Baltic Dry Index. 811 -07
LIR Gold Target by 2019: $30,000. Revised due to QE programs.
“There
is no need for European recommendations; what’s needed is obvious. It’s not for
the commission to dictate what we have to do.”
François
Hollande.
Ahead of the upcoming “Great Leaders” EU summit next
month, some of the “Great Leaders” are getting grumpy. Yesterday France’s “Great
Leader” told the European Commission what it could do with its recommendations,
while according to the Financial Times, important members of Chancellor Merkel’s
political party accused President Hollande and France of “shaking the foundations of the European Union.” “Vehement
criticism of the European Commission’s reform proposals . . . contradicts the
spirit and letter of European agreements and treaties”, said Andreas Schockenhoff, a deputy chairman and
foreign policy spokesman of the CDU in the German parliament. “Someone who talks like that is shaking the foundations
of the EU.” France, know thy place, say the arrogant German paymasters. The upcoming Great Leader’s summit is shaping
up to be an all against Germany car crash.
Below East Germany’s
Chancellor Merkel orders old socialist Hollande to jump and sets the height.
Long gone are the days of De Gaulle’s French run Europe, or even the junior
partner in “Merkozy.” Since the great crash of 2008-2009, it’s the German
paymaster way, for continental Europe or the highway. Europe’s troughing politicians
being what they are, few if any on the other side of the Channel will walk away
from the EU’s trough.
"We
can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it."
Marge
Simpson
Merkel tells Hollande - France must implement reforms
PARIS |(Reuters) - France has an obligation to press ahead with structural reforms now that the European Commission has granted it two extra years to reduce its budget deficit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.
Speaking at a joint news conference with French President Francois Hollande after talks on reforming Europe, Merkel listed countries, including Spain and Greece, that have enacted tough structural reforms while slashing their budget deficits but did not include France.
"We agreed to give France two more years to cut its deficit to 3.0 percent (of gross domestic product)... and coupled with that is the expectation that reforms will be implemented. These go hand in hand," Merkel said.
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Germans irked as Hollande says EU cannot dictate French reforms
ARIS/BERLIN |(Reuters) - President Francois Hollande pledged on Thursday to carry out long overdue reforms of France's pension system and labour markets but said it was up to Paris, not the European Commission, to determine how they are implemented.
At a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Hollande defended his comment that the EU executive cannot "dictate" reforms to member states - a defiant, nationalist tone that angered Germany's ruling conservatives.
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French jobless claims hit new record in April - paper
ARIS |(Reuters) - The number of people out of work in France hit a record high in April, the daily Les Echos said on Thursday, casting more doubt on President Francois Hollande's pledge to reverse a long-running rise in unemployment.
The number of registered jobseekers rose by about 40,000 in April from March's previous high, the financial daily reported ahead of the official publication of the figures later on Thursday. It did not quote its sources.
The data was widely expected to show another increase, marking two straight years of monthly rises and the worst level since records began in January 1996.
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3.26 million jobless in France in April: Labor Ministry
he French
Labor Ministry says the number of unemployed people reached a record high of
3.26 million in April.
The ministry said on Thursday that the number of registered jobseekers in the eurozone's second-largest economy increased by 39,800 last month, marking the 24th consecutive monthly rise.
The increase is equivalent to 1,326 new jobseekers per day and represented a 12.5 percent rise over a year ago.
The previous jobless record in the country was in January 1997, when 3.195 million people were unemployed.
The figures are considered as a major challenge for Socialist President Francois Hollande, who has pledged to curb the unemployment rate from the current level of more than 10 percent to a single-digit figure by December this year.
Hollande's popularity, which had already been affected by the poor performance of the economy, is shrinking to record lows. In March, only 30 percent of the 1,000 people surveyed by the polling company TNS Sofres said they were satisfied with the president, down from the 35 percent recorded the previous month.
More
Back on the saner, non-German side of the English Channel, the UK’s taxpayers are about to get hosed for hosting the planets Lords of the Universe at Hertfordshire’s 5 star luxury Grove Hotel. Since the Grove is “a Leading Hotel of The World, The Grove is unstuffy and open to all. Come here, breathe, relax and have enormous fun!” I suggest that Europe’s unemployed youth drop in June 6-9th, to breathe, relax and have enormous fun. Why not, the hapless UK taxpayer is making sure that you will be safe from Moslem fanatics and dissident IRA murderers.
“Our tolerance is part of what makes Britain, Britain. So conform to it, or don't come here.”
Tony Blair
British taxpayers to pay 'millions' towards secretive Bilderberg meeting security
Taxpayers are likely to have to pay millions towards the cost of policing the secretive Bilderberg meeting of the global elite due to gather in Hertfordshire next week.
By Rowena
Mason, Political correspondent 3:31PM BST 30 May 2013
The
clandestine meeting of royalty, prime ministers and business chiefs is taking
place in Britain for the first time since 1998, sparking fears of
"violence and disturbance" by protesters.
The
Bilderberg organisers, who include Tory Cabinet minister Ken Clarke, do not
release a guest list but a roll-call of luminaries are expected to descend on a
luxury Watford hotel from June 6, forcing police to step up security.
Hertfordshire
police have refused to release the cost of security for the event, which has
previously drawn anti-capitalist demonstrators in other locations around the
world.
However,
they are in talks with the Home Office about a grant for "unexpected or
exceptional costs" that is only given out if it threatens the stability of
the force's policing budget. The final bill would have to total more than one
per cent of the police force's overall spend - or about £1.8 million - for the
grant to be successful.
The
invitation-only Bilderberg meetings are attended by around 140 members of the
international elite.
----The cloak of secrecy surrounding the meetings, which ban journalists from attending, has fuelled conspiracy theories that so-called Bilderbergers are planning global domination and world unification.
However,
the event is most often likened to a political version of the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which draws members of high society to discuss
business and the economy.
Its
steering commitee includes Mr Clarke, Cabinet minister without portfolio,
Thomas Enders, chief executive of defence company EADS, and Peter Sutherland,
the chairman of Goldman Sachs.
---The last time the Bilderberg Group met
in Britain was in Turnberry in Scotland in 1998. This year's event will be at
the Grove Hotel in Watford, which has been booked out for the duration of the
conference from 6th to 9th June.
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The Grove 5 star hotel resort Hertfordshire England
Welcome to London's cosmopolitan country estate. You won't believe we're 30 mins from Heathrow, 17 mins from London Euston, 3 mins from the M25... we're so nearby, you can switch off sooner.Time's precious and every moment feels longer at The Grove. You're surrounded by nature and there's so much to do that you can spend days here and never do the same thing twice.
Play on our Championship golf course, enjoy our award-winning Sequoia Spa, dine in three restaurants and waste time in our lounges, bars, Walled Garden and woods. A very special luxury hotel resort and a Leading Hotel of The World, The Grove is unstuffy and open to all.Come here, breathe, relax and have enormous fun!
The
French complain of everything, and always.
Napoleon Bonaparte
At the Comex silver depositories Thursday final figures were: Registered 42.81
Moz, Eligible 122.48 Moz, Total 165.29 Moz.
Crooks and
Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally
doubled over.
Today, a Frankenfood disaster that we were all assured could never
happen. An unapproved genetically modified Monsanto wheat turns up on an 80
acre farm in Oregon. “Monsanto said there’s reason to believe the incident is
highly isolated and should not concern consumers or trading partners.” But they
would say that wouldn’t they. They also
said that such a release couldn’t happen at all. If it’s happened once, why not
twice, thrice, or many more times? But why should we be believing Monsanto assurances
at all? Oregon wheat anyone?
"When the waitress asked
if I wanted my pizza cut into four or eight slices, I said, 'Four. I don’t
think I can eat eight.'"
Yogi Berra
Monsanto Modified Wheat Not Approved by USDA in Field
By Alan
Bjerga - May 30, 2013 11:04 AM GMT
Genetically modified wheat created by Monsanto Co.
(MON) that wasn’t approved for use turned up on an 80-acre farm in Oregon
last month, threatening the outlook for U.S. exports of the grain that are the
world’s largest. A farmer attempting to kill wheat with Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide found several plants survived the weedkiller, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday in a statement. Scientists found the wheat was a strain field-tested from 1998 to 2005 and deemed safe before St. Louis-based Monsanto, the world’s largest seedmaker, pulled Roundup Ready wheat from the regulatory approval process on concern that importers would avoid the crop.
I would imagine even the perception that GM wheat is out there would have some impact on our exports” with so many countries “putting their foot down on not accepting” gene-altered crops, Ryan Larsen, an assistant professor of agribusiness and applied economics at North Dakota State University in Fargo, said by telephone. “This continues that bad persona that GM crops have. It allows people to say ‘See, it’s out there and we’re not being told it’s out there.’ ”
Wheat futures fell 0.5 percent to $6.99 a bushel by 4:58 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Japan suspended imports of western-white wheat and feed wheat from the U.S., and canceled an order, said Hiromi Iwahama, director for grain trade and operation at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The European Union will recommend countries test imported U.S. wheat.
Government
investigators are tracking the origin of the plants and consulting with trade
partners to assure them the exposure is limited and poses no threat to human
health, according to Michael Firko, acting deputy administrator at the USDA’s Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service. No evidence exists that the never-approved
wheat has entered the commercial food or feed supply, he said. Monsanto said
there’s reason to believe the incident is highly isolated and should not
concern consumers or trading partners.
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We end for the week pondering Global Cooling. We are deep into the new “Dalton
Minimum” in sunspot cycles, and perhaps this is our future for this decade and
next.
Spring to be coldest for 50 years
The UK is on track for its coldest spring for more than 50 years following another fortnight of below average temperatures, according to provisional figures from the Met Office.
By Press
Association 3:07PM BST 30 May 2013
The
average temperature for the three spring months of March, April and May is 6C
(43F), making it the fifth coldest spring in records dating back for more than
a century to 1910, and the chilliest since 1962.
Earlier
figures up to mid-May had suggested this spring was on track to be the 6th
coldest on record, and the coldest since 1979, but another cooler than average
period in the second half of the month has pushed the spring temperatures down.
The main
reason for the cold spring was the exceptionally cold March which registered
average temperatures of 2.2C (36F), some 3.3C (38F) below the long-term
average, making it the coldest March since 1962, the Met Office said.
This May
has also had lower than average temperatures at times, and if there is no
change once figures for the last three days have been included, it will be the
coldest May since 1996.
Spring 2013
bucks the trend of recent years, which has seen eight of the last 10 springs
recording warmer than normal seasons, with temperatures above the 7.7C (46F)
long-term average.
All UK regions
saw colder than average temperatures this year, with England and Wales
experiencing their coldest spring since 1962 and Scotland and Northern Ireland
registering the coolest spring since 1979.
More
"For more than two thousand years gold's natural qualities made it man's universal medium of exchange. In contrast to political money, gold is honest money that survived the ages and will live on long after the political fiats of today have gone the way of all paper."
Hans F. Sennholz
Have a great weekend everyone. Time to shop for winter goods.
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished April:
DJIA: +133 Up. NASDAQ: +139 Up. SP500: +170 Up. Another Fed bubble underway. But when to jump
off before it ends?
