Marc Faber: Prepare for a Massive Market Meltdown

"Faber told CNBC that central bank stimulus was useless and the implosion of markets was the only way to restructure the financial system. 'I think the whole global financial system will have to be reset and it won’t be reset by central bankers but by imploding markets — either the currency [markets, debt market or stock markets,' he said. 'It will happen — it will happen one day and then we’ll be lucky if we still have 50 percent of the asset values that we have today.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingMarc Faber: Prepare for a Massive Market Meltdown

Directed History: A Fact of Life?

"Last Wednesday, just before Angela Merkel flew to London to tell David Cameron how desperately she wants Britain to stay in the EU, she told the European Parliament: 'Of course the European Commission will one day become a government, the European Council a second chamber and the European Parliament will have more powers – but for now we have to focus on the euro and give people a little more time to come along.' In other words, the EU is still on track to become precisely that 'government of Europe' that Jacques Delors was boasting about in 1989 (to which Mrs Thatcher famously responded 'No, no, no')." Continue reading

Continue ReadingDirected History: A Fact of Life?

Bank Of England To The Fed: “No Indication Should, Of Course, Be Given To The Bundesbank…”

"At least two central banks have conspired on at least one occasion to provide the Bundesbank with what both banks knew was 'bad delivery' gold amounting to 172 bars. The 'bad delivery' occured even as official gold refiners had warned that the quality of gold emanating from the US Assay Office was consistently below standard, and which both the BOE and the Fed were aware of. Instead of addressing the issue of declining gold quality and purity, the banks merely covered up the refiners' complaint." Continue reading

Continue ReadingBank Of England To The Fed: “No Indication Should, Of Course, Be Given To The Bundesbank…”

Bank Of England To The Fed: “No Indication Should, Of Course, Be Given To The Bundesbank…”

"At least two central banks have conspired on at least one occasion to provide the Bundesbank with what both banks knew was 'bad delivery' gold amounting to 172 bars. The 'bad delivery' occured even as official gold refiners had warned that the quality of gold emanating from the US Assay Office was consistently below standard, and which both the BOE and the Fed were aware of. Instead of addressing the issue of declining gold quality and purity, the banks merely covered up the refiners' complaint." Continue reading

Continue ReadingBank Of England To The Fed: “No Indication Should, Of Course, Be Given To The Bundesbank…”

Traders Getting Replaced By Machines

"Wall Street’s credit-derivatives traders, who before the financial crisis commanded $2 million of annual pay, are being replaced by machines as banks cut costs and heed new regulations. UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, fired its head of credit-default swaps index trading, David Gallers, last week, with no plan to fill the position, according to two people familiar with the matter. Instead, the bank replaced Gallers with computer algorithms that trade using mathematical models." Continue reading

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Fed’s Williams Says Bond Buying May Exceed $600 Billion

"Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said the central bank may buy more than $600 billion in bonds by extending its third round of quantitative easing well into next year. The Federal Open Market Committee last month affirmed its decision in September to buy $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities each month without specifying the total size or duration of the purchases. Williams, who holds a vote on policy this year, was among the first Fed officials to advocate open- ended bond buying." Continue reading

Continue ReadingFed’s Williams Says Bond Buying May Exceed $600 Billion

Karl Denninger: Watch for Market Dislocations

"The big picture is this: We have all lived for the last 30 years in a world where we believe that the price of certain things will always go up – houses being one of them, stocks being another. We have also lived in a time when an insane amount of monetary inflation has taken place. Most people look at the Consumer Price Index or some other government-provided thing, or they look at M1 OR M2, the growth of the money supply, for example. But what you really ought to be looking at for the growth of the monetary base is the total amount of money and credit that is in the system, and add those two together. When you do that, you find a very ugly picture." Continue reading

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Krugman’s “Success Story”: 700,000 Strong Protest in Argentina Against Inflationist Prez

"Demonstrators marched against rising inflation, crime and corruption under President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, whose popularity has plummeted since she was re-elected last year as the economy wobbles, reports the UK's Standard. In Buenos Aires, crowds filled the Plaza de Mayo in front of the presidential palace and chanted: 'We’re not afraid.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingKrugman’s “Success Story”: 700,000 Strong Protest in Argentina Against Inflationist Prez

Department Of Homeland Security To Scan Payment Cards At Borders And Airports

"Travelers leaving or entering the United States have long had to declare aggregated cash and other monetary instruments exceeding $10,000. Now, under a proposed amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act, FinCEN will also require travelers to declare the value of prepaid cards that they are carrying, known now as 'tangible prepaid access devices.' Enforceability falls to the Department of Homeland Security, which is already developing advanced handheld card readers that can ascertain whether a traveler is carrying a credit card, debit card, or prepaid card." Continue reading

Continue ReadingDepartment Of Homeland Security To Scan Payment Cards At Borders And Airports

Jim Rogers: Get Ready for Cheap Money ‘Run Amok’

"'If Obama wins, it’s going to be more inflation, more money printing, more debt, more spending.' Rogers told CNBC, saying he expected to sell U.S. government debt and buy precious metals, such as gold. 'It’s not going to be good for you me or anybody else. It looks to me like the money printing is going to run amok now, and spending is going to run amok now,' Rogers stated. 'I have to invest based on what’s happening and not what I would like.' Rogers said that he didn’t vote for either Romney or Obama, saying that 'they’re both evil as far as I’m concerned.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingJim Rogers: Get Ready for Cheap Money ‘Run Amok’