Baltic Dry Index. 814 -22
LIR Gold Target in 2019: $30,000. Revised due to QE programs.
"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
While the whole world was busy watching the
completion of the World Cup football competition in Brazil, won by EU paymaster
Germany to the dread horror of Club Med, or watching the Israelis bombing the
Gazans again, you would think by now that the Gazans would have come to realize
the stupid futility of firing unguided penny packet missiles at the Israelis, America’s
European war was taking a largely under reported turn for the worse in the
Ukraine.
Below, the recent developments that’s sent American
spin miesters rushing to the English speaking airwaves, declaring Russian
complicity in the Ukraine’s setbacks. America’s pot calls the Russian kettle
black. How many Stingers did the CIA supply Bin Laden’s Afghan fighters back in
the 80s? I suspect that the Ukrainian shelling of Rostov is intended to draw
Russia into eastern Ukraine. The Washington War Party wants a war after all, in
an ever more desperate attempt to salvage the botched coup in Kiev, intended to
bring down Russia and Belarus. Stay long fully paid up precious metals. The Mad
Dogs of war are again on the loose.
Russia Vows to Respond After Shelling From Ukraine
Jul 13, 2014 12:01 PM GMT
Russia pledged to respond to a Ukrainian shelling that it said killed one
person in the south of the country as President Vladimir Putin prepared to meet
German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Brazil.
One Russian citizen died and two others were seriously wounded today after the Ukrainian army fired a shell into the Rostov region, the Foreign Ministry said in a website statement. Ukraine did not shoot at its neighbor, Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, told reporters in Kiev.
As Russia described events as an “aggressive act,” Merkel arrived in Rio, where she will attend soccer’s World Cup final and meet Putin, Steffen Seibert, a German government spokesman, said on Twitter. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who had earlier been reported as planning to attend the match as well, won’t be making the trip, his office said.
The Rostov incident is an “escalation of the danger to our citizens on our own territory,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said on state television. “Clearly, this won’t go unanswered.”
Clashes have intensified since Poroshenko called off a cease-fire July 1, with 23 government soldiers killed and 93 wounded in an attack by the insurgents two days ago. The European Union yesterday named 11 more people it’s sanctioning for supporting the insurrection, including leaders of the self-declared republics in Donetsk and Luhansk.
“For
every life of one of our soldiers, the militants will pay with dozens and
hundreds of theirs,” Poroshenko said in Kiev two
days ago. “Every single one will be held accountable and get their due.”
More
Donetsk militia downs Ukraine’s Air Force aircraft
World July 12, 18:27
Earlier, militiamen destroyed
a military plane, presumably an attack aircraft, in the area of the town of
Perevalsk in the Lugansk region
DONETSK, July 12, /ITAR-TASS/.
Militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) downed a jet,
supposedly a Sukhoi-25 (Su-25), in a morning fight in the area of the city of
Gorlovka (eastern Ukrainian Donetsk region), DPR press service said on
Saturday.
“Ukraine’s aviation launched an
assault on the outskirts of the city,” the DPR spokesman told reporters adding
that “a return vertical fire destroyed the jet, supposedly a Su-25.”
On Friday, an aircraft of the
Ukrainian Air Force was brought down over the town of Dzerzhinsk and if fell
north of Gorlovka, the Novorossiya (Novorussia) news agency said.
Earlier, militiamen destroyed a
military plane, presumably an attack aircraft, in the area of the town of
Perevalsk in the Lugansk region, another battleground of the civil conflict in
Ukraine’s east.
Donetsk militia downs Ukraine’s Mi-24 chopper
World July 13, 1:13
DONETSK,
July 12 /ITAR-TASS/. Militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic
(DPR) downed a Mil-24 (Mi-24) helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force, the
Novorossiya news agency of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk
and Lugansk said on Saturday.
On
the outskirts of the town of Snezhny in the Donetsk region the militiamen
managed to shoot down a Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopter from a shoulder-carried air
defence system and to destroy the enemy’s several combat units, it said.
More
Afghanistan war logs: US covered up fatal Taliban missile strike on Chinook
Surface-to-air strike over Helmand shows Taliban had strong anti-aircraft capabilities earlier than previously thought
Sunday 25 July 2010 22.01 BST
The US military covered up a
reported surface-to-air missile strike by the Taliban that shot down a Chinook
helicopter over Helmand in 2007 and killed seven soldiers, including a British
military photographer, the war logs show.The strike on the twin-rotor helicopter shows the Taliban enjoyed sophisticated anti-aircraft capabilities earlier than previously thought, casting new light on the battle for the skies over Afghanistan.
Hundreds of files detail the efforts of insurgents, who have no aircraft, to shoot down western warplanes. The war logs detail at least 10 near-misses by missiles in four years against coalition aircraft, one while refuelling at 11,000ft and another involving a suspected Stinger missile of the kind supplied by the CIA to Afghan rebels in the 1980s
More
In other financial news, the BIS fears the next
Lehman. Despite the near collapse of the casino gambling financial system in
2007-2009, five years on and no lessons have been learned. The next Lehman,
when it hits, is going to be worse. No kidding, what did the Fed, BOE, BOJ and
ECB expect to happen given all the bailouts, QE Forever, ZIRP, LTROs and currency
wars. In addition, they suspended mark to market accounting in favour of extend
and pretend. Targeted asset inflation, especially in the form of debt fuelled
stock buybacks and massive bubble in new age junk bonds has been the result.
When it all blows up when the next Lehman hits, the
Banksters and the Great Vampire Squids, all still fully expect to be bailed out
once again. The only difference next time around is that bank depositors have
been set up to share in the pain. Some of them are going to have some of the
bank deposits stolen. But first, it’s ECB socialism for banksters’ time again.
BIS chief fears fresh Lehman from worldwide debt surge
Jaime Caruana says investors are ignoring prospect of higher interest rates in the hunt for returns
The world economy is just as
vulnerable to a financial crisis as it was in 2007, with the added danger that
debt ratios are now far higher and emerging markets have been drawn into the
fire as well, the Bank for International Settlements has warned.
Jaime Caruana, head of the
Swiss-based financial watchdog, said investors were ignoring the risk of monetary
tightening in their voracious hunt for yield.
“Markets seem to be considering
only a very narrow spectrum of potential outcomes. They have become convinced
that monetary conditions will remain easy for a very long time, and may be
taking more assurance than central banks wish to give,” he told The
Telegraph.
Mr Caruana said the international
system is in many ways more fragile than it was in the build-up to the Lehman
crisis. Debt ratios in the developed economies have risen by 20 percentage
points to 275pc of GDP since then.
Credit spreads have fallen to to
wafer-thin levels. Companies are borrowing heavily to buy back their own
shares. The BIS said 40pc of syndicated loans are to sub-investment grade
borrowers, a higher ratio than in 2007, with ever fewer protection covenants
for creditors.
The disturbing twist in this
cycle is that China, Brazil, Turkey and other emerging economies have succumbed
to private credit booms of their own, partly as a spill-over from quantitative
easing in the West.
Their debt ratios have risen 20
percentage points as well, to 175pc. Average borrowing rates for five-years is
1pc in real terms. This is extemely low, and could reverse suddenly. “We are
watching this closely. If we were concerned by excessive leverage in 2007, we
cannot be more relaxed today,” he said.
“It may be the case that the debt
is better distributed because some highly-indebted countries have deleveraged,
like the private sector in the US or Spain, and banks are better capitalized.
But there is also now more sensitivity to interest rate movements."
The BIS warned it is annual
report two weeks ago that equity markets had become "euphoric".
Volatility has dropped to an historic low.
More
Draghi Seen Delivering $1 Trillion Free Lunch to Banks
Jul 14, 2014 12:01 AM GMT
Mario Draghi’s
newest stimulus tool will hand banks more than 700 billion euros ($950 billion)
of cheap funding, economists say. The European Central Bank president’s targeted lending program for banks will boost credit for the real economy as planned, and at the same time help keep the financial system flush with cash, according to the Bloomberg Monthly Survey of 45 economists. Draghi may address the topic today when he testifies at the European Parliament in Strasbourg for the first time since elections in May.
The ECB has identified lending to companies and households as a key weakness in the euro area’s fragile recovery. The so-called TLTRO program, part of a wider package of measures announced in June, offers as much as four years of low-cost funding tied to bank lending that Draghi said this month could ultimately provide as much as 1 trillion euros.
“The take-up should be large -- the money is cheap and banks should feel no stigma about accepting a free lunch,” said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Capital in Dublin, who predicts banks will take the maximum available. “With any luck, Draghi’s next problem will not come until 2018, when 1 trillion euros needs refinancing.”
----The TLTRO will run alongside the unprecedented stimulus measures that the ECB announced after its June 5 policy meeting, including a negative deposit rate and an extension of unlimited short-term liquidity until at least 2016. After the July gathering, Draghi reiterated his pledge that rates will stay at present levels for an extended period.
More
But is China about to cut off Draghi’s dream?
Secret Path Revealed for Chinese Billions Overseas
Jul 14, 2014 5:35 AM GMT
For years, wealthy Chinese have been transferring billions worth of their
money overseas, snapping up pricey real estate in markets including New York,
Sydney and Vancouver despite their country’s currency restrictions. Now, one way they could be doing it is clearer. Last week, when China Central Television leveled money-laundering allegations against Bank of China Ltd., the state-run broadcaster’s report prompted the revelation of a previously unannounced government program that enables individuals to transfer their yuan and convert it into dollars or other currencies overseas.
Offered by some banks in the southern province of Guangdong, across the border from Hong Kong, the trial program was introduced in 2011 for overseas property purchases and emigration and doesn’t constitute money laundering, Bank of China said in a July 9 statement. The transfers were allowed by regulators and reported to them, the bank said.
“What it shows is the government has been trying to internationalize the renminbi for a lot longer than we thought,” Jim Antos, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Mizuho Securities Ltd., said by phone, using the official name for China’s currency and referring to policy makers’ long-stated goal of allowing the yuan to become freely convertible with other currencies. “I’m rather encouraged by this news because this is the way they need to go.”
China’s foreign-exchange rules cap the maximum amount of yuan that individuals are allowed to convert at $50,000 each year and ban them from transferring the currency abroad directly. Policy makers have taken steps in recent years, including allowing freer movements of capital in and out of China, as they seek to boost the global stature of the not-yet-fully convertible yuan.
“There’s a silver lining in this incident as it may force the regulators to address the issue in a more open and transparent way,” Zhou Hao, a Shanghai-based economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., said by phone. “This is an irreversible trend.”
The issue came to light after CCTV said Bank of China helped customers transfer unlimited amounts of yuan abroad through a product called Youhuitong, which means “superior foreign-exchange channel.”
More
We close for the day with Argentina. In addition to
losing the World Cup, Argentina looks set to default once again. The next
Lehman may be closer than the BIS thinks.
Argentina Refusing Talks With Elliott as Default Looms
Jul 14, 2014 4:00 AM GMT
Less than three weeks before Argentina risks a default, government officials
still haven’t met with hedge funds who won a court ruling forbidding the country to
make bond interest payments before they get $1.5 billion. “We have not seen any indication that Argentina is serious about even beginning a negotiation,” NML Capital, one of the holders of bonds from Argentina’s 2001 default that sued for full repayment, said in a statement July 11.
While representatives of NML and Argentine met separately last week with a court-appointed mediator in Manhattan, no direct discussions have taken place almost a month after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Argentina’s appeal in the case. The South American country has until July 30 to make a payment on its performing bonds, which it can’t do before settling with NML, or default for the second time in 13 years.
While an eventual deal with the so-called holdout creditors is likely, “it is hard to imagine this will happen soon,” Federico Thomsen, principal at Buenos Aires-based research company E.F. Thomsen, said in an e-mailed response to questions. “Over the coming weeks, we will probably see markets fluctuate between bouts of optimism and occasional scares as frictions and obstacles become visible.”
More
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-14/argentina-refusing-talks-with-elliott-as-default-looms.html
Hans F. Sennholz
At the Comex silver depositories Friday final figures were: Registered 55.11 Moz,
Eligible 118.32 Moz, Total 173.43 Moz.
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally
doubled over.
Not your usual crooks and scoundrels today. Today
it’s those man-made global warming scamster’s again, often pushing carbon taxes
agendas, and scare stories designed to get more government funding for
research. Below, the very latest in the current round of man-made global
warming.
Coldest Antarctic June Ever Recorded
Antarctica continues to defy the global warming script, with a report from Meteo France, that June this year was the coldest Antarctic June ever recorded, at the French Antarctic Dumont d’Urville Station.According to the press release, during June this year, the average temperature was -22.4c (-8.3F), 6.6c (11.9F) lower than normal. This is the coldest June ever recorded at the station, and almost the coldest monthly average ever – only September 1953 was colder, with a recorded average temperature of -23.5c (-10.3F).
June this year also broke the June daily minimum temperature record, with a new record low of -34.9c (-30.8F).
Other unusual features of the June temperature record are an unusual excess of sunlight hours (11.8 hours rather than the normal 7.4 hours), and unusually light wind conditions.
Dumont d’Urville Station has experienced ongoing activity since 1956. According to the Meteo France record, there is no other weather station for 1000km in any direction.
http://www.meteofrance.fr/web/comprendre-la-meteo/actualites?articleId=8990197
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/07/12/coldest-antarctic-june-ever-recorded/
Brisbane hits coldest temperature in 103 years
If you are lucky enough to be reading this from the comfort of your blankets, it might be best to stay there, as Brisbane has hit its coldest temperatures in 103 years.Not since July 28 1911 has Brisbane felt this cold, getting down to a brisk 2.6C at 6.41am.
At 7am, it inched up to 3.3C.
Matt Bass, meteorologist from BOM, said the region was well below our average temperatures.
“If it felt cold, that’s because it was, breaking that record is pretty phenomenal for Brisbane,” Bass said.
“The average for this time of year is 12C, so Brisbane was about 9C below average, it is pretty impressive really, to have the coldest morning in 103 years is a big record.”
The coldest place across the state was Oakey which got down to -6.1C, which was the coldest temperature for the town since 2011.
Brisbane
wasn’t the only town hitting landmark temperatures with Clermont breaking its
coldest record two days in a row.
“Clermont in the coal fields got
down to -4.5 which is a new record for them, their previous record was -3.7,
which was set yesterday, so they’ve re-broken their record two days in a row.”
All these cold temperatures are
being brought on as cold air moves up from the south, combined with clear
nights.
“We are seeing a series of cold
fronts push really cold air across South Australia, Victoria and New South
Wales, which has brought low level snow.
More
Polar vortex to hit US with midsummer cold blast
By Chris
Perez July 11, 2014 | 1:31pm
It’s the revenge of the polar
vortex!
A frigid cold air system will be
moving through the eastern United States next week, leading to intense weather
conditions reminiscent of last year’s dreaded polar vortex.
The approaching weather system is
expected to bring overwhelmingly below-average temperatures to parts of the
northern and northeastern US next week, beginning Monday or Tuesday, according
to the Washington Post.
States located in areas such as
the High Plains, the central US and the Great Lakes could see temperatures 20
to 30 degrees below their current averages.
That means people normally
dealing with scorching temperatures sometimes reaching triple digits will now
find themselves enjoying highs only in the 50s and 60s.
Overnight lows could possibly
even dip into the 40s in areas near the Great Lakes, especially in Minneapolis
and Chicago, the Washington Post reports.
The abnormally frigid conditions
should be reaching the East Coast by the end of the week, bringing strong cold
fronts to New York City that could ignite a string of heavy showers and
thunderstorms.
The abnormally frigid conditions
should be reaching the East Coast by the end of the week, bringing strong cold
fronts to New York City that could ignite a string of heavy showers and
thunderstorms.
Scorching temperatures typically
in the 90s will transform into the mid-70s, with overnight lows possibly
reaching the 40s.
More
"Until government administrators can so identify the interests of government with those of the people and refrain from defrauding the masses through the device of currency depreciation for the sake of remaining in office, the wiser ones will prefer to keep as much of their wealth in the most stable and marketable forms possible - forms which only the precious metals provide."
Elgin Groseclose
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished June
DJIA: +169 Down. NASDAQ: +332 Down. SP500: +241 Down. The Fed’s final bubble still grows,
but …..
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