Yearly Archives: 2013

More Bad News for Low Wage Workers

"Soon American companies will have to disclose how their chief executive's paycheck compares with that of their average worker under a proposal unveiled by the SEC, reports The Guardian. If I am the CEO of a publicly traded company, I am going to do every thing I can to keep the ratio, between what I earn and my workers, as close as possible. This may mean shutting down operations that include many low wage workers. It may also mean automating jobs now performed by low wage workers. Low wage workers will become pariahs to be avoided at all costs by publicly traded companies. With less demand for low wage workers, their wages will decline." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMore Bad News for Low Wage Workers

Washington Sees Incomes Soar as Most of U.S. Declines

"American incomes have tumbled over the last decade. But for many people in Washington, D.C., it’s been something of a party. The income of the typical D.C. household rose 23.3% between 2000 and 2012 to an inflation-adjusted $66,583, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. During this period, median household incomes for the nation as a whole dropped 6.6% — from $55,030 to $51,371. The Washington, D.C. metro area — which includes the surrounding suburbs in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia — has it even better, with a median household income of $88,233 that ranks highest among the U.S.’s 25 most populous metro areas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWashington Sees Incomes Soar as Most of U.S. Declines

Dozens Of TSA Employees Fired, Suspended For Illegal Gambling Ring

"Dozens of local Transportation Security Administration workers have been fired or suspended after they were caught in an illegal gambling ring at Pittsburgh International Airport. Sources confirm TSA employees on the job set up an office betting pool of sorts, employees betting year-round on all of the big sporting events, the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, the World Series, the Stanley Cup and more. Sources confirm the employees recommended for termination did 'make a little money off of the top.' TSA sources confirm none of the betting affected any of the security at the airport." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDozens Of TSA Employees Fired, Suspended For Illegal Gambling Ring

The Path to $10,000 an Ounce Gold, Revisited

"Most traders, obsessed with the tiniest tweaks to the monthly rate of Fed printing, are missing the big picture: Credit growth has outpaced the economy’s productive potential, both here and around the globe. Each successive growth spurt in money and credit has a weaker marginal impact on the real economy; this requires permanently easy monetary policy, and perhaps, eventually, a formal devaluation of paper against gold. In his latest Gloom Boom & Doom Report, Marc Faber argues that the Fed has lost control of the bond market. Treasury note yields have doubled from the summer 2012 lows — a development that surely wasn’t part of the Fed’s stimulus playbook." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Path to $10,000 an Ounce Gold, Revisited

Precious Metals True To Form As Markets Wake To Reality

"As for PMs, the funds and other 'smart money' as well as retail investors took the news from the Fed to mean the USD will depreciate against hard assets of all kinds. PM gains of 10-15% were widespread within ninety minutes though most faded toward the close. September 16 nearly all issues gave back significant portions of their gains as the metals indicated that their roller-coaster nature had not gone away. With those postulates in mind, it is useful to look at some of the better companies in the sector to see how they fared the day after the QE go sign flashed. Price action is important in considering what horses you will ride." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPrecious Metals True To Form As Markets Wake To Reality

Monetary Authority of Singapore warns on ‘unregulated’ bitcoin

"The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is cautioning consumers against bitcoin trading even as a few merchants in Singapore have started accepting the digital currency as payment for physical goods. Invented in 2009, bitcoin is the world's most well-known digital currency. It is not issued or managed by a single company or monetary authority. Bitcoins can be bought through online exchanges that convert real money into the virtual currency. Due to its anonymous nature, bitcoin trading was declared illegal in Thailand in July over money laundering concerns. An MAS spokesman told The Straits Times that consumers should be wary of such trading." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMonetary Authority of Singapore warns on ‘unregulated’ bitcoin

For Virtual Prospectors, Life in the Bitcoin Mines Gets Real

"Aubrey McIntosh has taken up mining in his spare time, and he's finding it hard and hot—even if it's prospecting for a virtual currency and a computer is doing all of the work. Mr. McIntosh, a semiretired chemistry professor in Morris, Minn., is among the growing ranks of enthusiasts who use powerful computers to 'mine,' in insider parlance, 'bitcoins,' an unregulated digital currency. Mr. McIntosh keeps his specialized computer, which he said cost about $1,500 and is custom-built to find bitcoins, near the chimney flue in his basement to try to get rid of all the heat it generates." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFor Virtual Prospectors, Life in the Bitcoin Mines Gets Real