Baltic Dry Index. 1169 +04
LIR Gold Target by 2019: $30,000. Revised due to QE programs.
“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”
Mark Twain.
Today we open with yet a new chapter in our lawless
21st century age. Yet another example of blatant financial market
rigging comes to light courtesy of Bloomberg, not by the agencies paid from the
public purse to police the banksters and great vampire squids. Whether they are
asleep at the switch or bought and paid for is hard to say, but I rather
suspect the latter. In our new lawless age of central bankster crony casino
capitalism, market rigging is the only game in town. And the market is never
rigged in your favour.
Currency Spikes at 4 P.M. in London Provide Rigging Clues
By Liam Vaughan & Gavin Finch - Aug 28, 2013 12:01 AM GMT
In the space of 20 minutes on the last Friday in June, the value of the U.S.
dollar jumped 0.57 percent against its Canadian counterpart, the biggest move
in a month. Within an hour, two-thirds of that gain had melted away. The same pattern -- a sudden surge minutes before 4 p.m. in London on the last trading day of the month, followed by a quick reversal -- occurred 31 percent of the time across 14 currency pairs over two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. For the most frequently traded pairs, such as euro-dollar, it happened about half the time, the data show.
The
recurring spikes take place at the same time financial benchmarks known as the
WM/Reuters (TRI) rates are set based on those trades. Now fund
managers and scholars say the patterns look like an attempt by currency dealers
to manipulate the rates, distorting the value of trillions of dollars of
investments in funds that track global indexes. Bloomberg News
reported in June that dealers shared information and used client orders to move
the rates to boost trading profit. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority is
reviewing the allegations, a spokesman said.
More
Below, let’s all go to war! With the Fed about to taper and raise all
interest rates, a new Middle East war is just what the voodoo fiat currencies
of the world need. Stay long fully paid up physical precious metals. From the
safety of faraway London, India’s unravelling seems all to likely to eventually
take all of southeast Asia with it.
India’s Rupee Plummets Past 68 to Record; Stocks, Bonds Tumble
By Jeanette Rodrigues,
Santanu Chakraborty & Shikhar Balwani - Aug 28, 2013 6:06 AM GM
India’s
rupee plummeted more than 3 percent to a record on concern a surge in oil
prices will worsen the current account and push the economy toward
its biggest crisis in more than two decades. Stocks and bonds plunged. The U.S., France and the U.K. are considering limited military action against Syria after concluding the regime used chemical weapons against civilians, fanning concern unrest will disrupt Middle East oil supplies. The tension has worsened a rout that’s seen global funds pull $8.7 billion from local debt since end-May on bets the Federal Reserve will pare stimulus. An 8.7 percent jump in Brent crude this month is set to boost costs for India, which imports almost 80 percent of its oil.
“The markets are down on the imminent possibility of a U.S.-led strike on Syria,” said Samir Lodha, senior partner at QuantArt Market Solutions Pvt. in Mumbai. “The Indian market is in a super-panic stage.”
----“India’s macro muddle is fast approaching crisis
proportions,” Richard
Iley, an economist at BNP Paribas SA in Singapore, wrote in a research
report today. “Downward pressure on asset prices is unlikely to abate until the
rupee becomes decisively cheap, maybe weaker than 70, or the authorities
deliver ‘shock and awe’ tightening.”
More
With India in meltdown taking the emerging market currencies along for the ride, it was all back into the yen in Asia for safety, Abenomics be damned. It’s a funny old world in the Great Nixonian Error of fiat currency. Stay long physical precious metals for the coming spectacularly bad ending.
Yen Climbs as Emerging-Market Currencies Slide; Forint Tumbles
By Andrea Wong - Aug 27, 2013 10:18 PM GMT
The yen strengthened the most in almost two months against the euro and
dollar as a slide in emerging-market currencies boosted demand for safer
investments. Japan’s currency gained versus all of its 16 major peers, while the Swiss franc rose against each one but the yen. The euro reversed a loss versus the dollar as a measure of volatility touched a two-month high. The Hungarian forint fell to a four-month low against the euro after the central bank cut the benchmark rate by more than economists expected. India’s rupee and Turkey’s lira both dropped to record lows as global stocks slumped amid escalating tension in Syria.
“Political
headlines are dominating -- with risk-aversed markets such as the yen and the
Swiss franc being the strongest among Group of 10,” Vassili
Serebriakov, a foreign-exchange strategist at BNP Paribas SA in New York,
said in a telephone interview. “We’re starting to see signs of real outflows
again” in emerging
markets.
More
In the Death of Euroland never ending crisis, it
was realism time in Germany. Chancellor Merkel stated the obvious to the increasingly
confused, hapless, duped German serfs. The unloved Bilderberger euro was always
a top down, imposed political project. A one size fits all, wealth destroying fiat
euro, was never a project demanded by Europe’s huddled masses yearning to be
free. Now more and more wretched
Europeans must be crushed, in the ever more desperate attempt to keep the
Bilderberger “United States of Europe” project going. The EUSSR that out of
elitist European envy, was going to bury the USA. It doesn’t take a genius to
know how the EMU ends. We just don’t yet know, when or how much more European
wealth must be destroyed first. Will the euro fail with Syria or France?
"We will bury you!"
EU Komissar Barroso, with apologies to Nikita Khrushchev, 1956.
Merkel Blames SPD’s Schroeder for Letting Greece Into the Euro
By Stefan Nicola - 2013-08-27T22:00:05Z
German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to pin the blame for
the euro-region’s debt turmoil on her Social Democratic predecessor, Gerhard
Schroeder, saying he should never have let Greece into
the single currency area. Merkel, addressing a campaign rally in the northern German town of Rendsburg yesterday, said the debt crisis that emerged in Greece in late 2009 and dominated her second term had been “brewing for many years” going back to the euro’s inception.
“For example, Greece shouldn’t have been allowed into the euro” at the time of its admission in 2001, Merkel told a crowd of about 1,000 supporters. “Chancellor Schroeder accepted Greece in and weakened the Stability Pact and both decisions were fundamentally wrong, and one of the starting points for our current troubles.”
Merkel, by apportioning blame for the havoc caused across the 17-nation euro region on her SPD predecessor, may be seeking to deflect attacks on her crisis policy leveled by Peer Steinbrueck, her Social Democratic challenger in the Sept. 22 federal elections.
More
Portugal’s recovery isn't really a recovery at all
Earlier this month Portugal surpassed expectations when it reported the strongest quarterly growth in the European Union, seemingly confirming its position as “the good student” of the EU-IMF-ECB “troika”.
But there
are fears that the GDP data were an anomaly and rather than signifying a
turnaround in the economy, the country will sink back into recession by the end
of year, and that further planned austerity measures will crush any early signs
of recovery.
“We are
clearly seeing stabilisation on many fronts,” said Filipe Garcia, an economist
at Infomacao de Mercados Financeiros in Lisbon. “But as long as there is
austerity being implemented, the economy will remain in a fragile state,” he
warned.
And there
is certainly more austerity to come if Portugal is to meet the budget deficit
targets imposed as part of €78bn (£67bn) bail-out from the EU and IMF.
When
Portugal went cap in hand to European partners in April 2011 for the three-year
aid package, after refinancing interest rates rose to unsustainable levels, the
Lisbon government committed to undertake radical measures to correct public finances
and increase the economy’s efficiency.
Nearly
two and a half years later and despite relentless austerity packages, Portugal
is still – while not technically in recession – suffering the effects of its
harshest economic contraction in 40 years, with unemployment at a record rate
of nearly 17pc
More
We end for the day with the reality of the three
stooges starting a new Middle East war. Fill up the petrol tank fast, and dump
some of those pictures of dead US Presidents for things of intrinsic value.
Starting a war is the easy part, winning it on terms that make any sense, is
far harder, as Great Britain found out twice last century. If SocGen is right
and oil soars to $150 a barrel, write off Club Med along with India. The global
“recovery” will revert back to 2007-2009. If media reports are accurate,
President Obama is so desperate for success in Syria, he is apparently willing
to turn over crude oil and natural gas pricing to a cartel of Saudi Arabia and
Russia. The end of the world as we knew it if Russia deals.
"When paper money systems begin to crack at the seams, the run to gold could be explosive."
Harry Browne
Gold Climbs to Highest Since May as Syria Tensions Spur Demand
By Phoebe Sedgman - Aug 28, 2013 7:34 AM GMT
Gold surged for a fifth day to the highest level since May as speculation
that the U.S. may lead military strikes against Syria
within days spurred investors’ demand for a haven. Silver climbed to a
four-month high. Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 1.3 percent to $1,433.83 an ounce, the highest since May 14, and was at $1,431.90 at 2:13 p.m. in Singapore. The metal has jumped 19 percent from the closing low on June 27, near the 20 percent increase that’s the common definition of a bull market. Gold for December delivery gained as much as 1 percent to $1,434 an ounce on the Comex, the highest for futures since May 14.
----“The market is
really focused on the safe-haven aspect,” said David Lennox, a resource analyst
at Fat Prophets. “There was a bit of risk off the table, with equity markets
heading south on the back of escalating words about actions on Syria.”
More
Commodities Gain to Six-Month High as Oil Rallies on Syrian Risk
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen
- Aug 28, 2013 4:15 AM GMT
Commodities advanced to the highest level in more than six months as
escalating tension in Syria spurred a rally in oil
on concern that supplies from the Middle
East may be disrupted. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index rose as much as 1.6 percent to 673.4, the highest since Feb. 20, and was at 673.35 at 11:14 a.m. in Singapore. West Texas Intermediate rose as much as 2.4 percent, while Brent rallied 2.5 percent. The two oil benchmarks plus gold account for about 50 percent of the index.
The U.S., France and Britain stepped closer to a strike against Syria, laying the legal groundwork to justify military action and moving forces into place. Syria is suspected of launching an Aug. 21 chemical-weapons attack outside Damascus. A U.S.-led strike on Syria is likely within the next week, Societe Generale SA said in a report.
More
Brent Crude May Spike to $150 on Syria Spillover, SocGen Says
By Ramsey Al-Rikabi - Aug 28, 2013 4:37 AM GMT
Brent crude may “spike briefly” to $150 a barrel if a U.S.-led attack on Syria sparks
further conflict in the Middle East and leads to supply disruptions, Societe Generale SA (GLE) said
in a report e-mailed today. Military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is likely within the next week, Michael Wittner, the bank’s New York-based head of oil market research, said in the report. Brent, the price benchmark for more than half the world’s crude, may rise to as much as $125 a barrel “in the coming days” in anticipation or event of a strike, the bank said. A spike to $150 is possible if a widening conflict halts output in Iraq or other Mideast producers.
“The concern is that an attack on Syria will reverberate through the region, increasing the spillover into other countries and possibly resulting in a larger supply disruption elsewhere,” Wittner said in the Aug. 27 report. “Our big worry is Iraq.
More
Saudis offer Russia secret oil deal if it drops Syria
Saudi Arabia has secretly offered Russia a sweeping deal to control the global oil market and safeguard Russia’s gas contracts, if the Kremlin backs away from the Assad regime in Syria.
The
revelations come amid high tension in the Middle East, with US, British, and
French warship poised for missile strikes in Syria. Iran has threatened to
retaliate.
The
strategic jitters pushed Brent crude prices to a five-month high of $112 a
barrel. “We are only one incident away from a serious oil spike. The market is
a lot tighter than people think,” said Chris Skrebowski, editor of Petroleum
Review.
Leaked transcripts
of a closed-door meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Saudi Prince
Bandar bin Sultan shed an extraordinary light on the hard-nosed Realpolitik of
the two sides.
Prince
Bandar, head of Saudi intelligence, allegedly confronted the Kremlin with a mix of inducements
and threats in a bid to break the deadlock over Syria. “Let us examine
how to put together a unified Russian-Saudi strategy on the subject of oil. The
aim is to agree on the price of oil and production quantities that keep the
price stable in global oil markets,” he said at the four-hour meeting with Mr
Putin. They met at Mr Putin’s dacha outside Moscow three weeks ago.
“We
understand Russia’s great interest in the oil and gas in the Mediterranean from
Israel to Cyprus. And we understand the importance of the Russian gas pipeline
to Europe. We are not interested in competing with that. We can cooperate in
this area,” he said, purporting to speak with the full backing of the US
More
"Gold would have value if for no other reason than that it enables a citizen to fashion his financial escape from the state."
William F. Rickenbacker
At the Comex silver depositories Friday final figures were: Registered 39.32 Moz,
Eligible 123.89 Moz, Total 163.21 Moz.
Crooks and
Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally
doubled over.
Tepco again. Why the world is not yet up to the
challenge of nuclear power. Humans are error prone. Radiation is forever.
Shushi anyone? Saki?
Tepco Says Contaminated Water Tank Leak May Have Started in July
By Jacob
Adelman - Aug 28, 2013 3:41 AM GMT
The leak at a contaminated water storage tank discovered last week at the
Fukushima plant may have continued since last month before it was detected and
the tank drained, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501)
said. Crews found elevated levels of radiation in July near where the leak was ultimately detected on Aug. 19, Mayumi Yoshida, a spokeswoman for the utility known as Tepco, said today by phone.
Tepco originally characterized the leak as a small one before determining by the change in the tank’s water level that 300 metric tons of contaminated water had escaped. A protective barrier around the tank didn’t stop the leak because a valve in the concrete structure had been left open, Tepco said.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority last week labeled the leak a “serious incident” in its worst assessment of the problems at Fukushima since the earthquake and tsunami of 2011 caused reactors to melt down.
Tepco Faces 132 Olympic Pools Worth of Radioactive Water
By Yuriy Humber & Jacob Adelman - Aug 28, 2013 3:03 AM GM
Tokyo Electric
Power Co. (9501) has accumulated the largest pool of radioactive water in
the history of nuclear accidents. The utility must now decide what to do with
it: dump in the ocean, evaporate into the air, or both.
The more than 330,000 metric tons of water with varying levels of toxicity is stored in pits, basements and hundreds of tanks at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant. The government said this week it will take a bigger role in staunching the toxic outflow that’s grown to 40 times the volume accumulated in the atomic disaster at Three Mile Island in the U.S.
Processing and disposing of the water, enough to fill 132 Olympic-size swimming pools, will be one of the most challenging engineering tasks of our generation, former nuclear engineer Michael Friedlander said. Tokyo Electric has chopped down forest to add more water tanks at the site 220 kilometers (137 miles) northeast of Tokyo.
The steel storage tanks are vulnerable to spills due to earthquakes as well as leaks, representing “a very clear and present danger to the plant site and to the people working there,” said Friedlander, who spent 13 years operating U.S. nuclear plants, including the Crystal River Station in Florida.
“There are really only a few ways you can get rid of it,” Friedlander said. “You put it in the ocean or it’s going to have to be evaporated. It’s a political hotspot, but at some point you cannot just continue collecting this water.”
----Tepco has 300 tons of water flowing into
the reactors each day for cooling, while another 400 tons of groundwater from
hills behind the plant is seeping into basements and mixing with contaminated
run-off. Tepco is then pumping hundreds of tons out of the basements each day
to store in tanks to await treatment to extract cesium and strontium via two
filter systems. After sufficient processing, the water gets classified as
low-level contaminant for disposal.
Tepco said this week that the second of the two filter systems failed this month and it won’t be fixed until next month. A leak of at least 300 tons from one of the 1,000-ton storage tanks last week prompted the Nuclear Regulation Authority to warn that more may be prone to similar spills. The watchdog also criticized Tepco for management of the tanks.
“This is becoming rapidly an international issue, so I think there is some pressure from countries in the region, including China Korea and others,” said Tom O’Sullivan, founder of Tokyo-based energy consultant Mathyos
----Tepco has yet to decide how to dispose of the contaminated water, spokeswoman Mayumi Yoshida said. Tepco will need approval from the government, local residents and fishermen before it can act. The company said last week it would seek help from abroad to manage the water issue.
More
"We are in a world of irredeemable paper money - a state of affairs unprecedented in history."
John Exter
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished July:
DJIA: +164 Up. NASDAQ: +167 Up. SP500: +195 Up. The
Fed’s final bubble still inflates but for how much longer?
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