for life and liberty

Critics question IRS cash-reporting initiative targeting small businesses

"Small business owners across the country are receiving letters from the IRS questioning if they are reporting all of their cash income, in a new push by the agency some are saying could unnecessarily create fear in the small business community. The Wall Street Journal reports the initiative is an attempt to respond to what the agency feels is a widespread failure by small businesses to report all their cash sales. The agency says the letters are not the same as an audit, and it is simply seeking more tax information from the businesses. However, some lawmakers and business owners who received the letters say the initiative is alarming." Continue reading →

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A Recovery Where You’d Least Expect It

"It was three years ago that Peter first made the case for Dubai. The economy then was 'in tatters and investors’ dreams in shreds. Remember the cartoons of heavily indebted Arabs begging for money? It was not so far from the truth. Dubai real estate had fallen 60% from the peak, and the stock market was a disaster area.' Those are, of course, the times to pay attention. It was during such time that Peter advised building positions in Dubai stocks for the inevitable recovery. This year, patience paid off. Dubai’s stock market is up 63% for the year. But it is still 75% off its high and a compelling bargain on the numbers." Continue reading →

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Cash in on the Secret Sigma Strategy

"Sigma consists of three different phases of growth. It starts with a modest and shallow growth. After a certain point, growth accelerates rapidly. Then growth starts to decline and the cycle reaches a mature stage, where there is little to no growth. In short, the pattern is this sequence of three different speeds of growth: slow-fast-slow. Growth in earnings and sales also follow that same predictable pattern. The sales of products, for example, will eventually slow down and reach a plateau after potential buyers have bought what they wanted. The key to making money in the financial markets with Sigma is to find companies that are just beginning to experience rapid growth." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCash in on the Secret Sigma Strategy

Mining Finance Drops 56% In June Quarter

"Mining companies continue to struggle to raise capital as a new report shows mining finance dropped 56% in the second quarter. Falling metal prices, nervous banks and risk-averse investors are the main reasons behind the lack of capital, said IntierreRMG. The company said that second quarter finance figures totalled $2.28 billion compared to $5.16 billion in the first quarter of 2013 and $6.12 billion in last year’s comparative quarter. The report stated that producers were the hardest hit with the fall of almost 65% from the largest companies; they saw financing drop from $3.71 billion to $1.24 billion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMining Finance Drops 56% In June Quarter

World’s top 10 gold deposits

"Today, we present the world's Top 10 producing Gold Mines. Compiling them was not easy because there are a few ways they can be ranked. A top 10 list can by compiled by annual production, or by the size of proven and probable reserves, or more generally by their measured, indicated & inferred resources (which include reserves). We ultimately decided to rank them based on the overall size of gold resources to give the viewer a truer sense of the deposits size and potential. Please enjoy our Top 10 List as we begin with the smallest and work our way to Number #1." Continue reading →

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A Treasure Hunt Within a Treasure Hunt

"There are thousands of mineral exploration companies, most of which have nothing and will never discover anything. Most of the money these companies raise in the market will be poured into the ground, and even if management is honest and competent, the odds are long against it ever doing any good. This makes identifying companies likely to make a significant, economic discovery before they do so extremely difficult—and hence enormously profitable. But when an exploration company announces rich enough drill results, share prices go through the roof. Pennies turn into dollars. Dollars turn into fortunes." Continue reading →

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Old Assets Revitalized by the Energy Boom

"The 'shale gale' energy boom is pumping billions of new dollars into otherwise old, worn-out economies. The results are stunning. For example, near Youngstown, the French company Vallourec has built a new plant to process oilfield tubular goods. The gigantic facility cost over $650 million to build. Now it cranks out 350,000 tons of steel oil pipe and related products per year. Even more impressive, this is no dirty, grimy old industrial shed, like those that formerly dotted the region for much of the past century. No, this Vallourec site is almost a 'clean room' environment, filled with high-tech jobs that pay impressive wages." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOld Assets Revitalized by the Energy Boom

300 Tons a Day of Radioactive Water From Fukushima Pours Into Ocean

"Officials in Japan hid the fact that the Fukushima nuclear plant has been pouring hundreds of tons of nuclear waste water into the ocean every day and that a containment barrier has been breached. There is no credibility from TEPCO or the Japanese government on the extent of the real disaster, its effects, the ultimate cleanup costs, or how many years fish in the area will be contaminated. In addition, contaminated fish may turn up anywhere within their normal swimming range with obvious implications." Continue reading →

Continue Reading300 Tons a Day of Radioactive Water From Fukushima Pours Into Ocean

Fishermen still fighting Fukushima’s aftermath

"The environment ministry recently announcement that 300 tonnes of contaminated groundwater from Fukushima Daiichi is still seeping over or around barriers into the Pacific every day, more than two years after it was struck by a tsunami in March 2011. Government officials said they suspected the leaks had started soon after the accident, which resulted in a nuclear meltdown. Unable to make a living from a sea poisoned by radiation, the town’s 70 fishermen earn money clearing tsunami debris; the only fish they catch are taken not to market, but to makeshift labs where they are tested for radiation from the plant, located just 12 miles to the north." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFishermen still fighting Fukushima’s aftermath

Greek police report riot at immigrant detention camp

"Riot police were dispatched on Saturday to put down a riot at Greece’s main migrant detention camp where detainees hurled stones at officers and set fire to their living quarters, authorities said. Television footage showed fires blazing at the Amygdaleza detention camp outside Athens, where some 1,200 mainly Asian migrants are kept under police guard. Amygdaleza is one of several detention camps set up since last year to assist in the repatriation of thousands of undocumented migrants. The police spokesman said rioting began when the detainees were told that their maximum stay in the camp would be extended to 18 months from a year previously." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGreek police report riot at immigrant detention camp