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U.S. Banking is a Clone of Society: One-Tenth of One Percent Have the Bulk of the Wealth

by Pam Martens and Russ Martens
Wall Street on Parade

The two greatest periods of wealth inequality in the United States (the 1920s and today) have one critical element in common – there was no Glass-Steagall Act. The absence of the Glass-Steagall Act allows Wall Street banks to use the savings of small depositors across the United States to fuel risky speculation on Wall Street and create the super rich. After the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression, the Glass-Steagall Act became law and put an end to this institutionalized wealth transfer system from the legislation’s enactment in 1933 until its repeal in 1999 under the Presidency of Bill Clinton.

Today’s banking system is a perfect reflection of U.S. society. Just six banks (one-tenth of one percent of the 6,000 insured-depository banks in the U.S.) control the bulk of total assets while, as Senator Bernie Sanders regularly reminds his audiences, in American society “the top one-tenth of one percent owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent.”

Continue Reading at WallStreetOnParade.com…

So What if Silver and Gold Prices Are Rigged?

by Dr. Jeffrey Lewis
Silver Coin Investor

The dominant school of thought rests it case on the premise that no matter how direct or egregious, out in the open, or surreptitious the intervention actually is- ultimately, ‘the markets’ will prevail. This common view also emanates from the world of alternative investing, including the thought leaders in sound money.

True market value will always be expressed eventually. Fair value will and must exert itself from ‘digits on high’ all the way to the farmers’ market and the retail store.

It will not be a smooth return to equilibrium. And no one can predict details of how we arrive. However, ignoring the basic functioning along the way – for the privilege of being right is a flattery without substance.

Continue Reading at Silver-Coin-Investor.com…

Tom Cloud’s Precious Metals Market Update (07/12/16)




from Follow the Money

Chart: Watch Gold Prices to Profit from Silver

by Daryl Guppy
CNBC.com

Gold prices are up 25 percent in 2016 while the surge in silver has seen prices rally 46 percent this year. Early in 2016, the silver price behavior stopped leading the gold price behavior. Silver reverted to its previous behavior of following the gold behavior but it has remained a very profitable trade.

Silver has an upside target of $26.00. That’s 30 percent higher from the current price near $20.00. Gold has an upside target near $1580, which gives a 16 percent gain from the current price near $1360.

Silver is slower to move but it has more room for an upside and this delivers better profits. In March we suggested the smart trade was to look at gold, and then execute the trade in the silver market. It has been a good trade with silver replicating the strong breakout in gold prices.

Continue Reading at CNBC.com…

Still Report #1027 – Justice Ginsburg Knocks Trump




from Bill Still

Gundlach Says Wall Street’s Suffering ‘Mass Psychosis’

Stocks in lockstep with bonds? That’s an unsettling landscape for DoubleLine’s Jeff Gundlach

by Mark DeCambre
Market Watch

This market is dealing with a “mass psychosis.” That’s the latest perspective on the state of Wall Street from Jeff Gundlach, the star money manager who founded DoubleLine Capital.

Late Tuesday, during his regular webcasts to discuss markets, Gundlach sounded perplexed that investors’ demand for the perceived safety of government bonds has driven 10-year Treasury notes TMUBMUSD10Y, -2.98% to record lows, even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.10% and the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.04% are soaring to fresh record highs.

Treasury yields, which have come off their 2016 nadir, are still hovering below their levels before the U.K.’s decision to exit the European Union—dubbed Brexit—sent global stock markets spiraling down. Bond prices move inversely to yields.

Continue Reading at MarketWatch.com…

State Department Stonewalls On Syria Weapons




from RonPaulLibertyReport

The Hottest Sector in the Stock Market (Hint: Not Gold)

by Michael Covel
Daily Reckoning

The S&P 500 just hit a new high on Tuesday, closing at 2,152.14.

Like Clinton shrugging off a criminal prosecution, this bull market keeps beating back uncertainty and bad news…

Stagnant global economic growth and an historic debt bubble? No worries.

Negative interest rates causing a meltdown in European banks? Nothing to see here.

Brexit leading to a potential crack-up of the EU? It’s just a flesh wound!

Continue Reading at DailyReckoning.com…

Fed’s Mester Says Helicopter Money “The Next Step” In US Monetary Policy

from Zero Hedge

Think “helicopter money” is/will be confined only to Japan, which has been sending conflicting trial balloons about this unprecedented next step in monetary policy for the past two days (first Japan’s Senkei reported that the government will be adopting “helicopter money” followed by a government spokesman denying the report, then followed by a separate Bloomberg report about a 10T yen stimulus plan, the concluding with Abe advisor Koici Hamada saying that “boosting fiscal and monetary stimulus at the same time would be effective” in Japan)? Think again.

Continue Reading at ZeroHedge.com…

Everything “They” Do Now is About Market Manipulation

by Andrew Hoffman
Miles Franklin

For some time, I have made it known that the title of my article on the day the Fed announces QE4 and/or negative interest policy, will be “Ding Dong, the Fed is Dead.” However, in reality that day passed long ago – as exemplified by the Fed’s inaction on June 15th, after having bluffed throughout May of a “potential rate hike.” To that end, my audioblog the following day was titled “Central banks are dead”; and if I had to guess, “Cliff High’s” web bots are likely uncovering the keywords “central banks”; “dead”; “lack of credibility”; “ineffective”; and “impotent” at exponentially growing rates. Which is probably why he thinks silver will reach $38/oz by July 28th – a forecast I’m watching with great intrigue, as his credibility, too, is on the line. Then again, I last weekend “called” the Cartel’s imminent demise – for the most part, due to its tenuous, record-setting silver short position. Not to “make a name for myself,” but because 14 years of research tell me the end game of Precious Metal suppression is nigh – and with it, the “window” to protect yourself. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see; however, what I’ve seen thus far, in just the first day-plus of post-“call” action, tells me I could be on to something.

Continue Reading at MilesFranklin.com…

Gestapo America

by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts
PaulCraigRoberts.org

FBI Director James Comey got Hillary off the hook but wants to put you on it. He is pushing hard for warrantless access to all of your Internet activity.

Comey, who would have fit in perfectly with Hitler’s Gestapo, tells Congress that the United States is not safe unless the FBI knows when every American goes online, to whom they are sending emails and from whom they are receiving emails, and knows every website visited by every American.

In other words, Comey wants to render null and void the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution and completely destroy your privacy rights.

Continue Reading at PaulCraigRoberts.org…

This Week With JB & SFC

by Turd Ferguson
TF Metals Report

Mr. Batchelor and Professor Cohen return with their latest update on the New Cold War. Sadly, this situation continues to deteriorate and you must stay on top of the current conditions. These weekly podcasts from The John Batchelor Show are the best way to do it.

With President Woody and other NATO “leaders” convening in Warsaw last week, The New Cold War to an even more dangerous turn. To that end, Mr. Batchelor and Professor Cohen spent the hour last evening bringing everyone up-to-speed and providing an accurate summation of where the conflict stands.

Continue Reading at TFMetalsReport.com…

The U.S. Government Is Targeting Your Retirement Savings… Here’s What You Can Do

by Nick Giambruno, Senior Editor
International Man

Even before the Obama Administration introduced the new myRA program last year, there were whispers that the U.S. government would “assume some risk” for U.S. retirement accounts.

That makes for a nice sound bite, but it’s really code for forcing American savers to buy government bonds.

Here’s how it works. There’s no minimum balance to open a myRA account. And the accounts don’t incur fees.

However, your myRA can only invest in U.S. Treasuries, which probably won’t even come close to keeping up with the real rate of inflation. In other words, what myRAs really offer is “return-free risk.”

Continue Reading at InternationalMan.com…

Loretta Lynch Ducks 74 Questions From Congress: “Either Avoiding Appearances or Protecting Hillary”

by Mac Slavo
SHTF Plan

Did Attorney General Loretta Lynch lie about or obfuscate her role in clearing Hillary in the investigations concerning the handling of classified emails on her private server?

Is there a quid pro quo among the two women, in which Lynch could have been promised a role in the next Clinton Administration in exchange for her help in calling off potential criminal charges that might derail Hillary’s campaign.

Lynch claims there is no such relationship. But she also refused to answer at least 74 of Congress’ questions about her private meeting with former President Bill Clinton and her relationship with the Clintons and/or their staff.

Continue Reading at SHTFPlan.com…

With a Recovery Like This, Who Needs a Recession

62 percent of Americans don’t even have $1000 in savings.

from My Budget 360

The stock market just hit another record high. Yet only half of Americans actually own any stock. Real estate prices are ebbing closer to their previous bubble peak. Yet the homeownership rate is down. The unemployment rate is down dramatically but we have over 94 million Americans not in the labor force. This recovery seems so contradictory in many ways. One glaring example of this is by how little Americans have saved for a rainy day. Another survey was recently released showing that 62 percent of Americans don’t even have $1000 in savings. In other words, most people are one small emergency expense away from being on the streets. What this means is that many will simply rely on credit cards, friends, or family should an emergency arise. With a recovery like this, who needs a recession?

Continue Reading at MyBudget360.com…

Why We Get More Policing Than We Need: It’s “Free”

by Ryan McMaken
Mises.org

In a press conference Monday, Dallas Police Chief David Brown admitted that the American propensity for sending the police to deal with every minor social problem has failed:

“We’re asking cops to do too much in this country” said Brown.

“Every societal failure, we put it off on the cops to solve” said Brown. He listed mental health, drug addiction, loose dogs, failing schools as problems the public expects ‘cops to solve.’

“Seventy percent of the African American community is being raised by single women, let’s give it to the cops to solve that as well” said Brown. “Policing was never meant to solve all those problems.”

Brown is right.

Continue Reading at Mises.org…

Gold is Just Getting Warmed up – UBS Analyst

And may just be entering a new bull run.

by Frank Holmes
Mine Web

It’s been a stellar six months for gold investors. The yellow metal has surged 28 percent year-to-date, its best first half of the year since 1974. And now there are signs that the rally is just getting started.

That’s the assessment of analysts from UBS and Credit Suisse, who see gold entering a new bull run. According to UBS analyst Joni Teves, gold could climb to $1,400 an ounce in the short term on macroeconomic uncertainty, dovish monetary policy and lower yields.

“These factors,” Teves writes, “justify strategic gold allocations across different types of investors” and should encourage hesitant investors to participate.

Already-low bond yields around the globe have fallen even further in Brexit’s wake, many of them hitting fresh all-time lows, including yields in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Australia, Japan and elsewhere.

Continue Reading at MineWeb.com…

Must the Metals Pull Back?

by Avi Gilburt
Gold Seek

After 4 years of getting trounced, bulls have learned to be quite skeptical and gun shy. This is what a larger degree correction does to the market psyche, as it builds the “wall of worry” for the next bull phase.

In fact, many of the staunchest of bulls over the last 4 years were caught looking lower when the metals bottomed, and, now, have been fighting the current rally, as they are looking for the metals to pullback. I have seen many analysts and market participants note that the metals have “gone too far too fast.” Many have been convinced a pullback is just around the corner since the market is “overbought.” More have been expecting a correction for several months due to the heavily bearish COT reports. And, the latest expectation I heard is that the complex will certainly drop now since the CME has raised margin requirements. It seems everyone is looking for a pullback and everyone has their reasons why it must happen. But, the metals do not often provide investors what they want or expect.

Continue Reading at GoldSeek.com…

Stocks Rally – Is Brexit Systemic Risks Contained?

by David Russell
GoldCore

Equity markets globally have rebounded to their pre-Brexit levels and volatility in financial markets is the lowest that it has been for a month. Even the precious metals rally has taken a breather. Are the markets suggesting that the fallout from Brexit is less than previously thought and that the systemic risk posed by the UK leaving the EU is contained?

[..] The emergence of Theresa May as the new Prime Minister of Great Britain has at least given a degree of certainty in what was looking like a political vacuum but is this enough to ease the nerves of the financial markets. In the short term, at least it would appear so.

Unexpectedly, calm is returning to global markets on speculation central bank action will be sufficient to restrict any Brexit contagion. Economists predict the Bank of England will cut interest rates Thursday, while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ordered more fiscal stimulus. Traders are pricing in less than 35 percent odds of the Federal Reserve raising rates this year.

Continue Reading at GoldGore.com…

50-Year Veteran Issues Major Warning, Says Silver to Hit New All-Time Highs

from King World News

In the aftermath of the Dow hitting a record high, today a 50-year veteran told King World News that silver is headed to new all-time highs. He also issued a major warning.

John Embry: “Eric, things must be deteriorating even more rapidly than I think and that’s hard to believe…

[…] John Embry continues: “Last Friday’s jobs number was so ludicrous that anyone who took it seriously has to be naive. David Rosenberg suggested that the number was probably negative rather than plus 287,000. However, that didn’t stop the mainstream media from putting the number on the front pages.

Continue Reading at KingWorldNews.com…

Not Too Late for Real Money in a World, Distracted

by Dr. Jeffrey Lewis
Silver Seek

It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning. – Henry Ford

A recent IMF study estimated that the profits of the big banks in the United States are almost entirely due to the government sponsored backstops. It’s not just bailouts, but also cheap credit, and judicial negligence.

So when the JP Morgan and Chase pay a $13 billion fine for criminal behavior it’s nothing compared to what they’re getting simply by having a government insurance policy.

Continue Reading at SilverSeek.com…