawks.
Bank of England expected to launch L50 billion QE Reported in GATA
Submitted by cpowell on 02:09AM ET Sunday, July 1, 2012. Section: Daily Dispatches compl
By Angela Monaghan
The Telegraph, London
Saturday, June 30, 2012
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9367178/MPC-expected-to-lau…
The Bank of England is poised to pump L50 billion of fresh stimulus into the ailing economy in a bid to drive Britain out of recession.
The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to vote for more bond purchases through quantitative easing (QE) when it makes its monthly decision on Thursday.
It would take the total spent under the programme to L375 billion.
Additional stimulus would come against a backdrop of a recession in Britain that is deeper than initially thought, a eurozone debt crisis that continues, and falling inflation.
Michael Saunders, economist at Citigroup, said: "We expect the MPC will restart QE at the upcoming meeting, in reaction to the persistent weakness of the UK economy, easing inflation worries, and ongoing European Monetary Union crisis."
The latest economic indicators suggest the economy may have contracted for a third successive quarter between April and June, having shrunk by 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 and by 0.3 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Philip Shaw, economist at Investec, said: "Domestically, the official numbers cast some doubt as to whether the economy has begun to expand again, following two quarters of contraction. Meanwhile, signs of a slowdown elsewhere in the world have intensified."
The case for more QE has also been strengthened by inflation, which fell to a 2 1/2-year low of 2.8 percent in May from 3 percent in April. Inflation has steadily fallen over recent months, after peaking at 5.2 percent in September last year.
Minutes of the June MPC meeting revealed growing support for more QE, with four out of the nine members voting in favour. While it was not enough to secure a majority, it represented a key shift and suggested the committee was moving closer to a collective view that the economy is in need of more stimulus. The Bank’s Governor, Sir Mervyn King, was among those voting for further asset purchases.
While the Government presses ahead with its austerity plan in order to reduce the deficit, there is little scope for a fiscal boost to the economy.
Monetary policy is already unprecedentedly "loose," with interest rates at an all-time low of 0.5 percent since March 2009, and QE at L325 billion.
The MPC has always said that it is ready to expand QE when necessary. Economists at Citigroup predict that QE will ultimately be expanded to a total of L500 billion. Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, said in May that the Bank should considering lowering interest rates as well as more QE to support the economy.
The British Chambers of Commerce believes more QE "may prove to be counterproductive" by stoking inflation.
David Kern, the BCC’s chief economist, said: "Adding to QE is not a risk-free policy, as it will limit the decline in inflation at a time when it is important for it to fall. This will be the most important single factor likely to underpin real incomes and boost demand in the UK economy."
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
In time it will be understood that the greatest error tactically made
during this currency crisis was the use of the SWIFT bank wire transfer
system as an economic weapon.
There is a reason why WWII legendary "pineapple" grenade bore the initials MK2. Those who enjoy the works of Mike Krieger and Max Keiser
are in for a treat, with this 2 for the price of 1 (technically for
the price of zero) interview of Krieger by Keiser, as the MKs of the
world unite, and take on financial fraud.
Three weeks ago we mocked, rightfully so, the utter 
In
a development that is too hilarious for even the most hardened cynics
to pass by, starting today, the rotating presidency of the EU will be
handed over to... broke Cyprus. We learn this and much
more about the onslaught of sovereign debt auctions out of Spain and
France in the month of July (explaining the urgency to come up with any mechanism
to keep Spanish and Italian bond yields below 7% as absent some deux
ex, no matter how temporary, the whole charade may have ended as soon as
31 days from today) courtesy of the following calendar of key events
out of Europe.
Bankers love to rail against government interference in the “free
market.” Jamie Dimon, grilled this week in front of Congress over JP
Morgan Chase’s massive recent losses, 
Chief Justice John Roberts initially sided with the Supreme Court’s
four conservative justices to strike down the heart of President Obama’s
health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, but later changed his
position and formed an alliance with liberals to uphold the bulk of the
law, according to two sources with specific knowledge of the
deliberations.
The British Journal Lancet Infectious Diseases 
While the Li
The United States of America took a giant step toward a totalitarian
socialist government when the Supreme Court voted to uphold Obamacare,
allowing the individual mandate for the government to force American
citizens to buy health insurance whether they want to or not.
While the Li
India is looking to shoot the messenger. It wants to 
At Royal Bank, Mr. Embry was named Vice-President, Equities and
Portfolio Manager at RBC Global Investment Management, a $33 billion
organization where he oversaw $5 billion in assets, including the
flagship $2.9 billion Royal Canadian Equity Fund and the $250 million
Royal Precious Metals Fund, which was the #1 ranked fund in Canada for
its 2002 net performance of 153%.Hera Research Newsletter (HRN): Thank you for joining us today. Let’s talk about gold stocks.
In the midst of a fiery floor debate over contempt proceedings for
Attorney General Eric Holder, House Oversight and Government Reform
Chairman 
Bloomsbury’s officially opened at The Dubai Mall on Thursday 28th June
2012. The new boutique café in Dubai marks the one year anniversary of
Bloomsbury’s which opened it’s doors to food lovers last year in Abu
Dhabi.![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vwWa5TY22v1qzLsFM49zhGi6HEymwOocaq-JszNzTVJ_Z8eAZxpVn1a2OhvqrhttaL0lQ3kyDJa64EST6p02jRHrEOyzJ-_wwIkWHBXdfHa7e7VzICmHPv3I1zfMavIXZoMA=s0-d)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sNJi6Vy-a5bm9WtZSqjd9SQOfVDph07sztnIz7dZWnfu8jo7icJ_n0J81J5u61AMYrtv3brrGILL5KI4UaoBTjT8qVwbM0h7VV148Sq7XcxX-0HNEjZ41w6NJUDTjX38qDT4vK=s0-d)
