Mainstream News

Another Amazing Fat Tuesday on Wall Street

"The Dow Jones Industrial average closed Tuesday at a new all-time high with a triple-digit surge of 123 points. And it’s fitting that the Dow hit a new high of 15,215 on a Tuesday because it’s the 18th straight Tuesday that the industrials have finished the day higher than where they began. This 18 for 18 streak started all the way back on January 15. The Dow since then is up more than 1700 points. And according to the statistical gurus at Bespoke Investment Group over 1400 of the 1700 plus points gained since then on the Dow have come on, you guessed it, Tuesday. That’s 83 percent of all the gains in stocks since then coming on this one day of the week." Continue reading →

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Gold’s dichotomy: Investment demand plunges, but consumers keep buying

"Today’s gold market is being defined by two trends: aggressive selling by investors in North America through exchange-traded funds, and aggressive buying by consumers in Asia. But for now, the ETF investors are overwhelming everyone else. Gold prices settled below US$1,390 an ounce on Thursday, and after five rough trading days in a row, they are approaching the lows that were reached during last month’s dramatic collapse. Chinese gold imports have been going through the roof. Data released last week showed that China imported 223.5 tonnes (or 7.9 million ounces) from Hong Kong in March, crushing the previous monthly record." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGold’s dichotomy: Investment demand plunges, but consumers keep buying

Bitcoin concept is gaining currency

"Bitcoin's growing popularity and a recent surge in value has caught the eye of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, including some who are convinced that Bitcoin could be the biggest thing on the Internet since, well, the Internet itself changed our lives two decades ago. This weekend, about 1,000 representatives of the growing Bitcoin economy will gather to discuss how far the currency has come, and what needs to happen next to fulfill what they see as its revolutionary promise. So far, Bitcoin has been used to buy games and virtual products from Internet merchants. Online exchanges have also sprouted up to trade the currency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin concept is gaining currency

Obama rejects calls for independent probe of IRS scandal

"President Obama brushed off calls for a special independent investigator into the IRS scandal that has engulfed his administration during a press conference this afternoon, saying the internal audit and criminal investigation headed by Attorney General Eric Holder are 'sufficient.' The press conference comes after Obama scrambled last night to fend off growing concerns about his administration following the news that the IRS targeted conservative groups. He also has been battling other controversies, including questions about the deadly attacks in Benghazi and the Department of Justice secretly obtaining Associated Press phone records." Continue reading →

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Anger over East German medical ‘human guinea pigs’

"Germany is confronting another chapter from its past — allegations that Western drug companies used more than 50,000 people in the former communist East as 'human guinea pigs' in 1980s medical trials. Several people were known to have died during trials, and some tests involved infants and delirious alcoholics, said the report on the agreements with the police state that collapsed with the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. Calls have grown for full transparency into the agreements overseen by the State Security (Stasi) secret police to earn the communist state tens of millions in hard-currency Deutschmarks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnger over East German medical ‘human guinea pigs’

Argentina: BMWs Gaining Bitcoin-Like Appeal as Inflation Hedge

"Car sales in Argentina increased by the most in almost two years last month as a ban on buying dollars made Argentines turn to vehicles to protect savings against the fastest inflation in the Western Hemisphere after Venezuela. Luxury models are becoming more attractive because they are imported at the official dollar rate, said Gonzalo Dalmasso, vehicle industry analyst at Buenos Aires research company Abeceb.com. Argentines with savings in dollars are able to purchase cars at half the cost by trading in the unofficial currency market." Continue reading →

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Rich Manhattan moms hire handicapped tour guides to cut lines at Disney World

"Some wealthy Manhattan moms have figured out a way to cut the long lines at Disney World — by hiring disabled people to pose as family members so they and their kids can jump to the front, The Post has learned. The 'black-market Disney guides' run $130 an hour, or $1,040 for an eight-hour day. 'My daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ — the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,' crowed one mom, who hired a disabled guide through Dream Tours Florida. Disney allows each guest who needs a wheelchair or motorized scooter to bring up to six guests to a 'more convenient entrance.'" Continue reading →

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Roadside manicure services boom in Nigeria

"A comfortable salon may be the ideal place to have a manicure-pedicure, but in Nigeria’s sprawling economic capital, the curb above a open sewer works just fine. Privately tailored suits delivered to your home or office are a luxury reserved for the wealthy in some cultures, but in Lagos, many in the middle class are also in regular contact with their personal clothier. And, while paying for your toe and fingernails to be soaked, scrubbed, trimmed and moisturised is considered a luxury in some parts of the world, in Lagos, 'it’s for everybody,' said Bashir Haruna, 32, a groom at a polo club who also hauls boxes at an appliance store for extra cash." Continue reading →

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Palestinians can now order Kentucky Fried Chicken via tunnel to Egypt

"Junk-food starved Gazans can now order KFC to go thanks to a new smuggling service which brings takeout from Egypt via a network of underground tunnels. It’s not exactly 'fast' — taking several hours to arrive, with the Palestinian delivery company behind it charging hefty prices to cover the cost of fuel and transport. 'Last chance to order for the Thursday 6:00 pm delivery is Wednesday night,' says the Yamama delivery firm on its Facebook page. Yamama then orders the meals, about 30 on a typical run, from the KFC outlet in the Egyptian city of El-Arish, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) away. There are no international fast food chains in Gaza." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPalestinians can now order Kentucky Fried Chicken via tunnel to Egypt

You can now spend bitcoins at your local mall

"Last week, bitcoin payment processor BitPay announced a deal with Gyft, a seven-month-old Google Ventures-backed software app that lets users buy and upload retail gift cards to Android-based smartphones. The partnership will allow customers to use bitcoins to buy gift cards for stores such as Gap, Lowe's, Sephora, GameStop, Burger King and over 200 other retailers. While those stores won't handle the bitcoin transactions themselves -- that's done by Gyft and BitPay -- it brings the number of locations where customers can effectively pay with bitcoins from around 8,000 nationwide to over 50,000, according to BitPay co-founder and CEO Tony Gallippi." Continue reading →

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