Overnight a historic event took place when China, the world's top gold consumer, launched a yuan-denominated gold benchmark as had been previewed here previously, in what Reuters dubbed "an ambitious step to exert more control over the pricing of the metal and boost its influence in the global bullion market." Considering the now officially-confirmed rigging of the gold and silver fix courtesy of last week's Deutsche Bank settlement, this is hardly bad news and may finally lead ... (more)
Donald Trump continued to streamroll over all conventional narratives when during a massive 96-minute interview with the Washington Post on Thursday which was released today, in which he talked candidly about his aggressive style of campaigning and offered new details about what he would do as president, he said that economic conditions are so perilous that the country is headed for a "very massive recession" and that "it's a terrible time right now... (more)
This is not about "equal rights," this is about extortion.
These fanatics could have gone anywhere to host their civil union, they instead chose to target and harass this one Inn owner and persecute him solely for his beliefs.
"Overall, I'd be rather cautious about investments in equities..." the editor and publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report told CNBC's "Fast Money" traders this week.
However, "over the last 12 to 24 months, many sectors have had huge declines,...And I see here, there are some opportunities."
"...US markets are over-valued."
Faber also added that "I still think the mining sector has embark... (more)
The basic idea of free trade -- that two people trading with each other do not benefit from a third party intervening with taxation -- is certainly solid in theory, but in the real world with competing nation states how does it work in practice?
The legacy recording industry just has a way with attacking any new technology service that helps it adapt, doesn't it? Whether it's ringtones or video games or YouTube or iTunes, the industry always takes the same basic approach: denounce the new offering as evil. Threaten and/or sue. Maybe take some equity as a way to "settle" the legal thr... (more)
The Bundesbank has announced plans to repatriate some of Germany's gold reserves from abroad. At least half of the country's gold would be transferred to Frankfurt by 2020, according to Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann.
Weidmann says 366 tons of gold worth €11.5 billion have been delivered to Frankfurt so far. "There are now about 1,400 tons or 41.5 percent of our gold reserves here," the banker said.
In October last year Germany’s gold reserves stood to arou... (more)
Whenever Marc Faber appears in the financial media, in this case Bloomberg TV, one can expect the usual fire and brimstone sermon of how micromanagement of the global economy by central bankers will lead to disastrous results, something which we agree with wholeheartedly and as of two months ago, so did virtually every billionaire at Davos. Recall that just at the end of January, the WSJ when reporting from Davos said that "The world's central banks can't save us anymore. That was the messag... (more)
Media analyst Mark Dice tries to sell a 100 ounce bar of .999 fine silver bullion for $25 outside of a coin shop in San Diego, California. HINT- It's worth WAY more than that, but does anyone want it? He even offers to trade the bar for a woman's bottle of water. Watch to find out what happened!
Central banks around the globe are pursuing strategies that will put all financial assets into government hands, Marc Faber explains to CNBC this morning, taking the opportunity to endorse Donald Trump's bid for the U.S. presidency. As CNBC reports, Faber expects that asset buying by global central banks will only increase, even though he ... (more)
Uncle Sam hauled in $1.248 trillion in taxes for the first five months of fiscal year 2016, costing each taxpayer $8,263, according a monthly Treasury Department statement. Even after adjusting for inflation, however, the government is still in the red.
The federal government collected more money between October 2015 and February 2016 than it did any other five months in history, said the Treasury statement, released on Thursday. The US fiscal year begins on October 1 and... (more)
Canada has used up all of its gold reserves. For the first time since 1935 the country is out of gold.
The volume of gold reserves in Canada has declined steadily over the past 50 years. In the mid-1960s, Canada’s gold reserves exceeded 1,000 tons. By 1985, half had been sold. In 2015, the reserves were down to three tons and now the country has no gold left.
According to Finance Department data, Canada sold 41,106 ounces of gold coins in December and another ... (more)
Barack Obama recently stated that anyone that is claiming that America's economy is in decline is "peddling fiction". Well, if the economy is in such great shape, why are major retailers shutting down hundreds of stores all over the country? Last month, I wrote about the "retail apocalypse" that is sweeping the nation, but since then it has gotten even worse. Closing st... (more)
Uh oh – here we go again. Do you remember the subprime mortgage meltdown during the last financial crisis? Well, now a similar thing is happening with auto loans. The auto industry has been doing better than many other areas of the economy in recent years, but this "mini-boom" was fueled in large part by customers with subprime credit. According to Equifax, an astounding 23.5 percent of all new auto loans were made to subprime borrowers in 2015. At this point, there is a total of somewhere ... (more)
"[Central Banks] think they are smarter than the market," exclaims billionaire investor Jim Rogers, "they are not!"
Warning CNN in this brief but disturbing reality check that "we are all going to get hurt by a global recession," Rogers takes aim at the incompetence of the "academic and bureaucrats who don't know what they are doing," raging that "this is going to be a disaster in the end."
After a series of stunning declines through the month of January and the first half of February, global financial markets seem to have found a patch of relative stability at least for the moment. But that does not mean that the crisis is over. On the contrary, all of the hard economic numbers that are coming in from around the world tell us that the global economy is coming apart at the seams. This is especially true when you look at global trade numbers. The amount of stuff that is being bo... (more)
Being behind on student loan payments in Texas could cost you more than your credit score. The US Marshals Service in Houston is arresting people who aren't paying their federal student debt.
Paul Aker said that seven deputy US Marshals showed up at his Houston home in combat gear.
"I was wondering, why are you here. I am home, I haven't done anything,” he told Fox 26, adding that he didn’t receive any notice about a $1,500 student loan he received in 1987. ... (more)
If the global economy is in fine shape, then why does all of the hard data tell us that global trade is absolutely collapsing? The Baltic Dry Index has fallen below 300 for the first time ever, and export numbers are way down for almost every major exporting nation on the entire planet. As you will see below, this includes China. The Chinese account for more global trade than anyone else, and so the fact that their imports and their export... (more)
Workers at the Carrier manufacturing plant in Indianapolis were caught on video booing and jeering after being told that the plant would be relocated to Monterrey, Mexico. A YouTube video showed Chris Nelson, the company's president, delivering the news on Wednesday. The plant employs roughly 1,400 people.