money

Commodities: High metal prices can put lives in danger

"High prices for scrap metal has resulted in more than cultural vandalism such as the theft of a £500,000 Barbara Hepworth statute from Dulwich Park – it is putting innocent people's lives in danger. Last month, 80 operations, including eight for people with cancer, were cancelled at Llandough Hospital in Wales after 100m of cabling was stolen from a generator. Eight people have been killed trying to steal copper from electricity substations in the last year alone. The fact that there is a significant cash element makes metal theft an easy option for criminals – and it robs the Treasury of significant revenues." Continue reading →

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UN Attacks Small Gold Miners With New Mercury Treaty – Higher Prices Seen

"The United Nations is once again making it harder for poor people to earn a living. In this case it is the small gold miners that use mercury to help them sift for gold. While the UN provides the requisite disclaimers having to do with finding 'alternatives' to mercury for small miners, we wonder how much they'll cost. Additionally, we note this latest attack on people's ability to make a living excludes Big Pharma: Mercury will continue to find its way into vaccines because there are currently 'no mercury-free alternatives.' Amazing, isn't it, the concern that the UN shows for multi-billion dollar corporations?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUN Attacks Small Gold Miners With New Mercury Treaty – Higher Prices Seen

Who Was the Richest Person Ever?

"The fabulously rich triumvir Marcus Crassus’s fortune was estimated around the year 50 BCE at some 200 million sesterces (HS). Crassus’s annual income could be estimated at 12 million HS. Thus expressed, Crassus’s income was equal to the annual incomes of about 32,000 people, a crowd that would fill about half of the Colosseum. Let us fast-forward more closely to the present and apply the same reasoning to three American wealth icons: Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and Bill Gates." Continue reading →

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Peter Schiff: The Biggest Loser

"For the past few generations Switzerland has enjoyed some of the strongest economic fundamentals in the world. The country boasts a high savings rate, low taxes, strong exports, low debt-to-GDP, balanced government budgets, and prior to a few years ago one of the most responsible monetary policies in the world. These attributes made the Swiss franc one of the world's 'safe haven' currencies. Despite the fact that Switzerland was an island of economic health amidst a sea of problems, the reigning economic orthodoxy convinced Swiss leaders that their strong currency was a burden rather than a blessing." Continue reading →

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Central Bankers’ Nightmare: Goldman Sachs Might Go Bust

"The central bankers of the world literally cannot conceive of what they would do if Goldman Sachs ever did go belly-up. This would threaten the entire world economy. This is why governments and central banks are not about to allow Goldman Sachs to go belly-up, which is why Goldman Sachs indulges in high-risk, high-return speculation: managers know that the firm will be bailed out. This is called moral hazard, and it is basic to the modern economy." Continue reading →

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California Man Pays Off $13,000 Property Tax Bill in Coins, Dollar Bills

"A California man who failed to pay his property taxes for over five years has finally come up with the money — but he made local tax office workers count nearly $15,000 worth of change and dollar bills. Larry Gasper of Redding, Calif. brought in a wheelbarrow and two buckets worth of coins and cash to the Shasta County Tax Collector’s Office on Wednesday afternoon. Gasper rolled and collected the coins and bills until he had enough to clear his debt. If Gasper had not paid the bill, his property would have been auctioned off next month. He said he lost his tree business a couple of years ago." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia Man Pays Off $13,000 Property Tax Bill in Coins, Dollar Bills

Fed Officials Recognized Upcoming 2007 Crisis But Weren’t Worried

"Federal Reserve officials in August 2007 saw the beginnings of the crisis in subprime mortgages and concluded that the U.S. economy would be able to withstand it, even as some Fed members warned that it could trigger a downturn, transcripts from their 2007 meetings show. The transcripts show the committee's slow grasp of the enormity of contagion that was to spread throughout global markets as a result of billions of dollars in low-quality housing assets that had been securitized into bonds and sold to banks and investors worldwide. The FOMC focused on the economy's performance and showed reluctance to alter policy until August." Continue reading →

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“Currency Wars” heating up again! What it means for you

"Coordinated, easy monetary policy among the world’s central banks has been a key driver of asset values. That much is undeniable. I have highlighted multiple markets — from junk bonds to farmland to emerging market bonds — where bubblicious activity is rearing its ugly head again as a result, just as it did in previous periods of overly aggressive policy easing. We know this doesn’t end well. The only question is timing." Continue reading →

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Russia Says World Is Nearing Currency War as Europe Joins

"The alert from the country that chairs the Group of 20 came as Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker complained of a 'dangerously high' euro. The push for weaker currencies is being driven by a need to find new sources of economic growth as monetary and fiscal policies run out of room. The risk is as each country tries to boost exports, it hurts the competitiveness of other economies and provokes retaliation. The skirmish may lead to a clash of G-20 finance ministers and central banks when they meet next month in Moscow, three months after reiterating their 2009 pledge to 'refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies.'" Continue reading →

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Kyle Bass Tells ‘Nominal’ Stock Market Cheerleaders: Remember Zimbabwe

"Bass starts by reflecting on the ongoing (and escalating) money-printing (or balance sheet expansion as we noted here) as the driver of stock movements currently and would not be surprised to see them move higher still (given the ongoing printing expected). However, he caveats that nominally bullish statement with a critical point, 'Zimbabwe's stock market was the best performer this decade - but your entire portfolio now buys you 3 eggs' as purchasing power is crushed. Investors, he says, are 'too focused on nominal prices' as the rate of growth of the monetary base is destroying true wealth." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKyle Bass Tells ‘Nominal’ Stock Market Cheerleaders: Remember Zimbabwe