Saturday, August 01, 2015
QE Fails In Japan: Inflation Nonexistent, Consumer Spending Drops, More Ease Coming / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
By: John_Rubino
After nearly three decades of stagnation, Japan in 2013 went all-in, ordering its central bank, the Bank of Japan, to buy pretty much every bond on the market with newly-created yen. The BoJ's balance sheet -- a rough proxy for the amount of money it has created and dumped into the economy -- soared at a rate that dwarfs, in relation to GDP, the US Fed's QE programs.
Saturday, August 01, 2015
Why Your Brokerage Account Isn’t as Safe as You Think It Is / InvestorEducation / Learning to Invest
By: Casey_Research
By E.B. Tucker
Imagine logging into your brokerage account tomorrow and finding out that it’s frozen.
Not just your account… every customer account at your brokerage is frozen.
You can’t buy stocks. You can’t sell stocks. You can’t move money out of the account.
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, August 01, 2015
Mining Companies, Regulators Deathly Silent after Midnight Raid on Gold Prices / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
By: MoneyMetals
With gold and silver on the defensive following a dramatic midnight raid on gold prices last week, Mike Gleason reached out to Chris Powell, Secretary Treasurer at the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, also known as GATA to discuss possible gold price manipulation.
Mike Gleason: Several days ago, we had another attack on the gold market – right as it was holding above a critical price support zone. Someone sold several billions of dollars in gold futures contracts during the wee hours of the night immediately before the Chinese trading day began. It happened during a time of low liquidity like it normally does, and it took the price down over $40 in the matter of a few seconds, halting trading twice for a brief period. What are we to make of all this Chris?
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, August 01, 2015
The Greek Coup: Liquidity as a Weapon of Coercion / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Ellen_Brown
“My father made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Luca Brasi held a gun to his head and my father assured him that either his brains, or his signature, would be on the contract.” — The Godfather (1972)
In the modern global banking system, all banks need a credit line with the central bank in order to be part of the payments system. Choking off that credit line was a form of blackmail the Greek government couldn’t refuse.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 31, 2015
Gold’s Amazing Resiliency / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
By: Zeal_LLC
Gold has certainly had a rough summer, facing withering selling pressure from record futures shorting. The resulting new secular lows have greatly exacerbated the already-extreme bearish psychology long plaguing this metal. But considering the howling headwinds gold has suffered in recent years, it has actually proved amazingly resilient. This indicates strong latent demand due to accelerate as sentiment shifts.
The consensus view on gold today is overwhelmingly bearish, with virtually everyone convinced it is doomed to spiral lower indefinitely. They argue that gold yields nothing, so therefore why bother owning it? Especially with the first Fed rate hikes in over 9 years looming! As interest rates begin inexorably mean reverting higher, rising yields will leave gold even farther behind. Keynes’ “barbarous relic” can’t compete.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 31, 2015
In Gold We Trust 2015 / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
As always in June, Incrementum AG (an independent asset management & wealth management company based in the Principality of Liechtenstein) published its annual “In Gold We Trust” report, the extended version of which can be downloaded here. We know that it was published one month ago; however, it took a while to dig through the 140-page text. Because it offers many interesting insights into the current global economy and the gold market, we provide a short summary for you today.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 31, 2015
Gold and Silver Markets in Limbo / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
By: Alasdair_Macleod
Gold and silver remain close to their lows for the year, discouraged as usual by dollar resilience. Precious metals appear to be in limbo: speculative buyers are discouraged above all by their disappointing performance during the Greek crisis, and the possibility that a Chinese stock market crash might lead to forced selling of gold by Chinese speculators. So far, the latter concern has proved unfounded with public demand in China accelerating on lower prices and exceeding global mine output on its own.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Silver – A Century of Prices / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
By: DeviantInvestor
The graph below shows 100 years of silver and crude oil prices on a log scale using the annual average of daily prices. Example: The price of silver peaked in 1980 at about $50 but the smoothed annual average was about $16.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Demand for Gold Bullion Surges – Perth Mint, and U.S. Mint Cannot Meet Demand / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
By: GoldCore
- Perth Mint sees surge in demand and cannot keep up with demand
- “Our biggest restriction is the amount of unrefined gold we’re getting in from producers”
- Very high demand for Perth Mint coins, bars coming from Asia, U.S. and Europe
- U.S. Mint sees highest sales of gold coins in over 2 years
- U.S. Mint restrictions on silver coins due to very high demand
- Gold sentiment has moved from despondency to depression (see chart)
- Current negative sentiment despite strong demand is good contrarian indicator
Friday, July 31, 2015
Banking Stocks You Need to Consider Now / Companies / Banking Stocks
By: Submissions
Larissa James writes:As the Chinese stock market continues to crash, things on the home front are doing just fine. While we’ve seen industry averages drop slightly over the past few months, we still remain on a positive upward trajectory over the past five years. If you haven’t yet regained confidence after the 2008-2009 crisis, now is the time to get back in the game. And if you’re looking for a place to start, the following banking stocks should be top on your list:
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 31, 2015
One of the Greatest Income-Producing Tools for Retirees / InvestorEducation / Options & Warrants
By: DailyWealth
One of the Greatest Income-Producing Tools for Retirees
Dr. David Eifrig writes: It might sound crazy... but retirees can safely earn 12% to 20% income streams on their savings.
My Retirement Trader readers have been using one strategy to rake in thousands of dollars every month.
It's simple. And once you get familiar with how it works, you can use this strategy to safely and conservatively generate 12% or more in annual income on a retirement account.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 31, 2015
Stock Market Triumph of the Swill / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2015
By: Jesse
"Pride goes before a destruction, and arrogance before a fall." Prov 16:18
This was a fairly lackluster day in US equities.
Sentiment is now back to somewhat complacent as the VIX has fallen back to a 12 handle.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 31, 2015
Jackson Hole All About Inflation / Economics / Inflation
By: Ashraf_Laidi
Another FOMC statement and another swing at the law of probability. Some banks are considering the probability of a September Fed hike to be as high as 70%. Others prefer to hedge themselves with more appropriate qualitative means of referring to September as a "high probability outcome as long as....", citing the two upcoming jobs report and their average hourly earnings components. But even if the next two jobs reports are accompanied by robust hourly earnings, the inflation objective remains in doubt. We've long mentioned in previous pieces how the 20% decline in oil since early May will further retard any recovery in price growth, which has prompted the Fed to drop its phrase in the FOMC statement that "energy prices have stabilized" discussed here.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 31, 2015
Are Silver Spot Prices Poised for an Increase? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
By: Submissions
Jenna Cyprus writes: As anyone with significant investments in silver knows, prices have been on a steady decline for the better part of four years now. In fact, you have to go all the way back to the beginning of 2012 to find prices above $40. Since then, the trajectory has firmly pointed downwards. Currently you can purchase an ounce of silver for less than $15. Analysts suspect this won’t be the case for long. While ‘experts’ have predicted for months now that silver is finally positioned for growth, there seems to be more tangible proof for today’s predictions. Things finally appear to be looking up and now may be the time to diversify your portfolio.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 31, 2015
Get Ready for the Next Advance in Solar Energy / Commodities / Solar Energy
By: ...
MoneyMorning.com
Dr. Kent Moors writes: Despite limitations, solar has reached grid parity in a number of regions in the U.S. That means sun power is as cost efficient as electricity utilizing more conventional sources like coal and natural gas. But it still has some limitations that prevent it from becoming the main source of power.
Usually the discussion of how solar energy will develop centers on improving the inversion process or combining greater efficiency in generation with a better battery technology to store what is produced.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Reasons Why the Greek Crisis Will Only Get Worse / Stock-Markets / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Investment_U
Sean Brodrick writes: So Europe brought Greece to heel like an unruly dog, eh? And the government of that sad-sack nation got stuck with the same onerous debt terms it was trying to avoid when it held a referendum?
German bankers win, life goes on... right?
Nope.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, July 30, 2015
The War On Cash: Why Now? / Economics / Fiat Currency
By: MISES
Charles Hugh Smith writes:
You’ve probably read that there is a “war on cash” being waged on various fronts around the world. What exactly does a “war on cash” mean?
It means governments are limiting the use of cash and a variety of official-mouthpiece economists are calling for the outright abolition of cash. Authorities are both restricting the amount of cash that can be withdrawn from banks, and limiting what can be purchased with cash.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, July 30, 2015
If Spending Is Our Military Strategy, Our Strategy Is Bankrupt / Politics / US Military
By: MISES
Mark Mateski writes: Even today, few deny the long arm of US military might. After all, the US military exhausted the Soviet Union, crushed Saddam Hussein, and drove Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda into hiding.
To what should we attribute these triumphs? Some would say US planning and foresight. Others would mention the hard work and dedication of US soldiers, sailors, and airmen. Still others would point to the application of superior technology. All would be correct to some degree, but each of these explanations disregards the fact that for more than a lifetime, the United States has wildly outspent its military competitors.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Greece - The IMF Experts Flunk, Again / Economics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Steve_H_Hanke
My Globe Asia column in May was titled “Greece: Down and Probably Out.” Well, it’s out. Yes, Greece descended from drama to farce rapidly.If all goes according to plan, the left-wing Greek government will come to an agreement with the so-called troika – the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – over the details of a third bailout program by August 20th. This rescue package will probably be worth €86 billion (U.S. $94.5 billion). So, since 2010, Greece will have received three bailouts worth a whopping €430 billion (U.S. $472.2 billion). This amounts to a staggering €39,000 (U.S. $42,831) for every man, woman, and child in Greece.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Threat Of Cyber Warfare the “Other Reason To Own Physical Gold” Warns Rickards / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2015
By: GoldCore
- “Physical gold is a non-digital asset. You can’t attack it with cyberwarfare” – Rickards
- Greek crisis was necessary step towards fiscal unity in Europe
- “Euro creators want to force common fiscal control – Eurobonds”
- Currency wars between U.S. and China may resume next year
- Rickards emphasises importance of holding physical gold
- Eschews “paper gold” in the form of ETFs, futures or unallocated storage
- Gold insurance against “catastrophic event” … “on the horizon”