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Ron Paul: Fed’s Yellen Dangerous For The Economy

"What does former U.S. congressman Dr. Ron Paul think about Janet Yellen as the Fed Chair? Kitco News caught up with Paul at the Metals & Minerals Conference in San Francisco, where he is a keynote speaker, to discuss monetary policy, gold and the US dollar. 'It's easy to be a critic if you don't believe they should exist,' Paul says in response to his criticisms of the Fed. Having Yellen as the next chair, Paul says not much will change. 'If anything, it'll be slightly worse because she is a very aggressive inflator...I think she'll be dangerous to the dollar and she will not revive the economy.'" Continue reading →

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London Gold Fix Calls Draw Scrutiny Amid Heavy Trading

"Every business day in London, five banks meet to set the price of gold in a ritual that dates back to 1919. Now, dealers and economists say knowledge gleaned on those calls could give some traders an unfair advantage when buying and selling the precious metal. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority is scrutinizing how prices are set in the $20 trillion gold market, according to a person with knowledge of the review who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. The process, during which gold is bought and sold, can take from a few minutes to more than an hour. The participants also can trade the metal and its derivatives on the spot market and exchanges during the calls." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLondon Gold Fix Calls Draw Scrutiny Amid Heavy Trading

15 new UK banks in five years, predicts Metro founder

"Mr Thomson, backed by US banking entrepreneur Vernon Hill, launched Metro Bank in 2010. It was the first award of a new full banking licence since the 19th Century, underlining the barriers to entry that new competitors face. New entrants to the market have failed to loosen the grip of the 'Big Five' banks, which includes the taxpayer-owned Lloyds-Halifax brands and RBS-NatWest. It was announced in March that new applicants for UK banking licences would face more 'relaxed' demands on the amount of capital they hold as part of plans to reduce barriers to entry and stimulate competition." Continue reading →

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Banks Warn Fed They May Have To Start Charging Depositors

"A less discussed issue was the Fed's comment that it would consider lowering the Interest on Excess Reserves to zero as a means to offset the implied tightening that would result from the reduction in the monthly flow once QE entered its terminal phase (for however briefly before the plunge in the S&P led to the Untaper). After all, the Fed's policy book goes, if IOER is raised to tighten conditions, easing it to zero, or negative, should offset 'tightening financial conditions', right? Wrong. As the FT reports leading US banks have warned the Fed that should it lower IOER, they would be forced to start charging depositors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBanks Warn Fed They May Have To Start Charging Depositors

Bitcoin: Experts clash over the crypto-currency

"Bitcoin is reaching new heights thanks to a combination of speculation on future value and genuine, undeniable usefulness. Think about it: Why can it take days or weeks for banks to send money around the world, when an email travels in seconds? Does the money travel by steamboat? Are they loading gold bars onto the side of a camel and sending it over the mountains of Mongolia? Of course not. The real answer is depressing - banking is a stagnant market running on long-obsolete infrastructure, which improves only when forced to by government. [..] When Metro Bank opened in 2010, it received the first new UK banking licence issued in 150 years." Continue reading →

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Monetary Madness, Part II

"Like today, the Fed helped create a bond market bubble in the 1970s … but then began a panicky retreat in 1979 that helped drive T-bond yields to 13%, T-bill rates to 17% and the prime rate to 21%. Like today, the Fed kept the lid on short-term interest rates in the early 1990s … but then was forced to unleash them in 1994, causing the largest calendar-year decline in bond prices in modern history. And like today, in the first half of the 2000s, the Fed papered over every financial disaster it ran into — only to beat a sudden retreat by letting Lehman Brothers fail. They will do the same thing again — not because of any particular plan, but because they will have no other choice." Continue reading →

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Most Bizarre Hedging Statement Ever?

"This last blow-off is going to be a merciless one that will precede perhaps a movement toward a more global currency or a diminishment of the dollar reserve standard itself. Many may be tempted to sit out this latest – promulgated – rally based on the obvious and evident macro-manipulations. And I will continue to point out the various machinations that are setting up the Party. They are a long ways away from snatching the punch bowl on this one and fortunes will be made because one thing this sort of vast manipulation portends is volatility and plenty of it. Is the market a kind of Titanic heading toward an iceberg? Of course it is. But it's going to be a helluva ride." Continue reading →

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How a wire transfer stuck in OFAC almost cost me $140K

"My wire transfer for $600,000 got stuck for more than a week in two banks and I almost lost my $140,000 deposit on a house as a result. If the funds transfer had been done with bitcoin, I would have had the funds there within an hour of sending them, and nobody could have stopped it. The escrow part could also have been done with bitcoin. One this becomes the norm, bitcoin is going to revolutionize the process of closing a house purchase, making it safer, cheaper, and faster for everyone. Here is the OFAC SDN list. If your first and last names match any of the names in this list, don't do any large wire transfers!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow a wire transfer stuck in OFAC almost cost me $140K