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RBS has lost all the £46bn pumped in by the taxpayer

"Royal Bank of Scotland has lost all the money invested in it by the taxpayer six years ago when the lender came close to collapse. The bank has confirmed its total losses since its bailout have now drawn level with the £46bn pumped into it in 2008 in return for an 81pc stake. RBS made a loss last year of £8.2bn, its sixth consecutive annual loss, taking its cumulative losses to £46bn. The scale of the losses means that all the capital provided by the taxpayer has now been used up dealing with the toxic legacy assets on the bank's balance sheet. Despite, the loss RBS said it had put aside £576m to pay staff bonuses for 2013." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRBS has lost all the £46bn pumped in by the taxpayer

Mongolia at a crossroad as boom brings challenges

"Dozens of office buildings are being erected at quick pace, while residential developments featuring fancy colours and rococo terraces are rising just across the road. Ulan Bator’s construction boom is adding new momentum to the country’s economic growth. Mongolia’s vast, largely untapped deposits of gold, copper, coal and uranium might be worth as much as US $3 trillion. In a country of only 2.8 million people, that represents a huge opportunity. 'By 2030, Mongolia will become one of the three richest countries in Asia by GDP per capita after Singapore and Japan,' Alisher Ali, founder of the investment group Silk Road Finance, said earlier this year in an interview." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMongolia at a crossroad as boom brings challenges

Bill Bonner: An Important Update on Our New ‘Trade of the Decade’

"The Nikkei 225 rose 57% for the year – the best year for the index since 1972. Meanwhile, Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe… aided and abetted by new Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda… goosed the annual inflation rate up to 1%. This had the effect of sending the yen down 15% against the dollar. Great for Japan’s exporters. Terrible for Japan’s fixed-income securities. So, we made good money on both sides of the trade last year. By our rough, back-of-the-envelope ciphering, our 'Trade of the Decade' is up about 50% so far… with seven more years to run. What will happen in those next seven years?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: An Important Update on Our New ‘Trade of the Decade’

The Bearish/Bullish Conundrum

"At some point there will be a breakdown. Real market forces will reassert themselves. But 'when' is not easy to discern. I personally know people who are continually trying to sell this market short and are surrendering over and over because the timing is not right. The IPO market is revving up; top central banking doves are in place; the JOBS Act is ready to pour its promotions on receptive investors around the world; central banks are coordinating money printing in ways never seen before; gold remains down. It is sensible to predict the demise of this empyrean equity fairy tale. But those elite bankers controlling the central banking money printing have different ideas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Bearish/Bullish Conundrum

Austrian Economics, Central Bank Disasters and the Housing Bottom

"Business cycles are in a sense predictable because the entire economic environment is structured via central bank money printing. It is this artificiality that makes Austrian economic forecasting viable. What one can never predict, of course, is the timing of the 'turning.' Exactly where we are in the business cycle is uncertain, though again, one can certainly point out that we are in a precious metals bull market, even despite the recent difficulties of gold. This particular pro-metals market started early in the 2000s and may well continue until we reach a precious metals 'mania' of sorts as we saw in the 1970s. The only way to puncture something like that in the short term is to raise interest rates." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAustrian Economics, Central Bank Disasters and the Housing Bottom

SNB Sees $10 Billion Loss for 2013 as Gold Price Plummets

"Switzerland’s central bank will scrap its annual payment to the government for 2013 after a gold-price decline caused a loss of 9 billion francs ($10 billion). Switzerland’s 26 cantons are the central bank’s biggest shareholders. Together with the government, they receive an annual payment of 1 billion francs if the distribution reserve isn’t negative after appropriation of profit. The SNB’s gold holdings are the target of a popular initiative that demands that at least 20 percent of the central bank’s assets be in the form of gold. The measure would also block the sale of such holdings and require all SNB gold to be located in Switzerland. The SNB is listed on the Zurich stock exchange." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSNB Sees $10 Billion Loss for 2013 as Gold Price Plummets

U.S. Treasury cautions Bitcoin businesses on compliance duties

"The U.S. Treasury Department’s anti-money laundering unit has mailed roughly a dozen letters to businesses linked to the digital currency Bitcoin warning they may be money transmitters and be required to comply with federal law and regulation, a Treasury spokesman told Compliance Complete. These letters, sent in recent weeks by Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), are a form of 'industry outreach' aimed at making Bitcoin businesses aware of their potential anti-money laundering compliance obligations, FinCEN spokesman Steve Hudak said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Treasury cautions Bitcoin businesses on compliance duties

China Bites Into Bitcoin

"China’s actions over the past weeks have put BTC China’s future in doubt. After Chinese regulators held a closed-door meeting to warn financial companies against working with exchanges, BTC China was swiftly abandoned by two payment processors. 'There are 300 payment processors in China. We’re going to go down the list and find one that will work with us,' says an optimistic Lee. He doesn’t think the government is trying to put him out of business but rather put the screws on Bitcoin to cut down on the rampant speculation. 'They haven’t declared exchanges illegal. That gives us room to maneuver, so there’s still hope.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina Bites Into Bitcoin

India may ease gold import curbs later this month

"Indian officials are in discussions to cut a record high import duty on gold and relax rules on exports, government sources said, after the measures helped narrow the country's trade deficit and now threaten to encourage smuggling. With three duty hikes last year to a record 10 percent and onerous restrictions tying purchases to exports, official arrivals shrank almost 90 percent in the six months to November, helping China displace India as the world's top gold buyer. The decision to cut the import duty is likely to be taken anytime this month, said one of the government sources, who has direct knowledge of the deliberations but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia may ease gold import curbs later this month

India may ease gold import curbs later this month

"Indian officials are in discussions to cut a record high import duty on gold and relax rules on exports, government sources said, after the measures helped narrow the country's trade deficit and now threaten to encourage smuggling. With three duty hikes last year to a record 10 percent and onerous restrictions tying purchases to exports, official arrivals shrank almost 90 percent in the six months to November, helping China displace India as the world's top gold buyer. The decision to cut the import duty is likely to be taken anytime this month, said one of the government sources, who has direct knowledge of the deliberations but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia may ease gold import curbs later this month