by Michael Krieger
Liberty Blitzkrieg
Here we go again. Stuck in the aftermath of a horrific shooting and all politicians think to do is scheme about how to take more rights from the citizenry. There are no good guys here. The Democrats want to railroad over due process by denying firearms to people on Orwellian watch lists, while Republicans plot to give the FBI more warrantless surveillance powers. This is the authoritarian knee-jerk response to tragedy we get from the U.S Congress.
Hypocritically, when it comes to foreign policy, all we hear are incessant calls for more militarism, more war and more regime change. As I warned in yesterday’s post, Is the Syrian War About to Experience a Major Escalation? — 51 State Department officials just issued a cable calling for the bombing of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. An event likely to lead to direct confrontation with Russia.
On June 14, the 10-year German bund yield traded briefly below zero for the first time. It was an inauspicious record but one that defines the contradictions at the center of all this economic and monetary controversy. On the one hand, that is what central banks tell us they are after especially with QE, to reduce interest rates even at the long end. By buying government bonds all throughout Europe, the reduction in benchmark rates (as sovereigns are judged to be the risk-free equivalent component of the Fisherian hierarchy) is supposed to spread through the rest of the financial system to be “accommodative” to the wider economy. This is “stimulus.”
The day after the EU-UK referendum, leaders will attempt to control political risks of a different nature, depending on the outcome.
A huge force that’s going to fizzle.
All the fuss and bother about Brexit largely ignores its non-binding status – parliament, not voters deciding if Britain stays or leaves the EU, the latter extremely unlikely.
[…] We have now entered options expiry week for the comex and LBMA. As always expect gold and silver to be depressed until the first of July.
Brexit is dominating this week’s headlines, but the event itself is less important than what it signifies, which is the increasing loss of faith in governments and central banks. Voters no longer trust big institutions to act in their best interest and are voting for alternatives of various kinds. When this lack of trust spreads to the financial markets, it’s game over.
Matthew Quirk is the author of the best-selling book, “The 500” and author of the new book on the Fed, “The Directive,” which centers on a conspiracy plot at the Federal Reserve. Quirk joins the podcast to break down how realistic this plot could be today. Quirk spent a year working with red team security experts, hackers, lock pickers, social engineers, and sources inside the Fed to map out what a true-to-life 21st century heist would look like at the most powerful bank in capitalism. He shares the loopholes within the Fed’s security system and gives his guesstimate on the best chance someone has in hacking the Fed.
The U.K. pound sterling held the dominant reserve currency role starting in 1816, following the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the official adoption of the gold standard by the U.K.
Gold analyst Michael Ballanger just posted an article noting how much things have changed — perhaps for the better — in the gold market. Here’s an excerpt:
El-Erian – The Value Of Cash
With the Brexit vote imminent we can expect to see big volatility in markets immediately following it, and possibly even before it, if the market thinks it has got wind of the outcome ahead of the final count. If Britain votes to leave the European Union, the presumption is that the euro will drop hard, because this would be a big prominent nail in the coffin of the failing Union, and because the dollar index is about 57% comprised of the euro, we can expect it to soar. If Britain votes to stay in, the outcome is less clear, since Britain staying in will not solve the mounting problems of the EU.
This week, clients have been net selling gold and silver whilst net buying platinum and palladium.
Asia-Pacific has overtaken North America as the top spot for the super-rich.
Today’s episode of the Shadow of Truth’s Market Update series covers the use of the BREXIT referendum as a point of deflecting the public’s attention away from much more serious issues engulfing the U.S. and the world.