Alternative News

Fed Committee Member Warns Off ‘Feral Hogs’ in Markets

"Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve and a member of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, said in an interview with the Financial Times that while the big players in financial markets acted like 'feral hogs' by scenting any weakness in policy makers’ intent, he did not think anyone could break the US central bank. Commenting on the market turbulence that has followed Fed chair Ben Bernanke’s signal that the bank could begin tapering its $85bn monthly bond purchases before the end of this year, Fisher told the FT: 'My personal feeling is that you don’t walk up to a lion and flinch.'" Continue reading →

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Fed Chairman Bernanke Admits the Fed Has No Clue

"ROBIN HARDING. Mr. Chairman, you’ve always argued that it’s the stock of assets that the Federal Reserve holds which affects long-term interest rates. How do you reconcile that with a very sharp rise in real interest rates that we’ve seen in recent weeks? And do you think the market is correctly interpreting what you think is most likely to be the future path of the Federal Reserve’s stock of assets? Thank you. CHAIRMAN BERNANKE. Well, we were a little puzzled by that. It was bigger than can be explained I think by changes in the ultimate stock of asset purchases within reasonable ranges. So I think we have to conclude that there are other factors at work..." Continue reading →

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Bernanke Has Gone Rogue

"Bloomberg said it well: 'Federal Reserve officials intensified efforts to curb a growth-threatening rise in long-term interest rates, seeking to clarify comments by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke that triggered turmoil in global financial markets.' Clarify, my foot. They are seeking to rein in Bernanke, who on his own authority changed the targets. Dudley is the Vice Chairman of the FOMC. They are trying to put out the interest rate fire that Bernanke’s comments last week produced in the bond market and mortgage market — the targets of QE3. Bernanke has gone rogue. Dudley is trying to bring him under control. He is trying to persuade investors that QE3 is here to stay." Continue reading →

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Silver Demand Surges In India While Gold Premiums at $35/oz In China

"Attempts to prevent Indians from buying gold are contributing to them buying poor man’s gold, or silver. There has been a massive increase in silver demand in India in recent months and the government's meddling and controls in the gold market will likely led to even more demand for silver. While India imported 1,900 tonnes of silver in 2012, in the first five months of 2013 alone, imports have touched 2,400 tonnes. According to industry estimates, silver imports during the January-March quarter stood at 760 tonnes. Imports shot up 720 tonnes in April alone, and in May, they further swelled by 920 tonnes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSilver Demand Surges In India While Gold Premiums at $35/oz In China

How Much Are the NSA and CIA Front Running Markets?

"A 2008 paper by Arindrajit Dube, Ethan Kaplan, and Suresh Naidu (hat tip MS) found evidence that the CIA and/or members of the Executive branch either disclosed or acted on information about top-secret authorizations of coups. Stocks in 'highly exposed' firms rose more in the pre-coup authorization phase than they did when the coup was actually launched. Given the fact that there’s reason to believe that people in the intelligence with access to privileged information weren’t above leaking it to people who could take advantage of it, why should we expect things to be different now?" Continue reading →

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Richard Retting, ‘Father Of Red Light Cameras In America’, Becomes A Paid Camera Lobbyist

"Retting is being paid to oppose the measure introduced by Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian (D-San Fernando Valley) that would mandate one extra second of yellow warning time at intersections that use red light cameras. The policy has been in effect in Georgia since January 2009 where it has resulted in a massive reduction in red light violations. The prospect has photo ticketing firms like Redflex worried, because the majority of Georgia cities that once used red light cameras dumped them after the law took effect and revenue dried up. Lasercraft, then the number one photo ticketing firm in the state, went out of business." Continue reading →

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The Future of Building Your Own Guns

"As more ridiculous anti-gun laws continue to be passed, the future of DIY gun building and parts is looking better all the time. People should always be able to go to the gun store and purchase fully-assembled guns. But, doing this could subject you to invasive scrutiny from government, higher prices, higher taxes, or flat-out denial based on variety of fabricated reasons. On demand CNC parts and 3-D printing services will soon bring the art of building your own guns to a whole new level." Continue reading →

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Gold in them bits: Inside the world’s most mysterious Bitcoin mining company

"This is the first in a two-part series exploring Butterfly Labs and its lineup of dedicated Bitcoin-mining hardware. In part one, we look at the company and the experiences customers have had with it. In part two, to be published on June 29, we share our experiences running a Bitcoin miner for a couple weeks. Spoiler alert: we made money." Continue reading →

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Elite Body Sculpture Becomes World’s First Cosmetic Surgery Center to Accept Bitcoin

"Bitcoin, the world’s first peer-to-peer digital currency is now being accepted by cosmetic surgeon to the stars, Dr. Aaron Rollins, at his Elite Body Sculpture centers in Beverly Hills and Sacramento. Elite Body Sculpture is excited to be the very first cosmetic surgery center to accept this form of cutting edge payment. Bitcoin is the newest frontier in currency—decentralized and unbound by any country. This purely electronic system allows anyone to send a payment, anywhere in the world, for little or no cost. Secure and internationally accepted, Bitcoin is being rapidly adopted by pioneering users and businesses around the world." Continue reading →

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Survey: Quarter Of US Consumers Has Heard Of Bitcoin — And Majority Of Them Trust It

"When it comes to trusting Bitcoin, U.S. consumers also lag their Argentinian and British counterparts, but trust levels are still apparently running high among U.S. Bitcoin-aware. The survey found 62% of U.S. consumers who are Bitcoin-aware said they trust the currency, vs 73% of Bitcoin-aware Argentinians and 69% of Bitcoin-aware Brits. Greater awareness of Bitcoin appears to help foster greater levels of trust, as you might expect. Trust in Bitcoin is still relatively low when compared to trust in national currencies. Unsurprisingly, Argentinians also come out on top as most likely to trust Bitcoin more than their national currency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSurvey: Quarter Of US Consumers Has Heard Of Bitcoin — And Majority Of Them Trust It