Mainstream News

Insider buying of gold stocks surges to multi-year highs

"Insiders are typically contrarian investors – buying shares when they perceive them to be undervalued. Right now, it appears many think the stocks are going for fire-sale prices. They are usually early, too. Historically, insider transactions often foreshadow market moves six- to 36-months in advance. While that may be quite a wait, it’s interesting to see insiders display this level of confidence in a sector that the broader investment community has been fleeing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInsider buying of gold stocks surges to multi-year highs

After Homicide Ruling, No Charges Against Cops Who Killed Disabled Man In A Movie Theater

"Less than five miles from the theater where a man with Down syndrome died at the hands of the law enforcement officials he idolized, a grand jury on Friday heard the details of the case and decided that no crime had been committed. Grand jury proceedings are secretive in Maryland, but Smith said that his office presented the jury with 17 witness statements and that three deputies involved in the death — Lt. Scott Jewell, Sgt. Rich Rochford and Deputy First Class James Harris — all testified." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAfter Homicide Ruling, No Charges Against Cops Who Killed Disabled Man In A Movie Theater

Idea is floated for a start-up colony anchored in the Pacific Ocean

"Two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, frustrated by the shortage of visas that keep some of the world's brightest science and engineering minds from building companies on dry land, have hatched a plan to build a start-up colony in the middle of the Pacific. They plan to park a cruise ship 12 nautical miles off the coast of Northern California in international waters. Foreign-born entrepreneurs would live and work on the ship, building start-ups within commuting distance of Silicon Valley. They wouldn't have to get work visas that are so hard to come by. They would just need business tourism visas that would let them ferry back and forth to Silicon Valley." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIdea is floated for a start-up colony anchored in the Pacific Ocean

Federal Reserve Monetary Policy To Target Wealth Inequality?

"The gap between the wealthy and the rest of America is a hot-button issue in Washington-especially in the White House and Congress. Recently, the Federal Reserve has also taken a greater interest in the topic. And some analysts are asking whether financial inequality in the U.S. might soon become part of the Fed's decision-making process. In a recent research note, Credit Suisse research analysts Neal Soss and Dana Saporta wrote that 'the issue of growing income and wealth disparity in the U.S. is gaining stature among Federal Reserve officials and may become the next important macroeconomic variable for monetary policy.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal Reserve Monetary Policy To Target Wealth Inequality?

Essex school bans triangular flapjacks after injury

"A school has banned triangular flapjacks after a pupil was injured by one. Dinner staff at Castle View school in Canvey Island, Essex, were told to cut the treat into squares or rectangles following the incident. It is understood that the triangular version was banned after one was thrown, hitting a boy in the face." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEssex school bans triangular flapjacks after injury

Poll shows huge support for Rand Paul’s filibuster stance on drone attacks

"When Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) filibustered for nearly 13 hours two weeks ago, he had the American people on his side. A new Gallup poll shows a huge majority of Americans — 79 percent — supported Paul’s position that drone strikes should not be used on American soil against Americans suspected of terrorism. Just 13 percent say it would be okay. Americans also don’t support drone strikes against any suspected terrorist on American soil (25 percent support, 66 percent oppose) or against U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism abroad (41 percent support, 52 percent support)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPoll shows huge support for Rand Paul’s filibuster stance on drone attacks

BRICS Nations Plan New Bank to Bypass World Bank, IMF

"The biggest emerging markets are uniting to tackle under-development and currency volatility with plans to set up institutions that encroach on the roles of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The leaders of the so-called BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia,India, China and South Africa -- are set to approve the establishment of a new development bank during an annual summit that began today in the eastern South African city of Durban, officials from all five nations say. They will also discuss pooling foreign-currency reserves to ward off balance of payments or currency crises." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBRICS Nations Plan New Bank to Bypass World Bank, IMF

Jittery Spaniards Seek Safety in Bitcoins

"Since Sunday, a trio of Bitcoin apps have soared upSpain’s download charts, coinciding with news that cash-strapped Cyprus was planning to raid domestic savings accounts to pay off a $13 billion bailout tab. Fearing contagion on the other end of the Mediterranean, some Spaniards are apparently looking for cover in an experimental digital currency. That Spaniards would consider converting a portion of their dwindling savings into a peer-to-peer currency vulnerable to wild price fluctuations and the odd thieving Trojan speaks volumes about banking confidence in some parts of Europe." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJittery Spaniards Seek Safety in Bitcoins

Saving Cyprus Means Nobody’s Bank Accounts Safe as Europe Breaks Taboo

"The island nation’s rescue sets precedents for the euro zone that may stick in the memory of depositors and bondholders alike as investors debate who will next fall victim to the debt crisis. Senior Cypriot bank bond holders will take losses and uninsured depositors will be largely wiped out. The message that stakeholders of all stripes can be coerced into helping a cash-strapped nation may make investors more skittish they’ll be targeted if Slovenia, Italy, Spain or even Greece again is next in line to need help. The risk is that bank runs and bond market selloffs become more likely the moment a country applies for a new rescue." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSaving Cyprus Means Nobody’s Bank Accounts Safe as Europe Breaks Taboo

Russians prepare to quit Cyprus; Northern European bankers descend

"There were the two Andorran bankers who called offering to open bank accounts for the Cyprus-based businessman in the Pyrenees, and then Mr Mikhin's Swiss bank, which announced it would be sending representatives to Limassol to poach Russian clients on Tuesday, the day Cyprus is due to reopen its banks for the first time in over a week. While last week saw dozens of well-heeled Russians and their representatives fly down to Cyprus to check on bank accounts and confer furiously with Cypriot officials, they are being closely followed by another wave of visitors: the European bankers who hope Cyprus' loss will be their gain." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRussians prepare to quit Cyprus; Northern European bankers descend