Monday, May 21, 2012

CrossTalk: Banking Mafia

May 21, 2012 by

The banks can't help themselves when it comes to taking on risky investments that endanger not only their livelihood if they fail, but the economy of the entire country. Do the words Lehman Brothers mean nothing to the crew directing JP Morgan? Just as the "99 per cent" start to recover (maybe) from the Great Recession, the banks are again playing roulette with the global economy's future. Is the recent JP Morgan case merely another one-off miscalculation or is it actually a good reflection of the world of banking to this day? If the banks need to be reformed, then how should it be done and by whom? CrossTalking with Andrew Schiff, Sam Bowman and Robert Gnaizda.

Europe woes loom over Australian Super Funds

Of course you could have just invested  your Super money via a SMSF into Gold for a 5.7% increase or Silver for a 7.4% increase this calendar year. Yet again lumps of shinny metal outperform the gurus of the Australian Super Fund industry. Data source

From SMH.com.au
By Madeleine Heffernan

Original source

Australians should brace themselves for the prospect of a loss in their super funds for the 2012 financial year, after fears over the European debt crisis once again knocked performances in May, according to projections by an industry researchers.

SuperRatings says the median balanced fund - the most common kind of fund in Austrlaia, with exposure to growth assets of between 60 and 76 per cent - edged up 0.3 per cent in the month of April, the fourth consecutive month of growth.

But the flaring up of the European debt crisis is tipped to send performance lower in May, with SuperRatings estimating losses of 3.2 per cent since the start of the month.

A fall of about 3 per cent fall in May would leave the median Australian balanced super option down about 5 per cent from its October 2007 high, it says.

For the three months to April 2012, the return for the median balanced option was 3.62 per cent, and for the financial year to April, 2.41 per cent, SuperRatings says.

Chairman Jeff Bresnahan says the markets' reactions to the ongoing European challenges over the next six weeks will be crucial to determining superannuation returns for the 2012 fiscal year.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/europe-woes-loom-over-super-funds-20120521-1z08l.html#ixzz1vUJTl9rp

Nassim Taleb on JP Morgan

China to be largest source of Gold demand in 2012

Marc Faber on Grexit and China

Aussie Dollar to plunge if Greece quits Euro

Of course if the little Aussie$ does take a dive it pushes up the price of Gold and Silver in Aussie$ - have you bought a few ounces of protection?

From SMH.com.au

THE Australian dollar could fall below US90¢ if Greece pulls out of the eurozone, the chief currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank warned as leaders from the G8 group of nations worked over the weekend to combat the region's financial turmoil.

The dollar fell to US98.24¢ on Friday, its lowest level in nearly six months, after Moody's downgraded 16 Spanish banks, and the Fitch Ratings agency reduced Greece's credit rating to CCC on fears that anti-austerity parties would win the country's new elections.

Currency strategists say if Greece pulls out of the eurozone the dollar could fall much further.
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Last week the S&P/ASX200 suffered its worst five-day return since September, shedding 5.6 per cent in value. The local bourse shed 110.9 points on Friday, or 2.67 per cent, to 4046.5 points, its biggest one-day loss since November.

Not helping the local market were increasing concerns that the Chinese economy is slowing appreciably. The big miners were among the stocks sold off the most last week.

In the US the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 73.1 points, to 12,369.4, and the S&P500 index losing 9.64 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 1295.22.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/dollar-to-plunge-if-greece-quits-euro-20120520-1yz10.html#ixzz1vRxHvxmj

John Embry and James Turk on why the Gold Bull Market isn't Over

May 20, 2012 by