Via Sovereignman.comThe Securities and Exchange Commission clamped down on cryptocurrency firms last week in a major way.The regulatory body issued dozens of subpoenas (some groups estimate more than one hundred) to companies that conducted or advised on initial coin offerings (ICOs).Notes readers aren't surprised, as I've long warned that the scammy ICO market is one of the biggest bubbles I'v...Read More

A Belgian court fined a man ?,?3,000 ($3,700) for telling a female police officer that she should do a job more “adapted to women.”It is the first time that anyone has been convicted of sexism under a new Belgian law.The driver was found guilty of three charges: contempt of a police officer, making threats and sexist remarks in public, and a serious violation of another person's digni...Read More

Via Sovereignman.comWeek before last, I told you about how the brand-new President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, made an impassioned speech calling for the confiscation of real estate from white land owners.It was a pretty remarkable thing to say during what was literally his first week in office.You'd think the new president would take the opportunity to address more immediate, more critical...Read More

No one should have to compete with robots. That is why everyone should strive to do what robots cannot.Flipping burgers and taking orders are quite easy tasks for robots. We have already seen touchscreens offer an alternative to human cashiers. Now robots are starting to replace the backroom staff.Flippy still requires some human help, but its learning. Flippy’s boss though says he is alrea...Read More

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange ended the week predominantly higher at the close of trading on Friday May 11, although aluminium fell 2% and edged below its $2,300 per tonne support level. The light metal fell to a low of $2,263.50 per tonne over the course of the afternoon, while its cash/three-month spread has widened into a contango of $10 per tonne, from $4.75c per tonne earlier in th...Read More

If you have too much debt and bad credit, it may be tough to get credit cards and loans. The idea is that people less likely to pay pack lenders get less credit.Well imagine if there was a social credit system. But it was the government that used it to decide who could travel, or live in certain apartments. Imagine if your social credit was too low to send your kids to a private school, or...Read More

UK ferrous scrap prices for monthly deliveries to consumers in May were unchanged this month, with any possible planned price increases cancelled out by the weakness of sterling against the dollar, trade sources told Metal Bulletin on May 11.Prices for trend-indicating grades in the UK such as HMS 1&2 (old steel) and OA (plate and structural) were flat this week, remaining at ?180-205 ($244-277)...Read More

Have you seen the media freaking out over Amazon buying Whole Foods?The photos you may have seen of empty Whole Foods shelves were taken during this past season’s hurricanes when customers bought up supplies at a fast pace in case of emergency. It had nothing to do with the Amazon deal.It is all fake news according to Whole Foods CEO John Mackey.The truth is that Amazon and Whole Foods are...Read More

Do you think you are smart enough to know what things to ban? Can you foresee all the unintended consequences of using government might to moralize society?Some people think they are that smart. Or for some reason, they think restricting people’s freedom will have no larger effect than in the targeted area.One recent New York Times article wants a porn ban to be an option on the table. The a...Read More

Do you ever wish the U.S. government didn’t know you exist?Faith doesn’t exist, according to the U.S. government.Her parents thought it was wrong for the government to assign children a number. In a sense, they thought they could keep their children free by keeping them out of all records.All nine children were born at home using midwives who agreed not to file any paperwork. They all...Read More

Metal Bulletin rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metal markets this week.Base metalsTwo of the world's largest aluminium producers are teaming up with Apple and the governments of Canada and Quebec in a technology joint venture that could revolutionize the sector. South Korea's Public Procurement Service has floated a tender to procure 1,000 tonnes of Grade...Read More

980 days before election day 2020, Trump announced his intention to run for re-election.This is the perpetual election cycle that the United States lives in. And it is what Trump is good at. He is an entertainer. He is the perfect distraction. When the focus is on Trump, nothing substantial gets discussed.It would be better to talk about what is getting planted in the garden, which cryptocurrencie...Read More

Via Sovereignman.comWe've all seen the headlines: the cost of university education in the United States has become completely debilitating. And student debt keeps rising to record high levels.It's almost commonplace now for a 22-year old to graduate from university with $50,000+ in student debt.According to data from the Federal Reserve, the total amount of student debt in the United States is now...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More

Via Soveriegnman.comEarlier this month, the United States government released its annual financial report for the year 2017.This is something the government does every year, similar to how large companies like Apple, or Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, publish their own annual reports.Unlike Berkshire and Apple, though, whose financial reports typically show strong, positive results, the US...Read More

Average daily volumes (ADV) on the London Metal Exchange rocketed as much as 63.2% year on year for the month of April, with aluminium's ADV difference soaring 117.5% higher, according to the bourse's latest monthly trading report. The LME's monthly trading report includes a breakdown of ADV, with its latest report excluding unallocated trades (UNA) for each metal. An UNA trade is a new service th...Read More

We’re supposed to trust the government to keep us safe. But the two main law enforcement units that should have protected students against the Parkland shooter failed miserably.The shooter was handed to the Broward County Sheriff’s office and the FBI on a silver platter multiple times. There were tips that specifically mentioned school shootings. There were threats made by the shooter,...Read More

Comex copper prices edged higher in the US morning on Friday May 11, with the complex benefiting from a softer dollar. Copper for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 0.70 cents or 0.2% to $3.1170 per lb. Earlier today, the contract touched a high of $3.1265, the highest since April 27. "Copper is still trading within the...Read More

Editor’s Note: Today we are taking a step back from politics to motivate a different kind of freedom. The base of a free society is free individuals, confident in their abilities, and secure in pursuing their happiness.Joe Mirelli is a passionate musician and creative writer from the UK. Previously, he worked in various engineering organizations and 9-5 ‘dead end’ jobs until he r...Read More

Two of the world's largest aluminium producers are teaming up with Apple and the governments of Canada and Quebec in a technology joint venture that could revolutionize the sector. Alcoa and Rio Tinto equally own the majority of the joint venture, to be called Elysis, with the government of Quebec holding a small equity stake of 3.5%. Alcoa had been quietly working on the technology to produce emi...Read More