Asia

Worldwide loss of oil supply heightens Syria attack risk

"Libya's oil output has crashed to a near standstill over the past year as warlords and strikes paralyse the country, tightening the screws on global crude supply as the crisis in Syria comes to a head. There are still pockets of rising oil output, notably in the US where shale oil is rapidly reducing US dependence on energy imports. The geo-strategic effect of shale is double-edged for the US: it lowers the incentive for Washington to commit forces to the Middle East, but it also means the US is better able to handle the consequences of any oil spike. The biggest losers would be those emerging economies such as India and China that rely on fuel imports and operate inefficient industries." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWorldwide loss of oil supply heightens Syria attack risk

South Korea Toughens Up Rules On Overseas Accounts

"In a bid to reduce the incidence of tax evasion, the National Tax Service (NTS) is to impose heavier fines on those South Korean residents who are found to hold substantial unexplained financial accounts in overseas jurisdictions. Beginning next year, South Koreans with overseas financial accounts worth more than KRW1bn (USD896,000) will be obligated to report the assets, and to explain the sources of the funds. Failure to do so will result in a 10 percent fine, which will be even greater if the source is found to be the result of tax evasion. The NTS's plans are included within the Government's new proposals to raise additional tax revenue for its welfare programs by improving tax compliance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSouth Korea Toughens Up Rules On Overseas Accounts

America’s Social Recession: Five Years and Counting

"What happens to the social fabric of an advanced-economy nation after a decade or more of economic stagnation? For an answer, we can turn to Japan. The second-largest economy in the world has stagnated in just this fashion for almost twenty years, and the consequences for the 'lost generations' which have come of age in the 'lost decades' have been dire. In many ways, the social conventions of Japan are fraying or unraveling under the relentless pressure of an economy in seemingly permanent decline." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerica’s Social Recession: Five Years and Counting

India gold price at all-time high

"As we have discussed in previous articles, gold is synonymous with savings and security for many of India’s 1.24 billion people and recent events clearly show why. With capital leaving the country, investors fleeing the stock market and dumping Indian bonds, the only asset that has protected capital has been gold. In fact, holders of gold have prospered in an environment where there are few safe assets. The RBI has attempted to make gold ownership difficult and expensive for Indian buyers by restricting imports and increasing taxes, yet the chart below is evidence they have failed in their campaign." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia gold price at all-time high

India Bans All Gold Coin Imports, Increases Capital Controls

"Not satisfied with raising import tariffs on gold and putting in place jarring new FX flow capital controls, it seems the war on a weakening Rupee continues. We previously discussed the unintended consequence of such actions - including the rise of the gold smuggler - but the latest total ban on the importation of gold coins and medallions is edging India closer and closer to the Argentinian edge of Cristina Fernandez totalitarianism (after the initial ban on sales in June). In an effort to 'moderate outflows' of Rupee, the Indian central bank slashed the amount of money families can send out of the country per year to $75k and limited overseas investment to 100% of net worth (from 400%)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia Bans All Gold Coin Imports, Increases Capital Controls

The cost of being the world’s No.1 uranium producer

"Kazakhstan has steadily risen to become the world's No. 1 uranium producer, surpassing such nations as the United States, Canada, and Australia, which require more cleanup. Rather than employing miners to haul rock up to the surface, mine operators in Kazakhstan have embraced a newer – and generally cleaner – process by which a chemical solution is injected down a pipe to dissolve the underground uranium deposits and then is sucked back up to the surface. This in situ leach (ISL) method avoids making a mess above ground, but leaves toxic levels of heavy metals in the ground water." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe cost of being the world’s No.1 uranium producer

Gold flows from Britain to Switzerland surge in first half

"Britain's gold exports to Switzerland surged in the first half of this year, Australian bank Macquarie said on Monday, suggesting bullion being sold out of exchange-traded funds may be heading for Swiss refineries before being sold on in Asia. The UK exported 240 tonnes of gold to Switzerland in May alone, while its exports over the first half of this year totalled 797 tonnes. In contrast, Britain exported just 92 tonnes of bullion to Switzerland in the whole of last year. 'The UK does not have gold mines, so where has it all come from? The obvious source is the gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), most of which hold their gold holdings in London vaults, and which saw huge outflows in 1H 2013,' Macquarie said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGold flows from Britain to Switzerland surge in first half

In Bhutan, a stock trade a day keeps stress away [2009]

"The outside world is coming to Bhutan, slowly. Television arrived here in 1999 and there are now around 10,000 Internet connections in a country of under 700,000 people. Bhutan still has no traffic lights since the first one was withdrawn after protests from residents that it was unsightly. In the stock exchange's bare trading floor, computers sit on sparse wooden desks. There are no TVs on the walls, no shouts into telephones, no empty coffee cups or discarded paper. Peldon, dressed in traditional Bhutanese dress, typed in her one trade for the day before an 11 am deadline, when buy and sell orders are matched up by computer software that has not been updated since 1993." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIn Bhutan, a stock trade a day keeps stress away [2009]

India’s Sonia Gandhi seeks support for law to banish hunger

"Gandhi told MPs to send a message to the world that India was ready to eradicate hunger and malnutrition. 'The big message which will go out to the country and rest of the world is clear and concrete: that India is taking the responsibility of providing food security of all its citizens,' she said. 'Our goal for the foreseeable future must be to wipe out hunger and malnutrition from our country,' Italian-born Gandhi told lawmakers to applause in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament. Her government says the programme will add 230 billion rupees ($3.6 billion) annually to India’s existing 900-billion-rupee food subsidy bill." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia’s Sonia Gandhi seeks support for law to banish hunger

Jim Rogers: Need to own real assets in India

"Jim Rogers: Your politicians have been making mistakes for decades and every time you just push into the future, the problems get build up and get worse and worse and worse. There are plenty of smart Indians and there are plenty of smart people who could help India. Unfortunately, the government does not listen to them. But if I were doing it, I would abolish all exchange controls, I would abolish all capital controls, I would abolish all subsidies, I would abolish the absurd laws governing a restraining agriculture. I would cut spending so that there is no deficit spending." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJim Rogers: Need to own real assets in India