India and Vietnam: Taking the Glitter out of Gold … When uncertainty reigns, investors all over the world turn to gold as a safe haven. But some countries are starting to take issue with their residents' preference for storing wealth in gold bars, rather than bank accounts … Widespread investments in physical gold … mean that large pots of wealth sit idle, instead of being pu...Read More
America needs a new war or capitalism dies Commentary: Low defense spending is killing jobs … America needs a new war? For the economy to survive? Job market to revive? Capitalism thrive? Maybe. Here's why: Forbes reported that GDP data "fell for the first time in three and a half years in the fourth quarter … declining by an annualized 0.1%" while "economists had ex...Read More
Soros says gold safe haven no more, but sees cbank support-report Institutional investor George Soros said gold has been destroyed as a safe-haven asset, but expects continued central bank buying to support prices, the South China Morning Post reported. – ReutersDominant Social Theme: Don't put your trust in gold.Free-Market Analysis: For those of us who spend time documenting various gl...Read More
How the gold market was crashed … There's been a recent huge draw down of physical gold at the New York COMEX and at the JPMorgan Chase depository … So what to do? And how can that happen? They have to hatch a plan and carefully orchestrate it in a series of events that takes the gold market completely by surprise and force players out of their long positions. Read on for today'...Read More
Is America's democracy broken? Europe's hair-trigger economy The U.S. must embrace a growth agenda America has multiple deficits How to target untaxed wealth … With the release of the president's budget, Washington has once again descended into partisan squabbling. There is in America today pervasive concern about the basic functioning of our democracy. Congress is viewed less fa...Read More
Industrial eclipse … Earlier this year, we noted that China's output of services was poised to overtake its industrial production, probably as soon as this year. That would represent an interesting milestone for China's economy, which is renowned for the hum of its assembly lines, the belch of its smokestacks and the clang of its construction sites. Today's GDP report brings that...Read More
Algae-powered apartment complex blooms in Hamburg BIQ House … A 15-unit net-zero energy apartment complex clad with an algae-filled bio-adaptive shell, is completed in Hamburg, Germany, as part of the International Building Exhibition. – Mother NatureDominant Social Theme: Hard to build a house these days.Free-Market Analysis: It is getting more difficult to live, isn't it? We only...Read More
Soros says gold safe haven no more, but sees cbank support-report Institutional investor George Soros said gold has been destroyed as a safe-haven asset, but expects continued central bank buying to support prices, the South China Morning Post reported. – ReutersDominant Social Theme: Don't put your trust in gold.Free-Market Analysis: For those of us who spend time documenting various gl...Read More
How the gold market was crashed … There's been a recent huge draw down of physical gold at the New York COMEX and at the JPMorgan Chase depository … So what to do? And how can that happen? They have to hatch a plan and carefully orchestrate it in a series of events that takes the gold market completely by surprise and force players out of their long positions. Read on for today'...Read More
Is America's democracy broken? Europe's hair-trigger economy The U.S. must embrace a growth agenda America has multiple deficits How to target untaxed wealth … With the release of the president's budget, Washington has once again descended into partisan squabbling. There is in America today pervasive concern about the basic functioning of our democracy. Congress is viewed less fa...Read More
Industrial eclipse … Earlier this year, we noted that China's output of services was poised to overtake its industrial production, probably as soon as this year. That would represent an interesting milestone for China's economy, which is renowned for the hum of its assembly lines, the belch of its smokestacks and the clang of its construction sites. Today's GDP report brings that...Read More
Algae-powered apartment complex blooms in Hamburg BIQ House … A 15-unit net-zero energy apartment complex clad with an algae-filled bio-adaptive shell, is completed in Hamburg, Germany, as part of the International Building Exhibition. – Mother NatureDominant Social Theme: Hard to build a house these days.Free-Market Analysis: It is getting more difficult to live, isn't it? We only...Read More
Big money flowing into stock, bond funds … Go with the flow: Investors added a record amount of cash to mutual funds in the first quarter. Stock and bond funds attracted a combined $193 billion, industry consultant Strategic Insight said. That tops the previous record of $140 billion in net deposits in the first quarter of 2007. ETF cash haul: Including exchange-traded funds, net deposits in...Read More
Gold tumbles to two-year low … The slide in gold prices became a rout on Monday as the precious metal tumbled a further 5 per cent to its lowest level in two years. Bullion was swept up in a wider sell-off across markets after Chinese growth figures disappointed. But the momentum behind gold's fall has been building for several months, with investors increasingly questioning whether the...Read More
Disappointing Chinese growth figures spook markets … An unexpected slowdown in China's economic growth has cast fresh doubt over the strength of its recovery, sending jitters through the stock markets. Chinese GDP grew by an annualised 7.7pc in the first three months of this year, down from the previous quarter's 7.9pc growth, according to official government figures. Analysts had ho...Read More
Bin €500 notes to spread debt burden … The €500 note is one of the many mysteries surrounding the birth of the euro. For whom, exactly, was the equivalent of $600 or £400 designed? No other significant currency is available in a form that allows £1m-worth to be comfortably carried in a briefcase and which is effectively non-negotiable in everyday use. – Financial...Read More
North Korea Capability-cobalt 60 weapon poisoning of world … North Korea's ultimate defense! – Godlike ProductionsDominant Social Theme: Nuclear war is just around the corner.Free-Market Analysis: We have wondered recently why the US has not acted more forcefully as regards North Korea's various "provocations."One theory being floated by certain more "far out&quo...Read More
Big money flowing into stock, bond funds … Go with the flow: Investors added a record amount of cash to mutual funds in the first quarter. Stock and bond funds attracted a combined $193 billion, industry consultant Strategic Insight said. That tops the previous record of $140 billion in net deposits in the first quarter of 2007. ETF cash haul: Including exchange-traded funds, net deposits in...Read More
Gold tumbles to two-year low … The slide in gold prices became a rout on Monday as the precious metal tumbled a further 5 per cent to its lowest level in two years. Bullion was swept up in a wider sell-off across markets after Chinese growth figures disappointed. But the momentum behind gold's fall has been building for several months, with investors increasingly questioning whether the...Read More
Disappointing Chinese growth figures spook markets … An unexpected slowdown in China's economic growth has cast fresh doubt over the strength of its recovery, sending jitters through the stock markets. Chinese GDP grew by an annualised 7.7pc in the first three months of this year, down from the previous quarter's 7.9pc growth, according to official government figures. Analysts had ho...Read More