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Head of Dutch Libertarian Party Arrested Just Weeks Before Election

"The former chairman of the Dutch Libertarian Party, Toine Manders has been kidnapped in Cyprus by the FIOD (the Dutch IRS) and is currently locked away in the Netherlands in complete isolation (aside from his lawyer), in an undisclosed location. He is being held for an extended 90-day period, the charges for which are unknown. Toine Manders began his career by giving legal advice to young Dutch men who wanted to avoid military conscription. Toine Manders had attracted special attention from the government by running controversial ads that stated 'Taxation is theft', and that it was people’s moral duty to pay as little in taxes as possible, as the government is a criminal enterprise." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Why the Crowd Is About to Get Destroyed in US Stocks

"In the US, as in Japan, QE does not help stimulate a real recovery. But it does help simulate one. House prices are up (thanks, in part, to ultra-low mortgage rates). The middle class has more 'wealth' (albeit the paper kind) due to gains in their stock market portfolios. The rich are feeling fat and sassy, too. The Fed can continue modest tapering. But this is likely to produce a selloff in the stock market. Then the Fed will stop tapering. But it will be too late to reverse the damage to equities. They will go down for many years… bringing us even closer to the Japanese model. Our guess now is that this situation will persist for a few years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Why the Crowd Is About to Get Destroyed in US Stocks

Central Bank of Jordan Blocks Financial Companies from Bitcoin

"It was the Central Bank of Jordan’s (CBJ) turn to issue a digital currency warning this week, advising the public of the risks associated with the use of the financial tools, and blocking financial companies from engaging in bitcoin business. The Bank’s executive director of its payment services department, Maha Bahu, told The Jordan Times that the Kingdom’s banks, financial companies, payment processors and currency exchangers had also received a circular 'prohibiting them from dealing with virtual currencies, particularly in bitcoins'. She said the CBJ had been 'following the issue of bitcoin very closely over the past two months'." Continue reading →

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Despite central bank warnings, Bitcoin gains toehold in Middle East

"'The system is based on the concept of proof of work,' explained David al-Achkar, a Lebanese entrepreneur and active member of the regional Bitcoin community. In December 2013 the Lebanese Central Bank issued an official warning regarding Bitcoin. 'Transactions conducted with Bitcoins facilitate money laundering and the financing of terrorism,' said a circular issued by the Central Bank. Regionally, the limited Bitcoin economy appears to serve more mundane purposes. Earlier this month Dubai-based restaurant The Pizza Guys began accepting Bitcoin payments. Over the past 10 days, The Pizza Guys has processed seven Bitcoin transactions." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDespite central bank warnings, Bitcoin gains toehold in Middle East

Weather seems to blame for U.S. slowdown, Fed’s Yellen says

"Unusually harsh winter weather appears to be behind recent signs of weakness in the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Thursday, suggesting the central bank was poised to press forward in ratcheting back its stimulus. Testifying to the Senate Banking Committee, Yellen said the Fed would watch carefully to ensure weather was indeed the culprit, but she reiterated that it would take a 'significant change' to the economy's prospects for the Fed to put plans to wind down its bond-buying program on hold. The world's largest economy added fewer than 200,000 jobs combined in December and January, well below expectations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWeather seems to blame for U.S. slowdown, Fed’s Yellen says

Janet Yellen: Fed Has No Authority To Regulate Bitcoin

"'Bitcoin is a payment innovation that's taking place outside the banking industry. To the best of my knowledge there's no intersection at all, in any way, between Bitcoin and banks that the Federal Reserve has the ability to supervise and regulate. So the fed doesn't have authority to supervise or regulate Bitcoin in anyway. [..] One concern with Bitcoin is the potential for money laundering. [FinCen] has indicated their money laundering statutes are adequate to meet enforcement needs. [..] It's not so easy to regulate Bitcoin because there's no central issuer or network operator. This is a decentralized, global [entity]. [..] We're looking at this,' she concluded." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJanet Yellen: Fed Has No Authority To Regulate Bitcoin

Vietnam says bitcoin transactions are illegal

"Vietnam's communist government said trading in bitcoin and other electronic currencies is illegal, and warned its citizens not to use or invest in them. Currencies like bitcoin are unnerving financial regulators in Asia and elsewhere because they are outside of their control. Established banks don't like them because people can send the money around the world with any fees. There are a few websites that claim to offer bitcoin in exchange for Vietnamese dong, but it's unclear whether they have done any trading so far. Aside from an investment and buying goods and services online, bitcoin could be used by Vietnam's diaspora to sends home remittances." Continue reading →

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Why the Working Poor and Banks Are a Bad Match

"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to draft rules governing payday lending this year. But the conventional wisdom that will likely guide it is based on false perceptions about the working poor and the best way to serve them. So argues Lisa Servon, a professor at The New School in New York, who spent four months as a teller at a check-cashing business in the South Bronx and three at a payday lender in Oakland, Calif. Servon's conclusion is that many low-income consumers fulfill their financial needs outside the regulated banking system by choice and in many cases are better off for doing so." Continue reading →

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Ukraine Protestors Turn to Bitcoin to Ease Cash Crisis

"Field surgeries and hospitals treat the wounded, kitchens feed the crowds, blankets and clothing are distributed to those who need them, and people with vehicles shuttle everything around. Not only is this a major logistical and people-management feat to co-ordinate, but it must all be paid for somehow. So, expatriate Ukrainians around the world have joined the fight to campaign and raise funds to assist the struggle back home. PayPal only allows money to be sent out of Ukraine, while international bank transfers can take days to complete. Much of the time, transfers happen through friends and trust networks. This week sees a new campaign to raise funds directly via bitcoin." Continue reading →

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Gold Fix Study Shows Signs of Decade of Bank Manipulation

"The London gold fix, the benchmark used by miners, jewelers and central banks to value the metal, may have been manipulated for a decade by the banks setting it, researchers say. The paper is the first to raise the possibility that the five banks overseeing the century-old rate -- Barclays Plc, Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and Societe Generale SA (GLE) -- may have been actively working together to manipulate the benchmark. Authorities around the world, already investigating the manipulation of benchmarks from interest rates to foreign exchange, are examining the $20 trillion gold market for signs of wrongdoing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGold Fix Study Shows Signs of Decade of Bank Manipulation