investment

Former ‘Plunge Protection Team’ Official: Expect More Government Theft

"Look, we are in a world where every major industrialized government doesn’t have the funds to deliver on the promises they’ve made to the public. So they are going to reach for the public’s cash in different ways....Some of it is through higher taxes. Some of it is what I would call ‘expropriation,’ although taxation and even inflation are a version of that. I think what we saw in Cyprus, a really overt expropriation, we are going to see that come in lots of different forms (going forward). Some of it will be obvious like Cyprus. Some of it will be subtle like Portugal, but what’s sure is that it’s happening.” Continue reading →

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I’ve Never Been More Outraged at Washington

"If you think there’s been a loss of privacy and liberty since George W. Bush took office 13 years ago, brace yourself ― it’s about to get a lot worse. It’s what happens when governments start to fight for their survival. It happened in Rome. In Byzantium. In the Weimar Republic in Germany. And in countless other countries where governments became desperate for revenue and started losing the confidence of their citizens. They start invading upon citizens’ privacy and liberties. They start regulating everything in sight. And they start taxing just about anything that moves. Why is it about to get a whole lot worse for us Americans? There are several reasons." Continue reading →

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Margin Debt Hits Record High

"Investors ramped up their borrowing against brokerage accounts in April, taking margin debt to its highest-ever level. Investors borrowed $384.4 billion against their investments in April, a 1.3% gain from the previous month, and a 29% rise from the same month last year, according to the New York Stock Exchange. The rising level of debt is seen as a measure of investor confidence, as investors are more willing to take out debt against investments when shares are rising and they have more value in their portfolios to borrow against. The latest rise has been fueled by low interest rates and a 15% year-to-date stock-market rally." Continue reading →

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U.S. States Push to Bring Back Gold Standard

"More than a dozen states have introduced laws to recognize gold as legal currency. If the bill gets the governor's signature, Arizona will be the second state to legally consider gold as legal tender. Supporters of going back to the gold standard say the system is preferable to the Federal Reserve and Ben Bernanke's monetary policies. On the 80th anniversary since the Gold Standard in the U.S. was abolished, RT Correspondent Liz Wahl reports on the rush get back to gold." Continue reading →

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David Galland: Three Reasons the Case for Gold Remains Intact

"While it's nice to see gold bounce off recent lows and stage a rally of late, short-term price action is of little personal concern as I don't trade the physical metals: I own them as a long-term insurance against further currency depreciation. In that regard, however, it's worth periodically pondering whether the base case for holding gold – or any asset, for that matter – remains intact. Here are three quick observations on why I think the gold bull is still well intact." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin Grows Up

"According to the official count, 1200 enthusiasts, techie geeks, trendy investors, eccentric entrepreneurs, crypto hackers, small-government aficionados, and a few downright weirdos had descended on the Bay Area for America's first big bitcoin conference, which, for a $300 fee, promised participants a hard look at the not-so-hard future of money. In one way it was like a rich guy's LAN party, a chance to put a face to people who had known each other mainly through internet forums. But it also had the vibe of one of those night-long infomercials about the Next Big Thing." Continue reading →

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New $15 Million Bitcoin VC Fund Seeks Edge with Regulatory, Security Skills

"This month Liberty City Ventures launched the $15 million Digital Currency Fund, which seeks to invest in all types of firms in the Bitcoin ecosystem, including exchanges, banks, brokerages, investment services, insurance, infrastructure, and supporting products and services. It is the largest Bitcoin-related investment fund to date. Liberty City Ventures has been involved in the broader Bitcoin ecosystem through mining and currency investing for a number of years. The team is also very familiar with financial services and payment system startups, having recently retained former U.S. Treasury officials and regulators and computer engineers as advisors." Continue reading →

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Japan’s False Dawn

"Ever wonder why Main Street investors are always the last ones into a hot stock market … and the last ones to exit long after the investment cools, and usually with losses? I know the answer. The media. Professional investors never tell reporters they’re building positions in a particular stock, a particular industry or a particular market while they’re in the process. That would undermine the advantage they have. Reporters only notice the trend after the trend is apparent. And by then, the end is already near. Which is the case today with Japan." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Statistics show the fall of the US economy

"Good news is bad news. Bad news is good news. Up is down and backwards is forwards. Nothing is what it seems...or what it ought to be. If the economy really were doing better the Fed would have to follow through on its promise to 'normalize' monetary policy. That is, it would stop lending at zero interest rates and stop its $85 billion-per-month QE program. But those hocus-pocus programs - not a genuine recovery - are what keep stock prices going up. What this means is that there is no genuine recovery. It's all the smoke of ZIRP and the mirrors of QE. When the magic show ends...so does the illusion of recovery." Continue reading →

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Microsoft alum promises to ‘mint millionaires’ with future U.S.-Mexico marijuana trade

"His company, Diego Pellicer, plans to produce, market and distribute a high-potency strain of marijuana and establish itself as the industry’s first true 'brand.' Shivley and his business partners were even featured on the local news the night Washington’s marijuana legalization law took effect, in video featuring Shivley ringing a bell to celebrate 'the beginning of the end of prohibition.' Since trying marijuana for the first time just last year, Shively says that he’s been fully converted by the controversial herb. 'I’ve just fallen in love with the plant. Especially in the medical realm I’ve gone from entrepreneur to advocate to activist, seriously.'" Continue reading →

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