economic Trends

Gold Bears Pull $20.8 Billion as BlackRock Says Buy

"Hedge funds increased bets on lower gold prices after investors pulled a record $20.8 billion from bullion funds this year while BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the world’s biggest money manager, said it’s still bullish. Speculators held 67,374 so-called short contracts on May 7, 6.4 percent more than a week earlier, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. The net-long position dropped 10 percent to 49,260 futures and options. BlackRock’s President Robert Kapito said May 9 he would still buy the metal, echoing billionaire John Paulson, who’s sticking with a bullish view even after losing 27 percent in his Gold Fund last month." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGold Bears Pull $20.8 Billion as BlackRock Says Buy

India Trade Deficit Deteriorates As Gold Imports Soar 138%

"India's economic boogeyman, the monthly trade deficit, continues to rear its ugly head, this and every time, driven be the country's insatiable desire for gold which is so powerful, the country took full advantage of the plunge in gold prices, and saw business imports of gold soar by 138% y/y in April, forcing the trade deficit to hit a 3 month high of $17.8 billion as more fiat left the country in return for bringing in more of the 'barbarous relic.' Gold imports more than doubled on both a Y/Y and sequential basis, with gold accounting for $7.5 billion, or 18% of total imports, compared to $3.1 billion in March." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia Trade Deficit Deteriorates As Gold Imports Soar 138%

Hundreds of Bangladesh textile plants shut indefinitely

"The textile industry’s main trade body said all operations at the nearby Ashulia industrial zone on the outskirts of Dhaka were being suspended until further notice. Shahidullah Azim, of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the decision was made 'to ensure the security of our factories'. Most of Bangladesh’s top garment factories are based at Ashulia and there has been 'virtually no work' there since the April 24 Rana Plaza tragedy, Azim said. Ashulia is home to around 500 factories which make clothing for a string of major Western retailers including Walmart, H&M, Tesco and Carrefour." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHundreds of Bangladesh textile plants shut indefinitely

Internet giant Amazon hit by first strike in Germany

"German employees of Amazon staged their first-ever walkouts on Tuesday as the US Internet retail giant was hit by a dispute over pay. Employees at two logistics centres in Bad Hersfeld and Leipzig launched a strike with the start of the early shift at 6:00 am (0400 GMT), the giant services sector union Verdi said. In Bad Hersfeld, strikers planned to march to a rally in the city centre at around 11:00 am (0900 GMT), while employees in Leipzig rallied in front of the warehouse. Verdi is demanding that Amazon’s 9,000 employees in Germany be paid according to a sector-wide wage deal for the retail and mail-order industries." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInternet giant Amazon hit by first strike in Germany

Editorial-Page Fiction at the New York Times

"They want us to believe that 'slashed' budgets and inadequate spending have caused 'worse health outcomes' in nations such as Greece, Italy, and Spain, particularly when compared to Germany, Iceland, and Spain. But if government spending is the key to good health, how do they explain away this OECD data, which shows that government is actually bigger in the three supposed 'austerity' nations than it is in the three so-called 'stimulus' countries." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEditorial-Page Fiction at the New York Times

Devastating News for ObamaCare Backers

"A new study finds that (as far as physical health is concerned) there is no difference between being in Medicaid and being uninsured. It’s hard to exaggerate what a blow this is to the people who gave us the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). Everything about ObamaCare—from the money we are spending to the damage being done to the labor market to the hassles the whole nation is going through—depends on one central idea: that enrolling people in Medicaid will give them access to better health." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDevastating News for ObamaCare Backers

Flying the Government Skies

"The sequester cuts about $637 million from the FAA, which is less than 4% of its $15.9 billion 2012 budget, and it limits the agency to what it spent in 2010. The White House decided to translate this 4% cut that it has the legal discretion to avoid into a 10% cut for air traffic controllers. Though controllers will be furloughed for one of every 10 working days, four of every 10 flights won't arrive on time. The FAA projects the delays will rob one out of every three travellers of up to four hours of their lives waiting at the major hubs. Congress passed a law in 2009 that makes such delays illegal -- if they are the responsibility of an airline." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlying the Government Skies

Phone Records of AP Journalists Seized by U.S. Government

"Federal investigators secretly seized two months of phone records for reporters and editors of The Associated Press in what the news organization said Monday was a 'serious interference with A.P.’s constitutional rights to gather and report the news.' The A.P. said that the Justice Department informed it on Friday that law enforcement officials had obtained the records for more than 20 telephone lines of its offices and journalists, including their home phones and cellphones. It said the records were seized without notice sometime this year. The organization was not told the reason for the seizure." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPhone Records of AP Journalists Seized by U.S. Government

Ohio Appeals Court Forbids Traffic Stop Over Unpaid Parking Tickets

"Since April last year, Dayton, Ohio has been trying to generate millions in additional revenue by towing vehicles said to have unpaid photo enforcement or parking tickets. The city's policy instructed police to pull over motorists and take their car away until the alleged debt was paid. To keep a steady stream of $85 citations, Redflex Traffic Systems of Australia operates ten red light cameras and ten speed cameras in Dayton. In a decision late last month, the state Court of Appeals said Chief Biehl and the city have been flouting the Constitution." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOhio Appeals Court Forbids Traffic Stop Over Unpaid Parking Tickets

Internet Explorer 0-day attacks on US nuke workers hit 9 other sites

"Attacks exploiting a previously unknown and currently unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser have spread to at least nine other websites, including those run by a big European company operating in the aerospace, defense, and security industries as well as non-profit groups and institutes, security researchers said. The revelation, from a blog post published Sunday by security firm AlienVault, means an attack campaign that surreptitiously installed malware on the computers of federal government workers involved in nuclear weapons research was broader and more ambitious than previously thought." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInternet Explorer 0-day attacks on US nuke workers hit 9 other sites