Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The G-7 Forex Intervention Is A Perfect Example Of How Manipulated The Global Currency Market Really Is
From The Economic Collapse:What do governments and central banks do when they don't like what is happening in the financial markets? They directly intervene and they manipulate the financial markets of course. On Friday, the central banks of the G-7 acted in concert to drive down the value of the surging yen.
So why did they do this?
Well, the fear was that a rising yen would hurt Japanese exports at a time when the economy of Japan needs all of the help that it can get. So, as central banks have been doing with increasing frequency, they directly intervened in the Forex market in order to bring about the result that they desired. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident.
The truth is that foreign governments, central banks and large financial institutions are constantly manipulating the Forex, precious metals and stock markets all over the globe. You see, in today's global economy the "stakes are so high" that the free market cannot be trusted......read on
Keiser Report: Build More Reactors, Not!
Silver lures Indians
NEW DELHI (Commodity Online):Silver is glittering in India these days. Only poorest among the poor in India could have thought of buying silver jewellery for the marriage of their daughters some years back. But these days, driven by the skyrocketing price of gold Indians—the rich, the middle class and the poor—are buying silver jewellery and investing in silver.
“Silver has emerged as a fashion statement as many people find difficult and unrealistic to buy gold jewellery at these high prices,” John Luckose, who runs a small-time gold and silver jewellery in Kochi, a popular gold buying destination in India, said.
Gold price is in the range of record Ra 20,000 per ten gram in India, the largest marketplace for gold in the world. Though Indians are buying gold coins and bars as investment options these days, people especially in the rural areas are opting for silver in place of gold.
Luckose said that silver jewellery has turned out to be a fashion statement these days. "People fear wearing gold jewellery these days as high gold price has led to several incidents of gold jewellery snatching on streets. Many customers coming to us say that they feel comfortable wearing silver jewellery," Luckose pointed out.
High gold price is changing the custom of wearing the yellow metal jewellery by Indians. People in India—know for their craze for wearing gold jewellery—are turning to silver jewellery thanks to the unaffordable price of gold.
In India, jewellery is revered and valued as a treasure from ages, be it any festival or a marriage, the celebrations are incomplete without gold and silver ornaments. Being the biggest consumers of gold, the industry is set to thrive for a very long time.
India is one of the fastest growing jewellery markets in the world and also the largest consumer of gold with over 700 tonnes consumption in 2010 which accounts for around 24 percent of world gold consumption, majority of it going into production of jewellery
Despite the zooming prices, demand for gold and investments continues to surge in India.
Gold and silver imports by India are set to touch record levels in 2011, according to early data compiled by the World Gold Council (WGC) and the Bombay Bullion Association.
According to WGC managing director for India and West Asia Ajay Mitra, India’s gold imports in 2010 was around 750-800 tonnes, a record in the last one decade.
Mitra says one reason for the soaring demand for gold and silver is that Indians have correctly understood the great investment sense in bullion. He says India will continue to shine as the largest marketplace for gold and silver in 2011.
There has been growing appetite for gold and silver investments in India in the last few years and jewellery shops are opening across the countryside and cities every day.
According to WGC, demand for gold bullion as an investment in India surged 73% last year.
“Gold and silver purchases this year will continue to remain strong in India and price is no longer a factor,” he said.
India is the largest consumer and importer of silver in the world. According to commodities brokerage Karvy Comtrade silver imports by India soared more than six times to $1.7 billion in the first-half of 2010.
India is the largest importer of the silver in the world and the country consumes more than 4000 tons of silver annually with the bulk of sale being made in rural areas. India has emerged as the third largest industrial user of silver in the world after US and Japan.
The vast majority of silver in India is used in production of ornamental items like jewelry, utensils and gift articles. Industrial use account for about 1300-1500 tons. In rural areas, silver is considered as hedge against inflation and thus provides an investment avenue.
Indians are known to spend substantial part of their income on purchase of silver, partly as an unavoidable expenditure for weddings and other family celebrations and partly as investment.
Demand for ornamental silver is affected by the festive season and marriage season in February, April, June and December as well as the monsoons between June and August.
While the demand has increased substantially, annual consumption is dictated both by monsoon, with its effect on the harvest, and the marriage season. In a significant move, the government has also liberalised the import of Gold and Silver. This will provide freedom to procure inputs by jewellery exporters and add to the cost competitiveness of the Indian jewellery exports.
The Indian demand for silver is very different from the global pattern of silver demand, where 65% of the demand comes for Jewellery, Ornaments and gift articles. Industrial demand forms a minor share. Indian demand plays a major role on the global silver demand.
Industrial demand for silver in India is in the range of 1300-1500 tons per annum, the bulk of which is in pharmaceuticals, plating, electrical, foils, jari, soldering and brazing.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
UK households face biggest income fall since 1970s as inflation bites
From the UK Telegraph:
Britons are suffering their biggest drop in living standards for 30 years, according to a new report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
The average household's "real" income – what is coming in after inflation is taken into account – will have fallen by 1.6pc over the three years to the end of 2011, the influential think-tank said ahead of Wednesday's Budget.
In contrast, over the previous half a century, real incomes rose an average 1.6pc a year, or 5pc every three-year period.
The study flags up the fragility of the UK's economy as it struggles out of the deepest recession since the 1930s.
The current decline marks the first drop in the average household's income over any three year period since the early 1990s, and represents the most dramatic fall seen since the start of the 1980s, the report said.
The squeeze signals a loss for the average household of £360 a year, said the IFS, a hit totalling £1,080 over the three-year period.
The IFS said the drivers of the fall in living standards were lower employment and people receiving less interest from their savings, as well as tax and benefit changes and stagnating real earnings – pay after the eroding effects of inflation are taken into account......read on
Of course if Britons had kept their savings in physical gold instead of fiat Pounds then their savings would have appreciated at 60%pa, averaged over the last 5 years ~ TOTM:
Britons are suffering their biggest drop in living standards for 30 years, according to a new report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
The average household's "real" income – what is coming in after inflation is taken into account – will have fallen by 1.6pc over the three years to the end of 2011, the influential think-tank said ahead of Wednesday's Budget.
In contrast, over the previous half a century, real incomes rose an average 1.6pc a year, or 5pc every three-year period.
The study flags up the fragility of the UK's economy as it struggles out of the deepest recession since the 1930s.
The current decline marks the first drop in the average household's income over any three year period since the early 1990s, and represents the most dramatic fall seen since the start of the 1980s, the report said.
The squeeze signals a loss for the average household of £360 a year, said the IFS, a hit totalling £1,080 over the three-year period.
The IFS said the drivers of the fall in living standards were lower employment and people receiving less interest from their savings, as well as tax and benefit changes and stagnating real earnings – pay after the eroding effects of inflation are taken into account......read on
Of course if Britons had kept their savings in physical gold instead of fiat Pounds then their savings would have appreciated at 60%pa, averaged over the last 5 years ~ TOTM:
Blackouts in Japan
Rolling Blackout Maps
TEPCO blackout region : Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Chiba, Kanagawa, Tokyo, Saitama, Yamanashi, Shizuoka
Tohoku-EPCO blackout region : Aomori, Akita, Yamagata, Niigta
See link to map
Days of inflationary rage come to the US:
From Zero Hedge:Days of inflationary rage come to the US:
Police say a San Antonio Taco Bell customer enraged that the seven burritos he ordered had gone up in price fired an air gun at an employee and later fired an assault rifle at officers before barricading himself into a hotel room. (did they refer to it as a Mexican Standoff? - TOTM)
San Antonio police Sgt. Chris Benavides says officers used tear gas Sunday night to force the man from the hotel room after a three-hour standoff. The man is charged with three counts of attempted capital murder. Authorities have not released his name.
Brian Tillerson, a manager at the Taco Bell/KFC restaurant, told the San Antonio Express-News that the man was angry the Beefy Crunch Burrito had gone from 99 cents to $1.49 each.
Police say the man fired on officers during a traffic stop after the restaurant incident.
This is the first example of a domestic shooting incident following the surge in food prices courtesy of just QE Lite and QE 2. Just like in Tunisia, following the self-immolation of a fruit vendor, it will not be the last. And when we finally get QE3, then all bets will be off.
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