Counting the Cost - The giants of commodity trading

Sep 29, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish

 

From Switzerland to the world - they are the giants of commodity trading, but can they shake off the tag of 'modern day slave masters'? This week on Counting the Cost we examine the commodities industry - the very essentials, the raw materials and resources that we simply cannot live without. These are traded all over the globe - everything from oil to copper, sugar to precious minerals. A country normally associated with great lakes, political neutrality and the Red Cross can now be associated with the global commodities industry as Switzerland is home to some of the biggest commodities companies in the world. But why has that one region out surpassed the others in the commodities business? And is it possible to regulate the globalised, multi-billion dollar companies which operate within it?

Feudal Lords Rule Us!

Sep 29, 2012 by TheAlexJonesChannel

Alex explores the delusional sheep mentality and naivety of Obama fanatics as they gush over the handing out of free phones. He'll also break down exactly why the TSA is forced to lie about their policies, defending their "freeze" commands as preceded by notification, when in fact they are not. Alex also covers the meaning behind Netanyahu's cartoon-like drawing of what he thinks is the time table for intervention in Iran's nuclear program.

http://www.infowars.com/
http://www.prisonplanet.tv/
http://twitter.com/#!/RealAlexJones
http://www.facebook.com/AlexanderEmerikJones

On the Edge - Derivatives complex & international financial grid

Sep 29, 2012 by PressTVGlobalNews

In this edition of the show Max interviews Rob Kirby from KirbyAnalytics.com. He talks about the role of derivatives in creating and sustaining the ongoing financial crisis. Rob Kirby received his post secondary education at York University [Economics] in Toronto. Upon completion he worked on an institutional trading desk for most of the 1980s and right up until 1996. Mr. Kirby began writing in 1997 and was involved in a number of entrepreneurial pursuits. In 2002, he went to work for Investor's Group, the largest Mutual Fund Company in Canada until September '04 when he resigned to write about the markets.

The CFTC Exposed - Office Series 19

Sep 29, 2012 by BrotherJohnF

Keiser Report: Defraudsters

Sep 29, 2012 by RussiaToday

In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the audacious finance oligarchies and high speed stock manipulators OOPSING again by front running clients (oops!) and manipulating market prices (oops!). And, once again, the US regulators have just 'aw shucks' fined them a small portion of their ill-gotten gains. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Will Carless of VoiceOfSanDiego.com about the billion dollar cost of repaying back a $105 million dollar loan to Poway School District in San Diego.

Israeli leaders meet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in NYC

Cramer: A Different Way to Play Gold

Fri 28 Sep 12 | 06:25 PM ET

Analysts Bullish on Silver

Silver Streak Not Done Yet

Sep 28, 2012 by silver investor.com

http://Silver-Investor.com

Netanyahu's ACME Rocket

Sep 28, 2012 by breakingtheset

Abby Martin talks about the UNGA with RT Correspondent, Anastasia Churkina.

Netanyahu U.N. Speech - 'Clear Red Line' For Iran

Sep 28, 2012 by TheYoungTurks

Wealth Track with James Grant

Sep 28, 2012 by WealthTrack
 

A rare interview with an influential Financial Thought Leader and financial historian. James Grant, founder and editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, will discuss why the Federal Reserve's policies of zero interest rates and massive purchases of U.S. Treasury and mortgage-backed bonds are dangerous to the economy and damaging to savers.
WealthTrack Episode 914, 09-28-12

Spanish bank stress tests move Madrid closer to bailout

Sep 28, 2012 by Euronews http://www.euronews.com/

An independent audit of Spanish banks has found the country's troubled lenders would need 59.3 billion euros to stay solvent if there were a serious economic downturn in the country.

Capital Account - Heidi Moore on Market Mysticism

Sep 28, 2012 by CapitalAccount

Weekend Chillout - We are all Brothers in Arms

With Israel and the US banging the war drums this week to attack Iran I thought it was timely to remember we are all brothers in arms against the global elite, boarders and labels be damned.

CrossTalk: BiBi's Bomb

Sep 28, 2012 by RussiaToday

Is there a fog of war? After years of threat, will Israel attack Iran? And is Iran really a danger to Israel? What role will the US play in this? Is Netanyahu terrified of Obama? And how will the US-Israeli relations evolve? CrossTalking with Miko Peled and Gideon Levy.

Drowning in Sorrow

I just received an offer for a transfer of management of vestial super funds from an employer super fund to the oft advertised Australian Super. The attached page caught my eye, I am very impressed with Australian Super's stellar performance compared to the industry benchmark. I am especially  impressed by the significant out performance of their Balanced option over 5 years of 0.02% pa compared to the industry benchmark of -0.2% pa.

I am really kicking myself when I think back to when I rolled out of my employer's Balanced option 5+ years ago, then stupidly invested almost of all of the funds (against all my friends and family advice) in precious metals and only managed a woeful 40% pa avg 5 year return. I so wish I had the foresight at that time to switch to Australian Super and have the professional assistance and management of one of Australia's the top ten best-performing super funds. What I fool I have been! .....makes me want to drown my sorrows in a bottle of Grange :'-(

David Icke: Quantitative Easing Depression

Sep 27, 2012 by TheAlexJonesChannel

Alex welcomes British Author and renowned New World Order investigator David Icke to expose the large strides towards bringing about total financial collapse and public enslavement.
http://www.davidicke.com/

US Calls Julian Assange 'Enemy Of State'

Sep 27, 2012 by TheYoungTurks

"The US military has designated Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies of the United States - the same legal category as the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban insurgency. Declassified US Air Force counter-intelligence documents, released under US freedom-of-information laws, reveal that military personnel who contact WikiLeaks or WikiLeaks supporters may be at risk of being charged with "communicating with the enemy", a military crime that carries a maximum sentence of death. The documents, some originally classified "Secret/NoForn" - not releasable to non-US nationals - record a probe by the air force's Office of Special Investigations into a cyber systems analyst based in Britain who allegedly expressed support for WikiLeaks and attended pro-Assange demonstrations in London...".* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

Keiser Report: Boom & Bust Vicious Cycle

Sep 27, 2012 by RussiaToday

In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss punk rock 'Tall Paul' giving the two finger salute to Ben Bernanke's QE3 and gold adjusting for zero growth, yield, velocity and confidence. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Detlev Schlichter of PaperMoneyCollapse.com about quantitative easing to infinity, Central Banking 'devils' and the future for the gold standard.

Capital Account - David Greenberg on High-Frequency Trading

Sep 27, 2012 by CapitalAccount

SOLA 2.1 You Are A Slave

Sep 27, 2012 by TruthNeverTold
 

For the Full, Commercial Free, 10 Modules of the Sons of Liberty Academy plus hundreds of supporting documents and videos go to http://SonsOfLibertyAcademy.com

Breaking The Set - Anthrax Attacks Inside Job, US State of Surveillance, Europe Protests

Sep 27, 2012 by breakingtheset

Abby Martin breaks the set about protests in Europe, NSA surveillance and the anthrax attacks.
LIKE Breaking The Set @ http://fb.me/BreakingTheSet
FOLLOW Abby Martin @ http://twitter.com/AbbyMartin

NYC Mayor: US, Israel in Agreement Over Iran

Sep 27, 2012 by AssociatedPress

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the steps of Gracie Mansion Thursday and said the U.S. and Israel are in complete agreement that Iran must not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Stansberry Radio Interviews Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

Sep 27, 2012 by StansberryMedia

'Nuclear Iran same as nuclear-armed al-Qaeda': Netanyahu full UN 2012 speach

Sep 27, 2012 by RussiaToday

Iran might have enough enriched uranium to build nuclear weapon by next summer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at the UN General Assembly. He urged the gathering to draw a "red line" for the Iranian nuclear program.

Paul Craig Roberts: America, The Next Banana Republic

A must watch interview with Paul Craig Roberts whom I consider the greatest living American.

Sep 26, 2012 by TheAlexJonesChannel

Alex also welcomes American economist and Infowars contributing writer Paul Craig Roberts to discuss the impact of Eurpoean austerity measures on world markets amidst ongoing riots.
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/

Fresh anti-austerity protests in Athens

Sep 26, 2012 by PressTVGlobalNews

Greece's tremulous pro-austerity coalition government faced another challenge this week as the country's main labour unions staged the first general nationwide strike since the June elections. A wave of strikes has erupted in Greece this month against the ongoing finalization of the latest €12 billion package of budgetary restrictions.

Press TV's Constantine Venizelos reports from Athens.

Brother JohnF - Silver Update: Austerity Riots

Sep 26, 2012 by BrotherJohnF

China buys North Korean Gold Reserves

From GoldCore.com

Original source

The IMF reported that various countries continued diversifying into gold in July, some significantly.

South Korean gold reserves rose a sharp 16 tonnes for a 30% increase in total gold reserves.

Paraguay became the latest central bank to begin diversifying into gold. Their gold reserves rose sharply - from a few thousand ounces to over 8 tonnes.

Desperate North Korea has exported more than 2 tons to gold hungry China over the past year to earn US $100 million. Even in tough times during the Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il regimes, North Korea refused to let go of its precious gold reserves.

Chosun media reports that “a mysterious agency known as Room 39, which manages Kim Jong-un's money, and the People's Armed Forces are spearheading exports of gold, said an informed source in China. "They are selling not only gold that was produced since December last year, when Kim Jong-un came to power, but also gold from the country's reserves and bought from its people."

This is a sign of the desperation of the North Korean regime and also signals China’s intent to vastly increase the People’s Bank of China’s gold reserves.

Data on the International Monetary Fund’s website shows Kazakhstan’s assets rose 1.4 tons to 104.4 tons last month, Turkey’s gold reserves gained 6.6 tons to 295.5 tons, Ukraine’s rose 1.9 tons to 34.8 tons.

While the Czech Republic’s bullion assets fell 0.4 ton to 11.8 tons, data shows.

Nations bought 254.2 tons in the first half of 2012 and may add close to 500 tons for the year as a whole, the London-based World Gold Council said earlier this month.

The trend among central banks to diversify their foreign exchange reserve holdings with gold continues.

This trend is very sustainable considering the still tiny allocations creditor nation’s banks, with massive foreign exchange reserves, have to gold.

Paraguay is a new central bank gold buyer – expect many more central banks to begin increasing their gold reserves in the coming months.

Read more

Max Keiser and The artist taxi driver

Sorry for the Max overload but this is surreal. I have been occasionally watching The Artist taxi driver videos on the blog Zombie Bank Death Squad so to see him with Max Keiser was a hoot.

Sep 26, 2012 by chunkymark

Max Keiser - Bitcoin 2012 London

Sep 25, 2012 by QueuePolitely

Max Keiser speaks "On Corporations and the American School of Economics", at London Bitcoin Conference 2012.

Capital Account - Matina Stevis on Human and Capital Flight into and out of Europe

If you would like to follow Matina her twitter handle is: @MatinaStevis
I have been following her for a few months and her tweets are always informative.

Sep 26, 2012 by CapitalAccount

The End of Independent Wealth

Sep 26, 2012 by TheAlexJonesChannel

Alex covers the latest news items serving as examples of how America has become a giant nanny state, the latest issue of New Scientist boasting Geo-engineering on its cover, Infowars' launch of a grassroots campaign to Opt Out and Film the TSA this Thanksgiving, the riots over austerity taking place in Greece and Spain, and more.

Eric Sprott - Finding Value in Zero Rate World

Always nice to see one of my favourite precious metals commentators and investors happy :-)

Squawk Box: With interest rates near zero, where can you find value in a low to no-yield environment? Joining us now is Eric Sprott, CEO and CIO at Sprott Asset Management. A long/short equity strategy with $10 billion in assets, over 80% of the fund is allocated in precious metals, is there anyone that liked QE3 more than you, Eric? 

Eric Sprott: I don't think anybody has quite the concentration that we have Joe, but we're happy to have it, by the way. Happy to have the concentration. Happy to have QE3.

Takeaway quote from Eric:

I never would've imagined when I got involved in gold I would have the benefit of irresponsible money printing, bank runs that are ongoing as we witnessed in the various countries in Europe. Those two ingredients along with the QE3 which has been announced I think will be a huge tail wind for gold and other precious metals to go higher.

Bank of Japan Is Ready for Monetary Stimulus Again

From CNBC.com

Original source

The Bank of Japan is ready to expand monetary stimulus again even after this month's action and may ponder new steps if necessary, board member Takehiro Sato said, warning of global uncertainties that could push the economy into recession.


In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Sato also said Japan may not achieve the BOJ's 1 percent inflation target as early as the central bank had hoped, issuing the strongest warning to date by a policymaker of risks to the country's recovery.

"We won't hesitate in taking additional monetary easing steps if we feel that risks have heightened enough and that the economy may undershoot our forecasts even after this month's monetary easing," he said on Wednesday.

Read on

Lloyd's of London Chairman bearish on euro project

Sep 26, 2012 by ReutersVideo

Sept. 26 - As Lloyd's of London swings back into profit, chairman John Nelson shares his thoughts on the likelihood of a eurozone break-up and his frustration with delays in Solvency II.

Assange to UN: US is trying to build a 'regime of secrecy'

Sep 26, 2012 by RTAmerica

On Wednesday night, Julian Assange, the creator of Wikileaks, addressed the United Nations General Assembly in an event called "Strengthening Human Rights" from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has been trapped for several months. The event that was hosted by the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino and gave Assange a platform to draw attention to his case and he emphasized the importance of revealing the truth. Here is that speech.

We love Americans but hate America

Blog views by top 10 countries for the last month 

This blogger is based in Australia and not surprisingly most of this blog's readers are Australian based, but this post is a plea to my US readers.

George Bush was wrong when he said "They hate us because of our Freedoms". Actually we love you because of your freedoms, your innovation, your scientific achievements. Although our love of you is eroding as your freedoms are eroded through the Patriot Act, NDAA, DHS and TSA; and your declining technical standards, such has having to hitch a ride with the Russians to get to the International Space Station and asking China to help build you a high speed rail system.

Whilst we still love Americans, the world is coming to hate America, and the main reason is that for the last 100 years you keep electing and having in positions of influence arrogant pricks!

What is it with Americans in positions of power that they cannot pick up a history book or an atlas?

Not that Australia is perfect, after all we had a self important midget that banned our guns and a bogan who banned our carbon.

The following video is a classic case in point. Patrick Clawson of the influential neo-con Washington Institute for Near East Studies is suggesting that the US should provoke a war with Iran. He mentions several wars that America has involved itself with after a provocative act has occurred.

Unfortunately he is either too ignorant or too devious to mention that all the provocative acts mentioned either didn't happen or were orchestrated by America itself.

Lets list them as mentioned by Patrick:

WWII - Pearl Harbour. Historians have determined that President Roosevelt had prior warning of the attack from British and Dutch signals intelligence and in response moved the most valuable assets out to sea leaving Hawaii lightly defended.

WWI - The sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-boat brought America into WWI after the loss of 1,200 lives. But he doesn't mention that the German government took out newspaper ads warning people not to travel on the Lusitania as they considered it a legitimate target, as German spies had learnt that it would be carrying munitions to the UK.

Vietnam War - Gulf of Tonkin in which the US claimed North Vietnam had attacked a US destroyer which subsequently proved to be false.

War with Spain - The explosion of the USS Maine battleship in the Havana harbour which was blamed on Spain at the time, but later research points to accident or deliberate US action.

US Civil war - no need to explain this one, Patrick actually explains it for us.

War with Iran - Admits that the US in a covert war with the Iranians and could get nastier at that.

New Zealand launches spy probe into Megaupload founder's arrest

Sep 26, 2012 by Euronews http://www.euronews.com/

New Zealand has launched a probe into allegations of "unlawful spying" by government agents which led to the arrest of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom.

The 38-year-old is fighting extradition to the US on internet piracy charges.

In June, a court ruled that search warrants used in the raid on his home in Auckland were illegal.

The FBI alleges that the German national, who is also known as Kim Schmitz, led a group that netted more 125 million euros by copying and distributing copyright content.

'Сurrent world order based on injustice': Ahmadinejad full 2012 UN speech

Sep 26, 2012 by RussiaToday

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's eighth address to the UN General Assembly was defined mostly by its absences: The Syrian conflict and an infamous anti-Muslim film weren't mentioned, and the US delegation wasn't present in the chamber - READ MORE http://on.rt.com/v7lctz

Report - Drone Strikes Kill Numerous Civilians

Sep 25, 2012 by TheYoungTurks

"A new report on targeted killing by C.I.A. drones in Pakistan's tribal area concludes that the strikes have killed more civilians than American officials have acknowledged, alienated Pakistani public opinion and set a dangerous precedent under international law. The report, by human rights researchers at the Stanford and New York University law schools, urges the United States to "conduct a fundamental re-evaluation of current targeted killing practices" including "short- and long-term costs and benefits." It also calls on the administration to make public still-secret legal opinions justifying the strikes...".* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

Jim Rickards on Currency Wars

Fox Buisness (Sep 25, 2012): James Rickards, “Currency Wars” author, on the Fed’s monetary policy and why he believes we are in a currency war today. Jim discusses the strong Australian Dollar and that those holding Aussie Dollars should be buying gold whilst the AUD remains strong. Video link

Jim Rickards will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Gold Symposium in Sydney, Australia 22-23 October 2012. For the list of other speakers and Symposium details go here

Capital Account - Peter Tchir on the Dangers and Pitfalls of a World Reaching for Holy Grail Yield!

Sep 25, 2012 by CapitalAccount

SOLA 1.7 The Awakening

Sep 25, 2012 by TruthNeverTold

For the Full, Commercial Free, 10 Modules of the Sons of Liberty Academy plus hundreds of supporting documents and videos go to http://SonsOfLibertyAcademy.com

Gold is not just a lunatic fringe investment

I was so happy being part of the Gold buying "Lunatic Fringe", oh well I will just have to be happy being part of the Silver buying Loonies with our 16% (AUD) or 24% (USD)  pa returns.

From CNNMoney.com

Original source

Gold is often derisively referred to as an investment that only kooks who are preparing for the end of the world in a bunker can love. But it might be time to stop with all the gold bashing.

Sure, plans to return to the gold standard may still seem a bit extreme. (Sorry Ron Paul and your loyal minions!) Yet if you look at the reason why gold has done so well lately, it seems logical to expect the price of the yellow metal could continue to climb, blow past its current all-time high (not adjusted for inflation) of about $1,923 an ounce and surpass $2,000 in the process.

Gold is hovering around $1,770 right now. The price has risen more than 12% since the beginning of the year and is up 6.5% in the past month alone. Gold's rally first started to pick up steam a few weeks ago, on the back of the European Central Bank's plan to buy up bonds of troubled sovereign nations.

The Federal Reserve followed the ECB's lead and launched QE3 just a week later. Central banks in Japan and England are also in easing mode and with China's economy slowing, it would not be a huge shock if the People's Bank of China were to soon announce its third interest rate cut of the year.

Add all that up and it's very bullish for gold. Central banks printing money like there's no tomorrow ultimately should lead to lower values for the currencies of countries in easing cycles, as well as inflation. And inflation is gold's best friend.

Read on

Why a 4% return is better than 40% - Yeah right!

Oh bugger, I have gone and invested 90% of my retirement savings in precious metals and have achieved a 5 year annualised return of 40%. What I should have done according to CNN Money was invest in a diversified portfolio of international/domestic shares and government bonds managed by professionals and been extremely happy with a 5 year annualised return of 4%. I am so disappointed that I did not hear this valuable advice earlier :-(

Where are Asia's Millionaires investing?

Takeaway quote: "Asia-Pacific millionaires outnumbered US millionaires for the first time last year"

This is very significant for the Gold and to a lesser extent Silver markets. In the last bull market in Gold and Silver, where Gold hit a high of $850/oz and Silver $50/oz in January 1980, the price rise was driven mostly by 1 - 2% of wealthy US investors, private wealth fund managers and a few Middle East sheiks and princes trying to protect themselves from the loss in value of the US$. What a difference 30 years makes, now we have huge pool of millionaires in a region that has a cultural affinity with investing in Gold (and increasing so in Silver) what do you think what will happen when 1 - 2% of these investors investors turn in mass to Gold to protect them against a falling US dollar (and dollar linked Yuan/HKG$)? And with QE to infinity a declining US dollar is given.

Got Gold?  Yes, I bought some before all those Chinese millionaires did.  

The Golden Indicator: Gold-Copper-Oil Ratio

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- On today's "Chart Attack," Encima Global's President David Malpass and Bloomberg's Adam Johnson look at the relationship between gold, copper and crude oil. They speak on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart."

Keiser Report: Bankstatocracy

Sep 25, 2012 by RussiaToday

In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the bankstatocracy that has led to what the mainstream financial media calls an 'unintended' wealth gap in the consumer sector - between those recovered-from-recession and those still-struggling. To suggest that this gap is intentional, however, is considered now 'suspicious' behavior by the US government. And they also look at the 'wealth managers' for the poor in Australia. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to privacy extremist Frank Braun about sneaker net and privacy, the libertarian case for bitcoin and a flourishing over the counter bitcoin exchange.

Brother JohnF - Silver Update: Silver Substitutes

Sep 24, 2012 by BrotherJohnF

Chalk one up for US Freedoms

Sep 25, 2012 by TheAlexJonesChannel

RBS and LIBOR

Nigel Farage on Eurozone Crisis

Nigel Farage (of the UK Independence Party) discusses the total takeover of the EU zone by the EU government in Brussels, and the unlimited money printing of the ECB. Listen to the KWN interview here

Sprott Money News - Ask The Expert: Bill Murphy

Sep 24, 2012 by sprottmoneyltd


Bill Murphy is the Chairman of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA), which is widely recognized for its efforts in exposing, opposing, and litigating against the manipulation of the gold and silver markets by The Gold Cartel. He is also a financial commentator on Le Metropole Café, a cyberspace café where gold and silver investors can go on a daily basis to obtain the most up-to-date information on precious metals.

Bolivian mine pits miners against each other

Sep 24, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish

In Bolivia talks continue between rival workers at the country's second biggest tin and zinc (and silver?) mine.

Breaking The Set - US Lobbies for Terrorists, End The Fed, Rotten Side of Apple

Sep 24, 2012 by breakingtheset Abby Martin is breaking the set on the MEK terrorist group, ending the Fed & Apple's dark side.
LIKE Breaking The Set @ http://fb.me/BreakingTheSet
FOLLOW Abby Martin @ http://twitter.com/AbbyMartin

EPISODE BREAKDOWN:
On this episode of Breaking the Set, Abby Martin exposes the hypocrisy of the State Department lobbying for a known terrorist group, MEK, to fight the "War on Terror." She interviews Jeffery Tucker about the nation-wide 'End the Fed' rallies, and the QE3 stimulus. BTS then interviews Jeremie Bedard-Wien, an organizer with the student protests in Quebec, Canada that have successfully changed policy through demonstrations. Abby wraps up the show by revealing the ugly side of Apple, sweat-shop labor, and the surveillance capabilities of the iPhone5.

Capital Account - Jim Grant offers his Observations on QE to Infinity

Sep 24, 2012 by CapitalAccount

Game On! - Australian $50 & $100 Banknotes are "Redundant"

Sir John Monash is not looking happy about this idea

Yes unfortunately another post in the Game On! series, this time in my home, Australia.

There is a very worrying top of page news story in the online Sydney Morning Herald as I am writing this post decrying the "extraordinarily high" amount of AU$50 and $100 notes in circulation in the Australian economy. The story attempts to lay blame for this terrible situation on retirees trying to rort (cheat) federal government provided pensions.

Whilst this may be partly to blame the bigger story is that a former senior RBA official is calling on the current RBA Governor to further restrict the tangible representations of the Australian currency.

Could it be that there are a "extraordinarily high" number of $50 and $100 notes in circulation in the market place because the interactions of the millions of Australians in the said market place want to transact in $50 and $100 notes? God forbid that the market place is allowed determine the form and nature of its interactions, if this is left unchecked the market place could voluntarily choose to transact in Gold and Silver and of course that would be crazy!

Of course what is not said in this article is that the most likely reason people are holding $50s and $100s is that they no longer trust banks and brokerages. After issues with bank "outages" and MF Global type brokerage collapses can anyone blame them? After all in this era of low interest rates for money at risk the opportunity cost of holding cash (and Gold/Silver) in your hand is very low.

------ / ------

From smh.com.au  my additions in italics

Story link

In a letter to the Reserve Bank governor, Glenn Stevens, dated July 4, Mr Mair (a former senior Reserve Bank official) laid the blame squarely on elderly people wanting to get the pension and hiding their income in cash to ensure they qualified for the means-tested benefit.

"The bank is basically facilitating a tax avoidance scheme by issuing high denomination notes," he told the Herald. "They are not needed for day-to-day transaction purposes, or even as reasonable stores of value."......at least he realises fiat currency is not a reasonable store of value!

His letter to the governor proposes phasing out the $100 and $50 denominations.

"Cards and the Internet have delivered a body blow to high-denomination bank notes. They are redundant," he said. "There is no longer any point in issuing them except to facilitate tax dodging. The authorities would announce that from, say, June 2015 every $100 and $50 note could be redeemed but no new notes would be issued. After June 2017 every note could only be redeemed at an annual discount of 10 per cent. It would mean that after two years, each $100 note could only be redeemed for $80, and so on."......ha ha how true, a $100 note in 2017 will only be worth $80 in 2012 purchasing power.

The letter acknowledges the proposal would be contentious and says it should not be done "in any way precipitously", but as payments become more electronic it will become inevitable.....if it will become inevitable why do anything with the banknotes? Obviously it will only become "inevitable" if the RBA makes it so.

"What would remain in circulation are coins and a modestly expanded issue of currency notes in the $10 and $20 denominations. There is every reason to expect that a national currency issue of this character would soon be adequate.''.....says who? obviously not the market place otherwise 50s and 100s wouldn't circulate now.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-grey-economy-how-retirees-rort-the-pension-20120924-26hku.html#ixzz27Uwpi7gh

Gerald Celente - The First Big War of the 21st Century has Started

Sep 23, 2012 by usawatchdog

For he is a Jolly Good Fellow....and so say Goldman Sachs

This video is wrong on many levels, but it is very funny. Thanks to MaxKeiser.com for the link

Sep 23, 2012 by WeAreTheIntruders

Euro zone's €2 trillion lifeline

Sep 24, 2012 by ReutersVideo

Sept. 24 - Germany confirms talks are under way to beef up the euro zone's €500 bln permanent rescue fund lending capacity to €2 trillion. Plus, BAE/EADS, China-Japan tensions, the Emmy's, and John Terry.

David Icke - The Bystander Effect.... It`s all.. ME...ME...ME!

Sean and Andy Hoffman on Gold, QE3 and WWIII

Sean of SGT Report interviews Andy Hoffman of Miles Franklin on Gold, World Wide QE, World War 3 and much more. Highly recommended listening.

Sep 23, 2012 by SGTbull07

Australian Economy impacted by the slow down in China

Ben Davies on Gold and QE

Ben Davies of Hinde Capital discusses the gold market post QE3, real estate and the world economy in a wide ranging interview with Eric King of KWN. Listen here

Truth About Markets - London

After several years of being based in Paris, Max & Stacy have moved back to London. In this episode of their radio show they discuss QE3, Gold, Silver, boring British TV and being stuck on a fricken island populated by Druids. Listen here

QE3 Another Fed Give Away to the Banks

Sep 23, 2012 by TheRealNews
 

Michael Hudson: Shoveling money to the banks not meant to create jobs, it's a way to give banks even more speculative capital and prepare them for another meltdown.

Keiser Report: Happy Hacking!

Sep 22, 2012 by RussiaToday

In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss tuning in, dropping out and the modern day opting out. They also talk about 'high value' customers being fast tracked at Heathrow in the name of expediency; while in the US poor people are fast tracked into a private debt collectors' kickback scheme with the help of district attorneys. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Richard Stallman about Anonymous protests outside virtual doorways, corporate tyrannies and free software.

The Wiki Weapon and the Future of 3D Printing

***
 Update: I have just been told of a 3D printing exhibition coming up in London 19-21 Oct 2012. For details click here
***

If you haven't heard of 3D printing then you can say you saw the future of life as we now it right here.

In the annals of history there are arguably several inventions of enduring significance:

• Wheel
• Steam Engine
• Printing Press
• Computer
• Internet
• 3D Printer?

The printing press liberated information from the State and Church. The Internet then distributed that information. Will the 3D printer combined with the Internet liberate both the knowledge and the means of production?

What would have Karl Marx thought about the 3D printer?

Marx, Letter to Weydemeyer (1852):

And now as to myself, no credit is due to me for discovering the existence of classes in modern society or the struggle between them. Long before me bourgeois historians had described the historical development of this class struggle and bourgeois economists, the economic anatomy of classes.

What I did that was new was to prove:

(1) that the existence of classes is only bound up with the particular, historical phases in the development of production,

(2) that the class struggle necessarily leads to the dictatorship of the proletariat,

(3) that this dictatorship itself only constitutes the transition to the abolition of all classes and to a classless society.

From defensedistributed.com

Link to videos of exhibitors at the up coming 3D Print Show here

Another video on 3D printing, this time for musical instruments:

By masseyuniversity

Last one: By FinancialTimesVideos

Swiss banking "whistle blower" paid $104 Million by IRS

Sep 22, 2012 by AdamKokesh

Buy Gold or Silver?

Fri 21 Sep 12 | 05:36 PM ET

Why Gold May Hit $2000 by Christmas

Now that is a Christmas present I would like! Along with some $50 silver action.

Pet Rocks

My geologist friend brought over his new pet rock to show me tonight, from Northern NSW, Australia.

The shiny side contains 3% copper, 700 g/tonne Silver, 9g/tonne Gold

The dark gray colouring is a mix of 5% Zinc, 700 g/tonne Silver, 9g/tonne Gold

James Turk on $400 Silver and $8,000 Gold

Sep 22, 2012 by SGTbull07

Don Coxe on Gold

Finally after all these years a precious metal commentator that agrees with me that the current bull market in Gold and Silver started on 11 September 2001.

Sep 21, 2012 by KitcoNews

GoldSeek Radio's Chris Waltzek with Pastor Lindsey Williams

Why $700 Silver is not Madness

I was listening to a Radio National discussion today about life in England during the late middle ages. The following story sparked my interest:

Peter Holbrook: (Reading)  Link to podcast
‘Agnes Terry’s recollections of her (alleged) extraordinary childhood as the ward of a dishonest guardian; from her petition to Chancery; c. 1450’

She claims that her mother and father arranged that after their deaths she would be left to the guardianship of John Bicombe, parson of Hatford, together with her inheritance of £40, goods worth £20, and rights over various properties, including a house in Farringdon worth £25. She was then ‘of right tender age’.

The mention of a house being worth only 25 pounds caught my attention. I wondered how much silver that represented.

Well in 1450 I belive a pound represented a troy pound of sterling silver.

A Troy Pound contains 12 Troy Ounces.

Therefore a troy pound of sterling silver is:

12 x 0.925 (purity of sterling silver) =   11.1 troy ounces of 999 silver.

So the house was worth:

25 x 11.1 = 277.5 oz of 999 silver.

Well at current (22 Sep 2012) prices that equates to:

277.5 x 21.26 (GBP spot price of silver) = £5,900

So the house was worth only £5,900?

But we know you can't buy a nice house in a rural town in England for GBP5,900 - such a house would cost at least £125,000

So to upscale the silver value from 1450 to present day we need to recalibrate it to current house prices:

125,000 / 5,900 = 21.18

21.18 x 21.26  =  £450/oz silver price or $730

Gold Seen Luring Wealthy as Central Bankers Expand Stimulus

From Bloomberg.com

Original source

More high-net-worth individuals are seeking to buy gold to protect their wealth from the risk of rising inflation after central banks boosted stimulus, according to Deutsche Bank AG’s asset and wealth-management unit.

Gold is in the 12th year of a bull run, 13 percent higher this year, as investors seek to hedge against weaker currencies and the threat of rising consumer prices. Photographer: Sergio Dionisio/Bloomberg

“Gold has historically been considered to be a store of value and an inflation hedge and increasingly it is being utilized as a monetary instrument,” said Mark Smallwood, head of Asia-Pacific wealth-management solutions. “There is a growing interest among our clients to gain exposure,” he said, with an increased preference for physical holdings.

Gold is in the 12th year of a bull run, 13.5 percent higher this year, as investors seek to hedge against weaker currencies and the threat of rising consumer prices. Holdings in gold- backed exchange-traded products expanded to an all-time high yesterday, and Bank of America Corp. and Deutsche Bank are among banks forecasting that the price will rally to a record.

Read more

Brother JohnF - Silver Update: Debtor's Prison

Sep 21, 2012 by BrotherJohnF

Capital Account with David Stockman

Sep 21, 2012 by CapitalAccount

Ray Dalio re Gold - Buffett Is Making A Big Mistake

The Dangers of ETFs

Sep 18, 2012 by CapitalAccount

Weekend Chillout - Only have to close your eyes

With the affects of QE to Infinity taking hold in the markets this week it seems you only have to close your eyes to see the gold and silver prices go up.

James Turk on Bitcoin, Gold and competitive currencies

Sep 20, 2012 by GoldMoneyNews

Jim Grant on the unintended consequences of QE forever

Keiser Report: World Flash Clash Center

If you want to hear Jim Rickards live he will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Gold Symposium in Sydney, Australia 22-23 October 2012. For the list of other speakers and Symposium details go here 

Sep 20, 2012 by RussiaToday 

In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss flash crashes, reputation woes on the U.S. exchanges and sheep screaming at all the fraud. Max also talks to one of the Queen's sheep for its opinion on quantitative easing. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Jim Rickards, author of Currency Wars, about QE to infinity, the dollar, the euro and a gold standard.

Capital Account - John Mauldin and Jim Rickards discuss the Looming Debt Crisis

If you want to hear Jim Rickards live he will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Gold Symposium in Sydney, Australia 22-23 October 2012. For the list of other speakers and Symposium details go here

Sep 20, 2012 by CapitalAccount

The Whole World is Watching, and coughing and crying

Sep 20, 2012 by RTAmerica

A police officer from the University of California at Davis will not face charges for dousing students and alumni with pepper spay during a campus protest last November.

Laurence Lyster interviewed on Standsberry Radio

An interesting radio show I had not come accross before. Both hosts seem very knowledgeable of economics and markets. In this show they discuss gold, QE, US economy and world politics. Definitely worth a listen.
 
Sep 20, 2012 by StansberryMedia

Judge Napolitano Takes On The Fed

Gerald Celente: The Tyranny of an Arrested Development Republic

Sep 19, 2012 by TheAlexJonesChannel
 

Alex talks with trendsetter, author, and editor and publisher of the Trends Journal, Gerald Celente. Gerald talks with Alex about latest geopolitical and economic events unfolding as the world moves inextricably toward all-out war.
http://www.trendsresearch.com/index.php

South Korea adds to Gold Reserves, again

South Korea is now only about 9 tonnes short of Australia's gold holdings, not that the Australian Reserve Bank says were they keep them

SEOUL(BullionStreet): Asia's fourth largest economy, South Korea's gold reserves hit 70.4 tons valued $2.98 billion at the end of August, according to World Gold Council.

South Korea now ranked 40th in the world in gold holdings by nations, up three notches from two months earlier as its central bank purchased the precious metal to diversify foreign exchange reserves.

However, Gold still accounts for only 0.9 percent out of the country's total foreign reserves of $316.88 billion.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) bought 16 tons of gold in July, the third purchase of the precious metal since the central bank bought it in July last year for the first time in 13 years.

Read more

South African mining strikes continue

Sep 19, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish In South Africa, a 22 per cent pay rise awarded to workers at the Lonmin mine in Marikana has sparked protests elsewhere.

'Golden Cross' May Signal Huge Gold Gains

Wed 19 Sep 12 | 05:00 PM ET

As the 50-day moving average for the precious metal surpasses its 200-day moving average, history suggests the start of a bull market.

 

Did Bernanke Bury the Bears?

Euro funds from the periphery run away screaming

Bank of Japan launches more QE

Joining the US, UK, EU......if central banks keep doing this currency debasement one day the people will realise that currencies are no longer worth the paper they are no longer printed on.

Sep 19, 2012 by Euronews

Afghanistan - Where empires go to die

Sep 18, 2012 by RussiaToday

DHS Buys 1.6 Billion Bullets

Sep 18, 2012 by TheAlexJonesChannel
http://www.infowars.com/dhs-purchases-200-million-more-rounds-of-ammunition/

Breaking the Set - USA Made Dictators, NY Times Propaganda, 'They' Hate Us Because We Bomb Them

Cool, Abby references my viral post on Made in the USA tear gas canisters used against Egyptian protestors in early 2011. See here

Sep 18, 2012 by breakingtheset Abby Martin talks about the School of Americas and why 'They' hate the West.

Capital Account - "QE to Infinity and Beyond" with Mish

Sep 18, 2012 by CapitalAccount

David Morgan: Silver moving towards par with gold

The Doc from SilverDoctors.com interviews silver guru David Morgan on the action in the silver market.

Do You Have Enough Saved?