Alternative News

‘Sorry is not enough’: Bolivia demands EU find culprits behind aerial hijack

"EU apologies for the aerial blockade that forced the Bolivian president’s plane to land are 'not enough,' said Bolivia’s foreign minister. The presidential plane was grounded amid suspicions that NSA leaker Edward Snowden had stowed away onboard. The Bolivian Foreign Minister, David Choquehuanca, confirmed on Tuesday that Bolivia had received official apologies from Italy and Portugal, adding to those of Spain and France. However, Choquehuanca stressed that the apologies were not enough and the four countries “must identify those responsible and punish them in an exemplary fashion so that such an incident does not happen again.” Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Sorry is not enough’: Bolivia demands EU find culprits behind aerial hijack

The Bull Within the Bear

"The reason it's important to look at the entire picture of investment demand is because an investor might draw an erroneous conclusion if they read just the headlines. For example, China and other Asian nations represent well over half of all global investment demand, while North America is just 9%. Is this bigger source of demand experiencing a lot of selling, too? Let's look at the bigger picture of investment demand for gold this year. In the following chart, we compare GLD outflows to Chinese imports through Hong Kong, as well as other sources of demand for physical metal. Here are the data through last month." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Bull Within the Bear

Gov’t Bureau ‘Creating a Google Earth on Every Financial Transaction,’ Senator Warns

"'This bill (creating the CFPB) was supposed to be about regulating Wall Street. Instead, it's creating a Google Earth on every financial transaction. That's right: the government will be able to see every detail of your finances. Your permission - not needed,' Sen. Enzi said. 'They can look right down to the tiny details of the time and place where you pulled cash out of an ATM,' Enzi warned. And, there's nothing you can do about, since Americans don't have the ability to 'opt out' or prohibit the government from collecting their personal financial data, Enzi said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGov’t Bureau ‘Creating a Google Earth on Every Financial Transaction,’ Senator Warns

Foreign Banks And Brokers Are Refusing Overseas Accounts for American Customers

"Registration with the SEC and compliance with SEC regulations is a greater burden than foreign banks or brokerages want to bear. As a result, even long-time, law-abiding Americans have seen their foreign accounts closed. Americans now seeking to set up overseas accounts with foreign-based institutions are almost always turned away. It has been a standard development throughout history that any country’s government that made it difficult for its citizens to move assets beyond the borders of the nation descended into totalitarianism. If it didn’t eventually allow free capital flows, then that government ultimately failed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingForeign Banks And Brokers Are Refusing Overseas Accounts for American Customers

It Isn’t All About the Benjamin (Bernanke)…

"While true that markets do at times move in tandem, that doesn’t tell the whole story. In fact, it leaves out the most important part — that not every stock in the world is tied to America’s every sniff and sniffle. And true diversification means owning exposure to the companies singing from a variety of hymnals. Conventional wisdom holds that the West is the be all and end all of the global economy. Economic fright in the West, this warped theory holds, means an economic nightmare everywhere else. While there is a modicum of truth in that … it’s overblown and an excessively Western view of what’s really happening in the rest of the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIt Isn’t All About the Benjamin (Bernanke)…

SF Bay Area House Sales Plunge in June (Month-over-Month AND Year-over-Year)

"What’s most alarming about this is that 'June' existing sales are actually from 'contracts and price decisions' made in April and May when rates were at HISTORIC LOWS. This tells me the market — underpinned for 18 months by investors and 'distressed supply' — was already exhausted before the historic rate 'surge'. Historic, artificially low rates for so long filled so much pent-up demand, pulled so much demand forward, and caused institutional investors to buy so much blindly that years of housing market activity was shoved through the eye of a needle." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSF Bay Area House Sales Plunge in June (Month-over-Month AND Year-over-Year)

Which of Bernanke’s Statements Should We Believe?

"On one hand, he's giving precise numbers like 6.5% and 7% unemployment, and on the other hand, his message seems to be, 'Don't pay attention to those numbers too much. We're just going to play it by ear.' Kind of confusing, in my opinion. Does the Fed want the market to pay attention to those metrics or not? The answer is probably somewhere in between. Not a whole lot from his statements this time around, but we do have two things to closely keep our eye on now—near 7% unemployment and faltering real estate prices—as two key trigger points." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhich of Bernanke’s Statements Should We Believe?

Detroit Jail Fail

"A couple of months ago, I wrote about Detroit’s jail blunder and the potential work stoppage on the construction of the massive facility – on prime downtown property – that was over budget on all counts. Work on this addition to incarceration nation has finally stopped, and five developers have submitted bids to develop the area for … gasp, private development and city life enrichment for the people who live here. Dan Gilbert wants to develop not only the jail fail property, but also nearby detention center properties for the purpose of building a 'mixed-use retail, entertainment, residential and office development that would serve as a gateway to downtown from the east.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetroit Jail Fail

FAA tells Colorado residents not to shoot at drones or risk fines, jail time

"The Federal Aviation Administration responded negatively on Friday to a proposal by the Colorado town of Deer Tail to license hunters to shoot down drones. In a statement, it warned that anyone shooting at either a manner or unmanned aircraft 'could result in criminal or civil liability,' according to the Associated Press. In the proposal, the town would issue licenses — for a fee — to shoot at drones with shotguns and anyone who turns in a shot-down drone belonging to the United States government would be eligible for a $100 bounty (parts could net successful hunters $25). The drones cost around $18 million a piece." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFAA tells Colorado residents not to shoot at drones or risk fines, jail time