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Obamacare, Simplified

"The process for determining subsidy eligibility could require 21 different steps, involving at least five separate entities—the Social Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Internal Revenue Service, and state exchanges—and utilizing a process called the Income and Family Size Verification Project. Yet the Obama Administration believes spending more money will solve the problem. Just for the IRS implementation of Obamacare, the Administration requested $439.6 million for nearly 2,000 bureaucrats." Continue reading →

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25 Facts About The Fall Of Detroit That Will Leave You Shaking Your Head

"On Thursday, we learned that the decision had been made for the city of Detroit to formally file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. It was going to be the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States by far, but on Friday it was stopped at least temporarily by an Ingham County judge. How 'honoring the president' has anything to do with the bankruptcy of Detroit is a bit of a mystery, but what that judge has done is ensured that there will be months of legal wrangling ahead over Detroit's money woes. But one thing is for sure - the city of Detroit is flat broke. One of the greatest cities in the history of the world is just a shell of its former self." Continue reading →

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An empty building in Montreal may welcome the Bitcoin Embassy soon

"'Thanks to a generous person who will remain anonymous for the time being, we have been given a building that we hope to convert into a 'Bitcoin Embassy'. With three floors to do with as we please, we hope to organize the space to make it easy and fun for people from all over the province to come and learn about Bitcoin, as well provide an office space for Bitcoiners to come do in order to start Bitcoin related projects, so they can work closely with other Bitcoin entrepreneurs, to develop exciting projects that will utilize Bitcoin in new ways!', says the announcement." Continue reading →

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Why the Only Real Way to Buy Bitcoins Is on the Streets

"Buttonwood meetups started in New York a few months ago and fanned out to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Buttonwood is an allusion to the May 17, 1792 agreement, struck under a buttonwood tree at 68 Wall Street, that set down the rules for what became the New York Stock Exchange. The Yerba Buena Bitcoiners see themselves as the modern descendants of these 18th century traders. Like them, they conduct their business in the open and face-to-face. It’s a little unexpected: The world’s pre-eminent digital currency is most safely traded face-to-face. But the Bitcoin phenomenon is itself unexpected." Continue reading →

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High frequency trader fined more than $3m by regulators

"Financial regulators in the UK and US have fined a high frequency trader and his firm more than $3m (£1.95m) for manipulating commodities markets. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Michael Coscia $903,176, while two US regulators levied the rest on him and his company, Panther Energy. Between 6 September 2011 and 18 October 2011, US-based Mr Coscia used algorithmic programs that he developed to create false orders for oil and gas on trading exchanges in the US and UK. A computer program placed and quickly cancelled trades to manipulate the price of commodities, an illegal process known as 'layering' and 'spoofing'." Continue reading →

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Ron Paul: Bernanke’s Farewell Tour

"Last week Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered what may well be his last Congressional testimony before leaving the Federal Reserve in 2014. Unfortunately, his farewell performance was full of contradictory comments about the state of the economy and the effects of Fed policies on the market. One thing Bernanke inadvertently made clear was that the needs of Wall Street trump Main street, the economy, and sound money. Quantitative easing (QE) and effectively zero interest rates have created paper prosperity, but now the Fed must continuously assure Wall Street that the QE spigot will not be turned off." Continue reading →

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A Shuffle of Aluminum, but to Banks, Pure Gold

"The story of how this works begins in 27 industrial warehouses in the Detroit area where a Goldman subsidiary stores customers’ aluminum. Each day, a fleet of trucks shuffles 1,500-pound bars of the metal among the warehouses. Two or three times a day, sometimes more, the drivers make the same circuits. They load in one warehouse. They unload in another. And then they do it again. This industrial dance has been choreographed by Goldman to exploit pricing regulations set up by an overseas commodities exchange. The back-and-forth lengthens the storage time. And that adds many millions a year to the coffers of Goldman." Continue reading →

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The Gold Lease Story You Haven’t Heard

"A recent article in the Financial Times described a shortage of so-called 'leased' gold. According to the Times, the cost of borrowing gold 'has risen to the highest since the post-Lehman Bros. scramble for supplies as bullion markets adjust to a new era in which Western investor demand is less dominant.' The numbers are small, but the trends are intriguing. The one-month gold leasing rate rose from 0.12% in early June to 0.3% in early July. That’s a 150% rate rise in one month! It’s the highest gold lease rate since 2009, although still well below the peaks of previous eras." Continue reading →

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80% dip in India gold imports linked to rampant smuggling

"Customs officials recently apprehended a gold consignment at Delhi's IGI Airport coming from Dubai where the smuggler had converted gold bars into staple pins with silver coating. These pins were stapled on the boxes of TVs he was legally importing. In another case, DRI officials apprehended a consignment where capacitors of picture tubes of TV sets were made of gold. 'Unless you have specific information you can't catch such consignments. Who would break open a TV and look at the capacitor of its picture tube for smuggled gold. Though we have had good success, we believe a lot of consignments are finding their way into the country,' said the officer." Continue reading →

Continue Reading80% dip in India gold imports linked to rampant smuggling

India witnesses spurt in Gold smuggling

"Customs officials foiled the attempt by a passenger hailing from Koyilandy to smuggle 3.99 kg of gold concealed in his baggage. The gold, in the form of gold bars, was hidden in a metal box in the rear side of a TV. The gold bars were detected during the X-ray scan. Assistant commissioner Rohit Kumar led the search and seizure operation. Meanwhile, some of the airports have upgraded the scanners and x-ray machines to detect gold smuggling which has risen following the increase in import duty to 8% and differential in gold prices in India and abroad, market analysts said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia witnesses spurt in Gold smuggling