Sunday, March 31, 2013

Australia to Abandon US Dollar in Trade with China

Australian PM to sign currency conversion deal with China during visit

From Xinhua
09:24, March 31, 2013

Original source
 
CANBERRA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is expected to sign a currency deal with China to allow the Australian dollar to be converted directly to Chinese RMB, The Australian newspaper said in a front page report on Saturday.

The report identified no source of the information. If the report is proved true, Australia will become the third country after the United States and Japan to have a direct currency conversion deal with China.

China is Australia's largest trading partner with two-way trade totaling 126 billion U.S. dollars in 2012.

The report quoted former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby as saying that "The value of such a deal would be substantial for exporters to China, especially those that import a lot from China like mining companies, as it would remove business constraints including exchange-rate risks and transaction costs."

Read more

Is Slovenia Next?

Just over a year ago I noticed a surprising spike in readers of this blog from the country of Slovenia. This was surprising, as well this blog is written in English and the population of Slovenia is only 2 million. I wondered at the time want that meant, but I never came up with anything concrete other than to speculate that there might be a bank runs in their future, just had been the case when I had a spike in readers from Korea prior to bank runs in that country. Link to old post



Although it seems the phrase "better to be a year early than a day late" seems to apt in the case of Slovenia as speculation is rife that it might be the next country requiring a banking bailout, and after Cyprus that could mean deposits are at risk. So was it the case in Slovenia over a year ago that the smart money was looking around for options to exit their banking system and protect wealth?

From Reuters.com

Original Source

LONDON, March 28 (IFR) - Slovenia has been thrown into the spotlight as the next eurozone country likely to seek an international bailout, given the fragile state of its banking sector.

"Slovenia is now inevitably heading to a bailout, the eurozone shot itself completely in the foot following the Cyprus issue," said Tim Ash, head of EM research ex-Africa at Standard Bank.

Read in full

Egon von Greyerz - You must have Money Outside of the Banking System

Egon discusses the Cyprus banking crisis and the fact it will become the template for future bailouts and hence the need to have access to money outside of the banking system, such as gold and silver. Listen to the KWN news interview here

Bitcoin - The Anarchist Virtual Currency

What a bunch of stone age strugglers. I love the following questions / statements:

Where can you buy it?  Well gee how about at a bitcoin exchange like this one: mtgox

"Its value is so unstable, its price is all over the place" - If by that you mean its value has risen steadily since inception (as per the graph in the video). Which of course is in stark contrast to the US$ which has fallen in value by 98% since inception.

"What is there to stop an explosive supply in bitcoins" - Well how about the increasing difficulty to mine new bitcoins leading a cost vs benefit prevention in the creation of new coins. Of course there is no such restriction in creating an explosive supply in US$ as the Federal Reserve has shown. 

March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Clive Crook and Paul Sweeney explain Bitcoin on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart."

Google Glass to be made in USA instead of thieving China

click on image to access video

David Stockman: We've Been Lied To, Robbed, And Mislead

From ChrisMartensondotcom

Keiser Report: Ponzi Lottery

From RussiaToday

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the previously successful UK economy which who has become addicted to gambling and spending fortunes on spread betting and so has turned to operating ponzi schemes in order to keep the appearance of economic activity. 

In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to former Scotland Yard fraud squad detective, Rowan Bosworth-Davies of Rowans-Blog.blogspot.co.uk about the evidence he gave to the Parliamentary Committee on Banking Standards that went missing and how it is that the British banking system is remarkably similar to an organized crime racket.

Hegemonic corporations scared as BRICS plan bank to rival IMF

From RussiaToday

A new global bank is being born in South Africa - where the world's top emerging economies are meeting. The new financial powerhouse would be a direct challenger to the World Bank and the IMF - both dominated by the US. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa also green-lighted a new, mammoth crisis fund - and hinted they would ditch the dollar.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Photo of the Week

Greg Palast & Alex Jones

From TheAlexJonesChannel

Alex talks with investigative journalist and author Greg Palast about the death of Venezuela' s Hugo Chavez and the political work of the Koch brothers and their influential foundation. http://www.gregpalast.com/

Rick Rule - The inmates have taken over the asylum

Rick Rule discusses the Cypriot banking crisis, the safety of precious metals and being responsible for your own risk assessment. Listen to the KWN interview here

Quote of the Week

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored”
~ Aldous Huxley, Complete Essays 2, 1926-29

Breaking The Set

From breakingtheset

Abby Martin Breaks the Set on Shocking Animated Drone Data, Mindless Media Parrots, & Roseanne's America.

Jon Matonis on Bitcoin and crypto-currencies

From GoldMoneyNews

Friday, March 29, 2013

World's First Bitcoin ATM in Cyprus

From TheAlexJonesChannel

Keiser Report: Plunderball - New Euro Banking Game

From RussiaToday

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the PLUNDERBALL games in Europe and how the United Kingdom turned from Aspiration Nation to Asphyxiation Nation. They also talk about the 'mega-caust' of the financial markets in which those who worried about their gold being confiscated have now lost their bank deposits instead!

In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Mitch Feierstein about the implications to all bank depositors of the confiscation of some funds in Cyprus.


Greg Hunter - Weekly News

From Greg Hunter


Bonus Chillout

Just listening to the latest mix from my favourite DJ, Jessie Andrews and I thought I would share.....



For those who have not heard of Jessie Andrews before she is many things -  a DJ, jewellery designer and retailer, model, actress, blogger and an amazing publicist of her "brand" with 240,000 people following her on Twitter - @jessieslife (vs. me at 176). I first heard about her as a blogger via a review in Wired magazine about the blogging site Tumblr.

If you want to see Jessie perform as a DJ click here, she has the last set on a pimped out dance bus which apparently drives around Miami (hence the camera shake). Whilst she is the background for most of this recording her set starts around the 68 min mark.

And lastly for those brave enough there is her famously unpredictable blog, which redefines the phrase "Not Work Safe". So don't click on the following link at work, or even without looking over your shoulder first, yes I am serious, as you never know what she might be blogging about today. Jessie's blog ---> jessieslife

Weekend Chillout - Missing lost

Well the Cypriot banking system has been missing for two weeks now but it seems due to come home today, but know one seems to know why it was lost in the first place......

I thought I would post a video from one of my favourite Australian singers, Kate Miller-Heidke this week. As chance would have it I found this track of hers last night which seems very apt considering the panic and loss over the last two weeks.

Tip: Needs to played very loud :-)


Thursday, March 28, 2013

No Bank Account is Safe

From smartknowledgeu

Clarke and Dawe - Slight problem with the Cypriot Banking System

From ClarkeAndDawe

Cyprus reopens banks as eurocrats grip island's economy

From RussiaToday

Banks have re-opened in Cyprus, allowing access to savings for the first time in almost two weeks. There's little relief for cash-strapped citizens though, with severe restrictions imposed on how much money they can withdraw. The limits are set to prevent a bank run, making Cyprus the first Eurozone nation to introduce capital controls.

Marc Faber on the downside risk in US equities


Jim Grant on QE Policy


Ron Paul on the Lew Rockwell Show


EU Looting Private Accounts Now Called "Bank Restructuring"

From TheAlexJonesChannel


The looting of private bank accounts to cover the gambling losses of big banks is a new template for the euro zone, according to Dutch Finance Minister and President of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Typical Third World Communist State

Yet again South Africa is shown to be a collection of clowns in search of a circus, and these strugglers have 80% of the world's accessible Platinum? Hmm

From RussiaToday

A scandalous incident was barely averted at the BRICS summit in South Africa as Russian President Vladimir Putin's guards had a row with local security officers, who refused to let them into the building.


Ellis Martin Report with David Morgan

From Ellis Martin

Brother JohnF - Silver Update: Music Stops

From BrotherJohnF

Breaking The Set

Abby Martin discusses Big Oil, Hateful Tweets and Bohemian Grove with guests Greg Palast and Mark Dice

From breakingtheset

Have you ever seen a Banker answer a question?

Me neither, and you don't see it in Eire either......


Is Texas eyeing a Gold Standard?

From RTAmerica 


Capital Controls for Cyprus

From EUXTV

Protests in Cyprus over bailout deal

From AlJazeeraEnglish

You Will Never Look at Money the Same Again

A timely video in a post-Cyprus banking crisis world.

From TruthNeverTold

http://SilverBulletSilverShield.com
"The value of goods are expressed in money, while the value of money is expressed in goods. Money and goods are clearly not the same things, but are exactly opposite things.
Goods are wealth which you have, while money is a claim on wealth which you do not have. Goods are an asset; Money is a debt. If goods are wealth; money is clearly not wealth, it is negative wealth, maybe even anti-wealth." -- Carroll Quigley

Keiser Report: 'Yes, No, Maybe' World Order

From RussiaToday

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert the new world order called Yes, No, Maybe in which secret downgrades and confiscation plans are certain only to a few insiders whilst chaos and confusion reigns for the rest of the population. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Leah McGrath Goodman, author of The Asylum: Inside the Rise and Ruin of the Global Oil Market, about the definitive proof that oil markets were manipulated to $100 in 2008 by ConAgra traders and what the US government response was to the information.


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Cyprus Crisis Reveals Shadowy World of Tax and Money Laundering

From TheRealNews

Coffee Culture in Tehran

I think I have finally worked out why certain Americans wish to bomb Iran - because they can make coffee properly! They also seem to have one off shops with real atmosphere with coffee being made by adults. Not some chain store abomination serving discoloured tepid water that has to be "flavoured" and then made drinkable with cream and sugar.....eweeeh!


EU - 'No Longer a Civilized Democracy'


David Morgan on Banking and Sillver

From silver investor.com

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Truth About Markets

Max and Stacy are back in London. In this week's radio show they discuss the Cyprus banking crisis, bitcoin and the financial news of the week. Listen or download here

Cyprus bailout: Kremlin 'could punish Europe' in reprisal for bank levy

 From The Guardian

Original source

Fears are growing of Russian reprisals against European businesses as EU authorities desperately seek a deal to save the Cypriot economy by imposing a 25% levy on bank deposits of more than €100,000.

As the island scrambled to put together a rescue programme, its finance minister, Michalis Sarris, said "significant progress" had been made on the latest levy plan in talks with officials from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The government in Nicosia faces a deadline of Monday to reach an agreement or the European Central Bank says it will cut off emergency cash to the island, spelling the likely financial collapse of its banking system and a potential exit from the European single currency.

However, with Russian investors having an estimated €30bn (£26bn) deposited in banks on the island, the growing optimism about a deal was accompanied by fears of retaliation from Moscow. Alexander Nekrassov, a former Kremlin adviser, said: "If it is the case that there will be a 25% levy on deposits greater than €100,000 then some Russians will suffer very badly.

"Then, of course, Moscow will be looking for ways to punish the EU. There are a number of large German companies operating in Russia. You could possibly look at freezing assets or taxing assets. The Kremlin is adopting a wait and see policy."

Read more

How to sell the concept of physical Gold, Silver and Platinum

I often have clients tell me that they have talked to their - husband, parents, friends, etc about investing in precious metals and they get met with either derision or at best a blank 'deer in the headlights' sort of look. You know that look when clients ask me "Is that new or old silver?" and I respond "Unfortunately it is all old silver, actually all the silver we sell is approx the same age, about 5 Billion years old. I have tried to source some new silver, but I yet to find a supplier."

So to help those trying enlighten people who you care about about precious metals I have written this little cheat sheet (keep it to yourself and they will think you are a genius or possibly just odd).

Gold:

Physical Gold (there is 'paper gold' but that point is best left for another time) is precious because it is extremely rare and takes huge amounts of human ingenuity to find it and energy to mine and refine it. Did you know even the most efficient mining companies in the world burn over 100 litres of diesel to dig up and crush the rock that gold is found in for every troy ounce of gold they produce (1 troy ounce = 31.1g).

Gold has been used as money in various forms for over 5,000 years and thoughout all that time it has always been valued. That is someone, somewhere 24x7 for the last 5,000 years (44 mil hours) has been willing to exchange gold for something else of value. Whether that was for bread in ancient Egypt or a very nice toga in ancient Rome or a toff's suit from Savile Row (well until 1931 when the bankers removed the gold sovereigns, but I digress).

Gold has been steadily appreciating in all major currencies for the last 12 years. In US dollars every single year for the last 12 years. In Aussie dollars for 9 of the last 12 years. Whilst all these currencies buy less goods and services every single year.

Silver:

Like gold, physical silver is very rare and expensive / difficult to mine.

Silver has been used as money in various forms for 6,000 years, and was only removed from coinage in the mid 1960's worldwide as it had become so rare that is was no longer feasible to be used as low value coinage (in the words of US President Lyndon Johnston). Like gold, someone, somewhere 24x7 for the last 6,000 years (52 mil hours) has been willing to exchange silver for something else of value.

Currently the price ratio of gold to silver is approx. 55:1 - this means that silver is 55 times cheaper than gold. Although for long periods in the past and during the all time silver high in 1980 the ratio had been 16:1. Silver is found in the earth at a ratio of 18:1 but seeing that people have desired silver for over 6,000 years most of the easy to mine silver has already been extracted. Over at least the last 10 years the amount of silver mined in the world compared to gold is 9:1 - that is for every ounce of gold mined there are only 9 ounces of silver mined (I paid a 3rd year geoscience student at one of the world's greatest Earth Science universities a vast amount of coffee to delve into the subscription only geoscience databases to find that data for me - he later used it in a research paper).

But here is where it gets interesting, approx 60% of the silver mined goes straight into industrial applications, where very little of the silver is ever recovered, often secured by long term supply contracts. Whereas only 20% gold goes into industrial applications of which most is recovered. So if we reduce that 9:1 mine ratio mentioned above by 60% due to silver being consumed we reach a supply ratio for investment demand of about 4:1 (actually a little less but I rounded up).

So silver supply for investment is only 4 times more than that of gold, yet today's price is 55 times cheaper. Hmm.

Platinum:

Like gold, platinum is rare, actually even rarer than gold. But unlike gold and silver where there are concentrated deposits (mines) in every continent on Earth (not sure about Antarctica, no doubt we will find out one day) 90% of accessible platinum is found in Southern Africa (the rest being mostly in Russia). Notably the countries of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Now do I have to remind you that Zimbabwe is a dictatorship and recently stole back mining leases from Platinum firms who where not operating (ie waiting for the price to rise to a point where it would be profitable to mine). South Africa accounts for 80% of the world's accessible platinum, and then it is only accessible due to the fact the mines treat their workers as near slaves with low wages, hot and dangerous working conditions and a poor living environment. Something that the ostensibly communist one party state of South Africa is trying to address. Recently wages went up, which is good, but also a result three platinum mine shafts closed do to the higher wages making them unprofitable.

So as you can see the supply of Platinum is very dependent on the whims of poorly run governments and on the back of slaves (who would rather not be). Gee I wonder if there will be further supply disruptions and price spikes in the future?

Conclusion:

I have no crystal ball, Gold, Silver and Platinum prices move with the vagaries of their supply and demand and the influence of those that participate in these markets.

I hope I have provided some useful data on which to have a conversation on precious metals and of course to conduct your own further research. Your decision to invest, add or reduce your position in precious metals should always be your decision based on your own circumstances and complementary research.

Useful Tables (as of 22 March 2013):


David Malone - A Tale of Two Currencies

An excellent discussion on the nature of currencies and the banking systems. David Malone is a BBC documentary maker and Reuters journalist.
 
From EqualityNorthWest






Keiser Report - Constitution Fine Print

From RussiaToday

Jim Rickards on Texas to Vault its own Gold

From Daily Ticker

click on image to access video

SD Weekly Metals & Markets - Cyprus is Lehman & MFG

From silverdoctors


Nigel Farage on Cyprus & press regulations

From ukipmedia

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Gerald Celente on the Cyprus Banking Crisis

Gerald discusses the Cyprus banking crisis. Listen to the KWN interview here

Gerald Celente - Trends In The News - "Wrong Again Ben!"

From trendsjournal

Schooling People on Cash

For those of you who don't know your blogger is a bullion dealer, amongst other business endeavours. On Friday I was selling bullion to a male client, mid 30's who I subsequently learnt had a supervisory position at his employer's company, so not a "dumb" or very young person. I asked him how he was going to pay for his purchase and he responded "cash". So I went about writing up his invoice for the purchase and when I presented the invoice to him to check and pay he handed me his plastic EFTPOS card (debit). I responded "Oh I thought you said you were paying cash sir?" His response stunned me (and unlike Norwegian blue parrots I don't stun easily). He said "Oh cash and EFTPOS are the same to me".

I started walking towards the ETPOS terminal with my client's card in my hand shaking my head thinking "gee I bet Cypriots don't think cash and EFTPOS are the same thing anymore." As the initial stunning wore off I felt I could not let such a comment stand and I started waving his plastic card at him saying "This is not cash! this a just bloody piece of plastic linked to a hard drive somewhere where a metal disc is spinning at 10,000 RPM and has part of its surface magnetically charged with positive and negative states!" "Cash is something that you can rub between your fingers, put in your pocket and buy stuff with when the banks are all god damn closed!" (and I wonder why I upset some people). His response was "Oh".

So this is how warped the world has become post the Cypriot banking crisis, someone like me, of all people, schooling clients on the merits of physical cash whilst selling them real money - silver. It is just wrong.

Paul Craig Roberts: Triple Bubble Implosion Coming

From TheAlexJonesChannel

Cyprus to steal pension funds and introduce capital controls as civil society breaks down

As civil society breaks down in Cyprus MPs have met to pass measures to help rescue their banking sector.

On civil society a friend of mine told me yesterday that a relative of her's has a modest holiday home in Cyrpus and has just be informed that it has been broken into. Although unlike a standard robbery not only did they take the TV, hi-fi, etc they also took all the fairly basic furniture, an old fridge, and every pot, pan, spoon, knife and fork in the house! - This is what society becomes without a functioning banking system, every physical item, regardless of what it is, can become a substitute currency, and remember this is country with still close and strong ties to the land and a large cash economy. Imagine what would occur in Sydney or London if the banks shut for a week!

From abc.net.au

Original source

Cyprus has approved nine measures hammered out in a desperate bid to raise the more than $7 billion required to unlock a bailout from the European Union.

Cyprus needs to come up with $7.74 billion by Monday or face cash flows to its banks being cut off.

Members of the Cypriot parliament gathered in the capital Nicosia, as hundreds of demonstrators faced off with riot police outside.

MPs voted to nationalise public and private sector pension funds, and peel good assets from bad in stricken banks.

It is thought two key banks could be restructured under the move, while there will also be an emergency issue of bonds on state assets.

In a move bound to be met with anger by depositors, MPs also imposed controls to prevent a run on the island's troubled banks, which are due to open on Tuesday after a more than week-long break.

That measure restricts the movement of capital by, for example, setting withdrawal and transfer limits.

But with the clock ticking down to a crunch meeting with Eurozone finance ministers on Sunday, more contentious issues remain to be debated.

Among them is a one-off levy of up to 15 per cent on bank deposits of $125,000 and more.

Newton and Counterfeiter

A fascinating interview with Professor Tom Levenson, the author of the book "Newton and Counterfeiter". Tom discusses Isaac Newton's time as the head of the Royal Mint, his introduction of the Gold Standard, the great recoining, as well as his scientific discoveries in general. A must listen for all Gold and Silver Bugs. The interview is conducted by the consummate science journalist and author, Robyn Williams. Listen to The Science Show interview here 

For those new to The Science Show, Robyn Williams has hosted the show, which is broadcast every Saturday afternoon on ABC Radio National, since 1975 which has to be close to a world record for the one radio show with the same host for 38 years!

Will 3-D printers make patents obsolete?

I have a friend who is involved in amateur car racing. He has a 3D printer, which itself was printed from another 3D printer (sans circuit board). If he breaks any hard plastic part on his racing car he replaces it by printing the part out on his 3D printer. Also if any other any enthusiast has come up with a better design for a specific part he can upgrade his existing car parts - like installing a patch to an existing piece of software. For most metal parts he knows a guy with a computer controlled lathe which uses CAD files, again shared from other car owners, to make a one off part, and I imagine the same can be achieved with metal casting as well.

So just as file sharing helped break down the copyright cartels over music, film and text, 3D printing is poised to do the same for the world of patents.
From RTAmerica

Friday, March 22, 2013

Weekend Chillout - Leaving No Doubt

In a week that left no doubt about the unwillingness of Cypriot politicians to speak up against the might of the Russian mafia and FSB and in similar vein no one daring take on the Labor left this week either. What else could this week's chillout be......


Cyprus Banking Crisis, Obama's Middle East Trip & the Fed Keeps Printing Money

From Greg Hunter

The Cyprus Effect

From smorris123

The Grandmother that knew about the Cyprus Haircut

An elderly resident of Pathos in Cyprus has been doing something odd for the past few weeks. Every Friday she goes to the bank and withdraws all of her money, then returns it on Monday. When asked why she gave the following statement to bank employees:

“My grandson is an economist in Russia and he has been telling me, if something happens with the Cypriot banks, it will happened on the weekend. He told me to withdraw the money every Friday.”

She was laughed at by the bank employees, but now unlike most of the country she has access to her money while the banks in Cyprus stay closed until at least Tuesday of next week. While the Cypriot legislature did not pass a bill that would have taken between 6.75% and 10% of bank deposits, who knows what desperate politicians will do now to get their fix of financial aid from the IMF. At least one person won’t be affected, thanks to a caring grandson.

Source: http://www.news.gr/kosmos/paraxena/article/51055/h-giagia-poy-hxere-gia-to-kypriako-koyrema.html

Mood Darkens in Cyprus as Deadline Is Set for Bailout

From NYTimes.com

Original source

NICOSIA, Cyprus — As the European Central Bank threatened to shut off crucial financing for banks in Cyprus without a rapid accord, members of Parliament put off a vote Thursday on yet another revamped formula for securing an international bailout. The vote was rescheduled for Friday.

In Cypriot streets, meanwhile, the mood turned increasingly dark. Police officers clashed with some protesters in front of Parliament as about 200 demonstrators gathered outside.

The police also scuffled there with employees of Cyprus Popular Bank, second largest in the country. They had turned out amid rumors that the bank could be shut down within hours. The central bank issued a denial, but warned that Cyprus Popular Bank risked an immediate default if the bailout measure was not passed by Parliament.

Read more

Dr. Marc Faber on the Looming Bond-Market Crash

One of the best ever interviews of Dr. Marc Faber. Marc discusses the bond bubble, equities, the Cyprus banking crisis and a topic close to my heart - Asian nightlife, in particular Thailand.

Marc is interviewed from the 00:45.50 - 1:09 points.

From StansberryMedia

Cyprus eyes gas reserves as bailout guaranty

Vaporizing bank accounts, now inspecting for gas - the Cypriots really are being taken Greek style.

From AlJazeeraEnglish

Keiser Report: Financial Fascism

From RussiaToday

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the big picture of bank holidays and wealth confiscation in order to pay off the $100 trillion error account banksters basically admitted to having at Davos in 2011.

In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Reggie Middleton of BoomBustBlog.com about Cyprus, the rules that have been revealed and his upcoming special investigation on certain European banks he's discovered have been committing fraud.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Brother JohnF - Silver Update: Fiscal Psychopath

From BrotherJohnF

Steve Keen on Cyprus - 'Blowing Capitalism's Brains Out'

The best analysis of the Cypriot banking crisis so far - Go Aussie!

Julia Gillard remains PM

The vote that wasn't. Todays spill of the PM and Deputy PM resulted in the only two candidates being the incumbents - Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan. As a result no vote was held.

Best quote of the day goes to National Party Senator Barnaby Joyce after the meeting who quipped: "They had a vote for chaos and it was unanimous"

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/the-pulse-live/politics-live-21-march-2013-20130321-2ggsv.html#ixzz2O9U76ruT

The Fed, Cyprus and Gillard

Cyprus Fin Min: We're Hoping for Russian Support

Michael Sarris, Cyprus finance minister, tells CNBC how his first meeting with his Russian counterpart was "very constructive".

Australian PM and Deputy PM positions to be Spilled at 4:30pm

* Breaking News *

The Australian PM and Deputy PM positions will be spilled at 4:30pm today.

Live coverage at the Sydney Morning Herald here

From NewsOnABC


South Korean Banks and Broadcasters under Cyberattack

From Slashgear.com
Chris Davies, Mar 20th 2013

Original source

A huge cyberattack on South Korean banks, broadcasters and others, believed to be one of the most serious in the country’s history, has left investigators hunting for evidence of North Korean involvement as infrastructure struggled back online.

Systems at multiple banks and two insurance companies were either forced offline or severely impacted in the attack, which began at roughly 2pm local time; three TV stations were also targeted and suffered downtime. However, despite strong suspicions at North Korean involvement, spokespersons from South Korean agencies insist it’s too early to lay the blame at their insular northern neighbours.

Breaking The Set

From breakingtheset

Abby Martin Breaks the Set with Dennis Kucinich, Iraq War Veterans, & War Drums Beating for Syria and Iran.

JS Kim - Why We've All Been Cyprus'd

From smartknowledgeu

Lyndon LaRouche and Alex Jones discuss Cyprus and EU

From TheAlexJonesChannel

Obama visits Israel

From AlJazeeraEnglish

3D Printing the future of manufacturing

From TheAlexJonesChannel

Iraq - A decade of despair

From RussiaToday

Cyprus - The tale of two debates

From AlJazeeraEnglish

Cyprus mulls raiding pension accounts

From RussiaToday

Chase Bank Customers See Red After Glitch Empties Accounts

From TheAlexJonesChannel

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Cyprus today, New Zealand tomorrow?


From RT.com

Original source

New Zealand depositors could face a Cyprus-style tax on their bank accounts, as the government is planning to impose a similar strategy on its banks warns the country's Green Party.

New Zealand is facing a similar bank failure to Cyprus, is likely to adopt open bank resolution (OBR), which will see small depositors lose part their savings in favour of a big bank bailout, Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said. The country’s Finance Minister Bill English supports the open bank resolution.

"Bill English is proposing a Cyprus-style solution for managing bank failure here in New Zealand," said Norman, adding that the Reserve Bank is in the "final stages" of implementing an OBR system.

New Zealand banks’ depositors will have their savings cut by a certain percentage needed to keep their bank afloat.

The Green Party however has major doubts, that OBR tactics is appropriate here. Norman underlined, that few depositors can reasonably evaluate the reliability of their bank. “Not even sophisticated investors like Merrill Lynch saw the global financial crisis coming,” he added.

Inside Story- Iraq: Ten years after the invasion

From AlJazeeraEnglish

Cyprus vs Bankocracy: 'Mattress better place to keep cash than banks'

From RussiaToday

Syrian Update

From TheAlexJonesChannel

Harley Schlanger - The Rape of Cyprus and the EU Zone

* Highly Recommended* one of Sean's best interviews.

From SGTbull07

Ten Years on and still no WMDs

Ten years on and still no WMDs have been found. But then people on the ground knew that before the first bomb dropped. As my close friend who had fought in Gulf War I, flown his FA-18 to enforce the "no fly zone" and spent several months attached to the UN searching for WMDs on the ground said "the only WMD I ever found in Iraq lived in my guts for most of the time I was there".

From ten


From TheYoungTurks

Brother JohnF - Silver Update: Bank Runs

From BrotherJohnF

Nigel Farage - On the Cypriot Banking Crisis

* Update* Nigel Farage was interviewed overnight Sydney time on the Cyprus crisis by King World News. Nigel was speaking to Eric King whilst the news came thru on the Cyprus banking theft vote. Brilliant interview. Listen here

 ------ / ------

This story is a little stale as the vote in Cyprus has already occurred with the result being:

36 MPs voted No, 19 Abstained - and zero wanting to be blown up, shot or kidnapped for voting Yes.

From RussiaToday

Cyprus Vote - No!


 
BREAKING: The Cyprus parliament has rejected the bailout deal.

36 MPs voted no, and 19 abstained.
 
Amazing how persuasive Russians can be.

Cyprus Finance Minister Submits Resignation

Just in: Cyprus's finance minister Michalis Sarris has denied resigning (following rumours that swept Cyprus and the markets this afternoon).

According to Reuters, Sarris texted them to say there was "no truth" in the reports.


Cyprus update

March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Luxembourg Minister of Finance Luc Frieden discusses the Cyprus deposit-tax vote and protests. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Market Makers."

RAP NEWS 18: The Gun Debate

Better late than never....the world's greatest news show is back.

From thejuicemedia

Could tiny Cyprus take down the world?

From TheBigPictureRT

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Gerald Celente - Cyprus Looting is Only The Beginning

From TheAlexJonesChannel

Bitcoin - Just another fad?

From GoldMoneyNews

JPMorgan wins dismissal of silver price-fixing lawsuit


From reuters.com

Original source

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) has won the dismissal of a nationwide investors' lawsuit accusing the largest U.S. bank of conspiring to drive down silver prices.

U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson in Manhattan said the investors, who bought and sold COMEX silver futures and options contracts, failed to show that JPMorgan manipulated prices at their expense, including by amassing huge short positions that were not justified by market events at the time.

In a decision made public on Monday, Patterson said that while the investors showed that JPMorgan had the ability to influence prices, a fact the bank did not dispute, they failed to show that the bank "intended to cause artificial prices to exist" and acted accordingly.

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Occupy Cyprus

From Euronews


This image seems to sum up the feeling of crowds towards the German influenced EU bailout

 

Conversations with Great Minds - Prof. Steve Keen

Sydney based economist, Steve Keen is interviewed on the RT show "The Big Picture"

From TheBigPictureRT



Cyprus Protesters capture flag from German Embassy


Cyprus deal shocks markets

From Euronews

Bill Murphy of GATA with Don Harrold

From UnconventionalFIN

Silver Stacker On The Edge

From TruthNeverTold

I told you Dmitri would not be happy

From Euronews


There is always a silver lining

Haha if there is any laughs in this Cyprus bank drama is has got to be this story......

From The Australian

Original source

ALEXANDER Downer is among those who will lose money under a new bank depositors' tax in an EU bailout for Cyprus.

The Howard government foreign minister holds a personal bank account in Cyprus, and the new tax will apply to residents and non-residents alike.

Mr Downer said he used the account when in the country in his capacity as the UN Secretary-General's special adviser on Cyprus. He was in Cyprus for all of last week and yesterday spoke from New York, where he is preparing to this week brief the UN Security Council on the recently finalised elections.

"The economic situation is not my area of expertise -- but I know all about it because I have a bank account in Cyprus," Mr Downer said.

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Cyprus levy tipping point for Eurozone between safety & panic

From RussiaToday

Cyprus may make its citizens shoulder a 12.5-percent crisis tax on savings larger than €100,000, while reducing the tax for smaller deposits to 3 percent, Reuters reported. Panic ensued as Cypriots rushed to withdraw savings. Global markets analyst Patrick Young says that EU's proposition to encroach on personal as well as foreign bank deposits deeply endangers the banking system.

Stock markets tumble on Cyprus bank tax plan

From Euronews

Monday, March 18, 2013

Putin hits out at "dangerous" Cyprus bank deposit levy


As predicted on this blog yesterday the Russians will defiantly have something to say about this Cyprus bank theft.

From reuters.com

Original source

(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized on Monday a levy imposed by the European Union on bank deposits in Cyprus as unfair and setting a dangerous precedent.

"While assessing the proposed additional levy on bank accounts in Cyprus, Putin said that such a decision, should it be made, would be unfair, unprofessional and dangerous," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

Russian citizens account for the majority of the billions of euros held in Cypriot banks by foreign depositors, and Russian banks are heavily exposed to the island as a favored offshore centre for big business.

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News of the Cypriot Banking Crisis reaches the Bunker

If you think Hitler is angry imagine how pissed Putin and his old FSB buddies are right now.


Satyajit Das on the Cypriot Banking Crisis

Satyajit Das, Sydney based veteran financial consultant discusses the Cypriot banking crisis and the imposition of extraordinary levies on deposit holders. Das is interviewed on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC ~ think BBC with an Aussie accent) nightly radio current affairs show "PM". The discussion of Cyprus starts about a third of the way into the show. Listen / download here

Eric Sprott on The Fix

My favourite billionaire, Eric Sprott discusses market manipulation, the London Gold and Silver fixes and the precious metal markets in general. I highly recommend this lengthy interview Listen to the KWN interview here

Truth About Markets

Max and Stacy's last radio broadcast from New York (they are back in London next week). They discuss New York life and compare it to London and Paris. Then as always dissect the market news of the week. Listen or download here

Egon von Greyerz on Gold and the DOW

Egon von Greyez discusses stock markets, predicting the DOW will go down another 90% when priced in Gold (it is already done 60% over the last 5 years) and also the poor world economic situation. Listen to the KWN interview here

Gold and Silver Gap Higher on the Open

Morning all, as expected Gold and Silver have gaped higher on the open of the New York Globex market. It seems the smart players have regained some trust in real money vs. pretend money held in bank accounts that can be stolen by politicians when things get a little tight. It will be interesting to see how trading goes today particularly latter in London and overnight on the New York Comex.


Charts from goldprice.org

Cyprus parliament delays debate on EU bailout

'Delayed' - yeah right. Not someone running and shouting in fear "The Ivans are coming!!!"

From AlJazeeraEnglish

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Cyprus Bank Run

From Euronews

SD Weekly Metals & Markets

From silverdoctors

Weekend Chillout - From Russia With Love

Given that no doubt a few project managers from the Russian Mafia and the FSB are on their way to Cyprus as we speak to discuss the finer details of the bailout plan, and why their internet banking has seemed to have stopped working I thought the following classic to be appropriate.

 

Have Cypriot politicians just committed suicide?

What the 50% of deposits in Cyprus owned by Russians are boring? Are Russians with large amounts of cash are not scary?



They better hope Dmitri had no savings in a Cyprus bank


Game On! - Expect Eurozone Bank Runs


Expect Bank Runs

Why would any rational thinking Spanish person keep any money in Spanish banks? They shouldn't and I suspect they won't.

Moreover, this is bound to further inflame the situation in Italy, where Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement is already the largest party.

In short, this action was one of the single stupidest things the EU could have done and they crammed it down the throats of all Cyprus citizens, hoping to stop the spread of contagion.

My friend Bernd who lives in Germany had these comments. "Judging by the German forums on Focus, Der Spiegel, SZ, FAZ and Die Zeit, there is hardly any support for this action. The name calling and swearing is rather blunt. These guys did not study their Machiavelli. He said roughly if you hurt people, you must never hurt all of them at once."

The closest Machiavelli quote I can find is "If you need to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance."

Rest assured there is going to be vengeance over this action. The Cyprus government will fall, and deposit fear will spread everywhere.

By Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Read more at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/#Hc2mgYER4GZd0qyQ.99