August Blog Archives 2015

Gold last traded at $1,132 an ounce. Silver at $14.58 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks fell again Monday, ending the month down about 6% amid China fears and Fed interest rate hike worries. Meanwhile, oil and precious metal prices rose on a weaker U.S. dollar.

The Dangerous Politics of Central Banks -Economist
"The struggles of the Chinese authorities to manage their currency, stock market and financial sector are well-known. But investors clearly feared that the Federal Reserve was underestimating the extent of the global slowdown or the impact of a rate rise; hence the strong recovery in equities at the end of the week when a September rate increase seemed less likely. The role of central banks is so important now that, inevitably, they are being dragged into political controversy, albeit for different reasons. In America, the 'audit the Fed' is worried about the expansion of the central bank's balance sheet and wants to know from whom the Fed bought its massive security pile....It is hardly surprising that politicians should regard the powers of modern central banks with envious eyes; why go through all the potential unpopularity of raising taxes to fund your spending plans when you can get a compliant central bank to do it for you?" As covered in DON'T BANK ON IT! ..."Because fractional-reserve banking adds the risk of bank runs to the economy, it makes a society more vulnerable and unstable. It has the potential to turn every rumor or problem into a crisis."

Citigroup Chief Economist: Only "Helicopter Money" Can Save The World -Zero Hedge
"China has bungled its attempt to slow the economy gently and is sliding into 'imminent recession', threatening to take the world with it over coming months, Citigroup has warned. As The Telegraph's Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports, Willem Buiter, the bank’s chief economist, said the country needs a major blast of fiscal spending financed by outright 'helicopter' money from the bank to avert a deepening crisis....Mr Buiter had some more to add on the idiocy of Chinese Equity markets. He said the stock market crash in Shanghai and Shenzhen...So, it seems, all of a sudden - despite the permabulls, asset-gatherers, and commission-takers saying otherwise - China matters!" In THE SECRET WAR, authors Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte warn about the risks of money printing ... "As Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises remembered watching during the Weimar hyperinflation of the early 1920s, the wise made a 'flight into things,' exchanging their evaporating German Marks for inherently valuable things such as gold that could not be run off a government printing press by the trillions and thereby debased, like fiat currency."

Time to Reform the Fed - Because It Doesn’t ‘Have a Clue’ -National Review
"Since the Great Recession ended in 2009, the recovery has been slow and painful. Wages have been so stagnant that the average American family earns $1,000 a year less in income than it did in 2008. That’s why some two-thirds of people believe that their children won’t be better off than they were — a reversal of the American Dream. A growing number of people believe the Federal Reserve has hurt rather than helped the recovery. It has pursued zero-interest-rate policies that have perversely made it impossible for many businesses to get credit to expand. The Fed and other central banks have injected trillions of dollars into the global economy; according to the New York Sun, the result is that 'the world is now afflicted by a public-sector debt bubble that could rupture in any of a number of countries.'....Benn Steil, the director of international economics at the Council of Foreign Relations, told [the author] it was 'embarrassing' to see so many people hang on every word uttered by central bankers at their Jackson Hole conference. 'I’ve heard officials there say they may have to raise interest rates just because they said they would, and they’d lose credibility if they didn’t,' he says." Yes, the Fed may lift interest rates slightly this year to save face, as covered in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Wal-Mart Cuts Workers’ Hours After Pay Raise Boosts Costs -Bloomberg
"Wal-Mart Stores Inc., in the midst of spending $1 billion to raise employees’ wages and give them extra training, has been cutting the number of hours some of them work in a bid to keep costs in check. The request has resulted in some stores trimming hours from their schedules, asking employees to leave shifts early or telling them to take longer lunches, according to more than three dozen employees from around the U.S. The reductions started in the past several weeks, even as many stores enter the busy back-to-school shopping period."

The Death of Cash: notes and coins could disappear by 2025 -Telegraph
"Cash is on the way out as growing numbers of Britons believe contactless cards and mobile payments will be the dominant means of purchasing goods and services in the near future. Only half of Brits believe cash will still be in day-to-day use in a decade’s time, while 48% believe they will use contactless payments every day by 2025, according to the survey from Lloyds Bank. " We are being warned that cash is on the way out. Discover the wisdom of putting yourself on a personal gold standard by reading The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

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Gold last traded at $1,134 an ounce. Silver at $14.53 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks failed to rebound Friday, ending a week of China-inspired market volatility which sent stock and commodity prices sharply lower globally. Meanwhile, precious metal prices rose on safe-haven buying despite a stronger dollar.

Fed Up Investors Yank Cash From Almost Everything -Bloomberg
"Since July, American households - which account for almost all mutual fund investors - have pulled money both from mutual funds that invest in stocks and those that invest in bonds. It’s the first time since 2008 that both asset classes have recorded back-to-back monthly withdrawals, according to a report by Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse estimates $6.5 billion left equity funds in July as $8.4 billion was pulled from bond funds, citing weekly data from the Investment Company Institute as of Aug. 19....Those outflows were followed up in the first three weeks of August, when investors withdrew $1.6 billion from stocks and $8.1 billion from bonds, said economist Dana Saporta. 'Anytime you see something that hasn’t happened since the last quarter of 2008, it’s worth noting,' Saporta said in a phone interview." In What's Next For The Dollar?, author Craig Smith explains that investors are becoming scared of both stocks and bonds because they are unsure of their true market value ... "In today's corrupt world of floating currency values it has become impossible to identify the true value of almost every other asset. In other words, everything is mispriced … everything is distorted in a global debt bubble."

The case for retiring another ‘barbarous relic’ -Financial Times
"The fact that people treat cash as the go-to safe asset when banks are teetering is heavy with historical irony. Paper money was once the symbol of monetary irresponsibility....The existence of cash - a bearer instrument with a zero interest rate - limits central banks’ ability to stimulate a depressed economy....The second feature of cash is that, unlike electronic money, it cannot be tracked. That means cash favors anonymous and often illicit activity; its abolition would make life easier for a government set on squeezing the informal economy out of existence....Cash could remain accessible but at a cost, so that its users pay for the privilege of anonymity - and remain affected by monetary policy." This story is sending shock waves worldwide among freedom-loving citizens because it advocates government-induced capital controls to limit or ban cash use. The NY Sun reports, "The Financial Times is hoping to go way beyond civil asset forfeiture. It wants to protect government control of the economy as a matter of what it sees as principle." We expect this 'cashless' push by governments to accelerate, as Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte cover in DON'T BANK ON IT! (page 196) "As we plunge into the ‘cashless society,’ banks as we have known them will begin to vanish…. Soon your cell phone or tablet will be your bank, holding your electronic wallet..."

Arresting Your Property: How Civil Asset Forfeiture Turns Police Into Profiteers -The Heritage Foundation
In June, The Heritage Foundation released “Arresting Your Property: How Civil Asset Forfeiture Turns Police Into Profiteers.” According to The Daily Signal, "This booklet highlights the important problem of civil asset forfeiture and tells lawmakers how states and the federal government can help fix these broken laws. The booklet reveals the dark side of civil forfeiture, where the government seizes your property without ever convicting you of, or even charging you with, a crime, and then keeps the profits for its own coffers." For more examples of how big government and big banks are stealing your money, read The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Why investing in bonds is so dangerous right now -New York Post
"People are probably finally convinced of the existence of a stock bubble. Prices had nearly doubled over the past seven years thanks largely to the Federal Reserve’s experiment in money printing. That experiment - called quantitative easing - has caused interest rates to remain near zero percent for years....But what about bonds?....Because bonds have done so well for so long, this may be the Mother of All Bubbles. And there’s a chance of very large loss of principal. And if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, the value of bonds and bond funds will automatically drop."

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Gold last traded at $1,122 an ounce. Silver at $14.41 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: After upbeat 2nd quarter growth revisions, U.S. stocks rallied Thursday as China led a global stock and commodity price rebound. Precious metal prices were steady despite a stronger dollar.

China Sells U.S. Treasuries to Support Yuan -Bloomberg
"China has cut its holdings of U.S. Treasuries this month to raise dollars needed to support the yuan in the wake of a shock devaluation two weeks ago, according to people familiar with the matter....The People’s Bank of China has been offloading dollars and buying yuan to support the exchange rate, a policy that’s contributed to a $315 billion drop in its foreign-exchange reserves over the last 12 months....The $3.65 trillion stockpile will fall by some $40 billion a month in the remainder of 2015 because of the intervention. The PBOC has sold at least $106 billion of reserve assets in the last two weeks, including Treasuries, according to an estimate from Societe Generale SA."

China Struggles To Boost Stocks & Currency -Fox Business
Author and Swiss America Chairman Craig Smith joined Deke Digitial CEO Dave Maney to discuss the impact of the reported Chinese selling of $106 billion in U.S. Treasuries over the last two weeks. Will this action send U.S. interest rates higher? According to Mr. Smith, "No, not initially. The Fed is so confused they don't know what to do now." Craig reminds viewers that amid all of the China-bashing going on by Donald Trump and others, we must keep in mind the Chinese are simply following a path blazed by former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke back in 2010 when he said the purpose of launching quantitative easing was to boost stock market confidence. "The only difference is China is using their reserves and the U.S. printed the money," said Smith. Mr. Maney likens China to an inexperienced. free market motorcyclist which is good at fast acceleration, but not sure how to slow down safely. Smith says the U.S. needs to be careful because out of control spending in Washington D.C. has created $18 trillion in debt. What will China's intervention mean for the dollar, read Mr. Smith's latest Special Report What's Next For The Dollar?

Q2 GDP Soars To 3.7% Driven By Record Inventory Build -Zero Hedge
"Well, if the Fed is truly data-dependent, September is now squarely back on the table following the first revision of Q2 GDP data which soared from 2.3% to a whopping 3.7%, blowing out the Wall Street consensus estimate of 3.2%, and printing above the highest Wall Street forecast....But the real reason for the surge is an inventory build of $124 in the first GDP estimate, the BEA now sees a total of $136.2 billion in inventory build in Q2. This is an all time record, and a number which suggests the upcoming inventory liquidation will be truly epic, not to mention recessionary."

The Fed Turned the Stock Market Into a 'Hall of Mirrors' -Reason
"'Confoundingly to me, people have come to be quite accepting of the value attached by fiat to these pieces of paper we call currency,' says Jim Grant, who’s the editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer and the author of The Forgotten Depression: The Crash That Cured Itself. 'Are prices meant to be imposed from on high, or discovered by individuals acting spontaneously in markets? The readers and viewers of Reason known the answer to that but they’re regrettably in the minority.' Grant sat down with Reason magazine editor-in-chief Matt Welch to discuss the underlying causes of the recent market turbulence, why we don’t really 'have interest rates anymore,' and how the classic jazz song 'It’s Only a Paper Moon' provides a fitting metaphor for the equities market." Discover why the Fed has now trapped the financial markets and economy with its own bad policy decisions in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Central bankers gather seeking to boost inflation -Marketwatch
"Why is inflation so low? Is it a sign that the U.S. economy hasn’t recovered? These are the questions Federal Reserve officials and global central bankers will grapple with at the U.S. central bank’s annual Jackson Hole policy summit....If inflation is low because of a tepid recovery, then any Fed rate hike could damage the economy....The Fed’s favorite measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditure index, has been below the central bank’s 2% annual rate target since 2012. It was up at an 0.3% annual rate in June."

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Gold last traded at $1,124 an ounce. Silver at $14.04 an ounce

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks rebounded from their 6-day slide Wednesday amid upbeat Fed-speak and durable goods data. Meanwhile, the dollar traded sharply higher as gold prices consolidated recent gains to trade near $1,125 an ounce.

NY Fed Head Sends Rate-Hike Odds Plunging -CNBC
"A September rate hike is looking less compelling, according to William Dudley, president of the New York Federal Reserve. A voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, Dudley addressed the Fed's potential tightening - especially considering the recent collapse in U.S. equities and international financial turmoil - in a Wednesday press briefing. 'From my perspective, at this moment, the decision to begin the normalization process at the September FOMC meeting seems less compelling to me than it was a few weeks ago,' he said."

The Fed’s Stock-Price Correction -Wall Street Journal
"The unfolding stock-market collapse - the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted more than 1,000 points on Monday morning, rebounding later to nearly 600 points down, following several days of decline last week - is the inevitable result of the Federal Reserve’s policies, namely quantitative easing that produced abnormally low interest rates....The excess price of equities was not the only mispricing caused by the Fed’s unconventional monetary policy. Much of this mispricing will likely unwind in the months ahead....Postponing a 25-basis-point rise from September to December or even March would not have any significant effect on aggregate demand and employment." This excellent op-ed by economist Martin Feldstein comes to the same conclusion Mr. Smith and Ponte arrive at in The Biggest Bank Heist in History

Stock market calls the Fed's bluff -CNBC
"The Fed is aware there wouldn't be a solvent entitlement program or pension plan without stock-price increases of around 8 percent each year. A tightening cycle when markets and economies are on life support would put that target very far out of reach. Therefore, look for the Fed to back away from rate hikes in the next few weeks as the Federal Open Market Committee finally realizes it will be stuck at near zero for many years to come....This should cause the highly overcrowded long dollar trade to roll over sharply very soon and provide investors to profit in anti-dollar investments such as precious metals." Ding-ding! Excellent analysis. Learn more about the world's ultimate "anti-dollar" in The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

Should Obama Cancel September Meeting With China? -Fox News
Presidential Candidate Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) thinks the U.S. should cancel the visit by Chinese President Xi planned in September due to China's currency manipulation, cyber attacks and militarization of the South China Sea. GOP strategist Mercedes Schlapp agrees with Walker saying, "The U.S. government must be more aggressive in dealing with China." Author and Swiss America Chairman Craig Smith disagrees saying, "It is just rude to cancel a meeting planned last February....it's called diplomacy." Fox News guest host Stuart Varney asked Smith if he thought Obama would get tough at such a meeting. Smith doesn't believe so, but he also doesn't believe a weak president is reason enough to cancel. Mr. Smith thinks it's time we stop blaming the Chinese exclusively for this global slowdown; as Donald Trump did earlier this week. Our leaders in government and at the Federal Reserve need to take responsibility for growing stock market volatility caused by their anti-growth, anti-free market policies. Read Mr. Smith's newest special report, What's Next For The Dollar?

The Deeper Dread Lurking Behind the Stock Market Sell-Off -New York Magazine
"When it comes to saving the economy, does Janet Yellen have an empty tool kit? Over the past week, stock markets around the world have had something of a temper tantrum, ginning up trillions of dollars of paper losses and any number of panicked cable-news chyrons.....Let's say that this is not just a market gyration, even if we have no reason to believe it is anything other than that. Economic growth grinds to a halt. Silicon Valley’s bubble bursts. Unemployment rises. Financial institutions falter. The stock market plunges into the red....Analysts have long been worried about diminishing returns and increasing risks from policies like quantitative easing, and the Fed has long signaled that there is only so much it can do."

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Gold last traded at $1,138 an ounce. Silver at $14.61 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks rebounded Tuesday then fell sharply at the close amid ongoing global-growth concerns; despite China's interest rate cut and upbeat home sales data. Meanwhile, the dollar bounced off 7-month lows as precious metal prices eased back on speculative profit-taking.

China Eases but Stench of Crisis Remains -Wall Street Journal
"At least Beijing isn’t wasting its crisis. China fired a double-barreled easing shot after its stock market plunged yet again Tuesday. This included an interest-rate cut and a reduction of bank reserve-requirement ratios, both aimed at both cushioning the stock-market fall and spurring the real economy....The problem for China at this point is that so many policy moves, so quickly, have rattled investors. Until the stock market finds its bottom, and the real economy shows convincing signs of health, the stench of crisis will remain. "

What's Going On With Stocks & Gold? - Michael Savage Interviews Craig Smith (8:26 mp3)
National talk show host Michael Savage said there's only one person to tell us what's really going on in the financial and stock markets today: Craig Smith. The DJIA fell 1,000 points at Monday's open, then ended down 589 points. "Will the stock market stay down?" Savage asks Craig. "The worst is not over yet," says Mr. Smith, who then explained why the trillions in easy money created by the Federal Reserve since 2009 has pumped up stock values to bubble levels. "Why is gold down?" asks Savage. Smith replies that prices fluctuate, but the trend is toward tangible, safe havens like; cash, land and gold. "I have never sold my gold," admits Savage. Mr. Smith agrees with Savage's 'buy-and-hold' gold strategy. Craig says it is vital to have a core holding of physical gold coins (between 5-15%) given that gold is the world's ultimate currency. Mr. Smith also reminds listeners the threat of losing the dollar's reserve currency status is growing daily and could soon become a reality. (Listen to 8.24.15 interview)

Advisers Work to Calm Fearful Investors -New York Times
"Even a pep talk from the chief executive of Apple, the single biggest American company by market value, did little to soothe investors on Monday....It worked - for a time. But by the end of the day, Apple and the rest of the market had yielded to the gravitational pull of investor fear.....Investors are now trying to separate the fact from the fear, as they digest how China’s problems will affect the rest of the world. And the process could make for some messiness in the markets, particularly in the United States, where investors have been lulled into a sense of security by a long bull run in stocks." China is taking dramatic action to prolong their economic boom, but it is primarily the Fed's zero interest rate policy which has fueled the present stock market bubble, as Mr. Smith and Ponte cover in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Dimmer outlook for US economy, wages and hiring -Associated Press
"The latest Associated Press survey of leading economists shows that most now foresee a weaker expansion than they had earlier. A majority of the nearly three dozen who responded to the survey predict tepid economic growth, weak pay gains and modest hiring for the next two years at least....Nearly 70 percent said they thought the economy's growth would remain below its long-run average of 3 percent annually through 2017. The economy hasn't attained that pace since 2005." In DON'T BANK ON IT!, (page 162) Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte write, "By flooding banks with money conjured out of thin air, the Fed has put banks in a liquidity trap. And by keeping interest rates near zero, the Fed has given near-zero incentive to lenders, including savers who have lent their deposits to banks; this has impaired genuine investment capital formation, hiring and economic growth."

Will the Fed come to the market's rescue? -Fortune
"The global stock rout has many questioning whether the central bank should avoid raising rates or even add stimulus....But if we take the Federal Reserve at its word - that its actions will be dependent on economic data - there’s no reason to believe that the Fed will take the latest market rout as a reason to step in and launch another bond buying program or even implement a program of negative interest rates."

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Gold last traded at $1,153 an ounce. Silver at $14.76 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: Global equities saw their sharpest fall since the 2008 financial crisis on what's being referred to as "Black Monday" - as an 8% rout in Chinese shares sparked worldwide panic. The Dow plunged over 6% (over 1,000 points) at the start of Monday trading but recovered from its steepest losses later. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar fell 1.5% as precious metal prices steadied amid liquidity selling and safe haven buying.

Fed-Rigged Stock Sell-Off Foretold - Swiss America
Today's sudden market volatility comes as no surprise to those who have read Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte's latest book, DON'T BANK ON IT!, or any of their previous five books or ten white papers on the subject in recent years. The U.S. stock market has been "levitated" and "rigged" by the Fed's zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) as "easy money enriched many stock market speculators in the casino of Wall Street, which has gone up while the real business economy wallowed or declined," write Smith and Ponte in DON'T BANK ON IT! (page 90). "The Fed has been a pusher, willing and able to give the stock market its needed fix of easy money." Smith and Ponte warned to watch out once the Fed's quantitative easing ended, "After four years of relentless Fed stimulus, the asset-inflated stock market bubble is four thousand points higher, despite a lackluster economic recovery that is slower even than that following the Great Depression...At some point gravity wins out." Mr. Smith's financial advice for confused investors is to never buy or sell in a panic; instead wait for the dust to settle to make needed portfolio adjustments.

Households just saw $1.8 trillion in wealth vanish -Marketwatch
"As of March 31, households and nonprofits held $24.1 trillion in stocks. That's both directly, and through mutual funds, pension funds and the like. That also includes the holdings of U.S.-based hedge funds, though you'd have to think that most hedge funds are held by households. Using the Dow Jones Total Stock Market index DWCF, through midmorning trade, that number had dropped to $22.32 trillion. In other words, a cool $1.8 trillion has been lost between now and the first quarter - and overwhelmingly, those losses occurred in the last few days. This will probably be the worst quarter for stock-market destruction since the third quarter of 2011, when $2.8 trillion was wiped away."

NYSE To Suspend Stock Trading If S&P 500 Index Plunges 7% -Bloomberg
"The New York Stock Exchange said it will halt trading for 15 minutes if the Standard & Poor's 500 Index drops 7 percent. The stock exchange will pause trading if the benchmark for U.S. equities slumps to 1,832.92 before 3:25 p.m. New York time, Sara Rich, a NYSE spokeswoman said in an e-mail....Trading will stop for a second time if the gauge extends its losses to 13 percent before 3:25 p.m. If the plunge reaches 20 percent at any point during today's session, NYSE will shut the market for the rest of the day."

Stock up on canned food for stock market crash -Independent
"A former advisor to [Former British Prime Minister] Gordon Brown has urged people to stock up on canned goods and bottled water as stock markets around the world slide. Damian McBride appeared to suggest that the stock market dip could lead to civil disorder or other situations where it would be unreasonable for someone to leave the house."

The U.S. Dollar Flirts With A Breakdown -SeekingAlpha
"The U.S. dollar index has confirmed its downtrend from the March 12-year highs as it now flirts with a complete breakdown from past momentum. The low in May was 7% lower than the March high. Looking past potential support at the 200-day moving average, the U.S. dollar could very easily retest those May lows given current developments." Read Mr. Smith's newest special report, What's Next For The Dollar?

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Gold last traded at $1,159 an ounce. Silver at $15.30 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks plunged Friday, extending a recent rout, as concerns about China and slowing global growth continued to pressure investor sentiment. Meanwhile, gold prices hit a 6-week high as the U.S. dollar weakened further on China and Fed worries.

Global Stocks Fall Further on China Worries -Wall Street Journal
"A global stock rout intensified Friday on fresh worries about China’s economy. Signs of a sharp slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy have unnerved investors since Beijing surprised markets last week by devaluing its currency. Shares in the U.S., Asia and Europe have tumbled along with commodity prices as investors worry about waning Chinese demand. On Friday, an early gauge of China’s factory activity fell to a six-and-a-half year low in August, heaping further pressure on stocks and commodities after Thursday’s global selloff....Ultralow interest rates have fueled a big rally in stock markets since the financial crisis. On Wednesday, minutes of the Fed’s latest policy meeting showed officials were divided over when to raise rates, with some citing concerns over China’s economy as a reason to hold back."

Dollar weakens on China, receding U.S. rate hike hopes -Reuters
"The U.S. dollar fell across the board on Friday, after weaker-than expected Chinese manufacturing data drove concerns about the global economy, pushing investors toward the perceived safety of the Japanese yen. The dollar fell against the euro and other major currencies on Thursday as bets dwindled that the Federal Reserve next month will raise U.S. interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade." Gold is the anti-dollar. Gold is on a trajectory to overtake the dollar as the rightful center of the currency universe. Are you prepared? If not, please read Mr. Smith's newest special report, What's Next For The Dollar?

Venezuela's currency so worthless people use as napkins -Business Insider
"According to Venezuela's official bolivar-dollar exchange rate, the man using his money as a napkin is wasting about $0.31 (£0.20). But on the black market, the reality is completely different. You can get 676.88 bolivars to the dollar, according to dolartoday.com. That means holding food with a 2 bolivar note costs the holder less than a third of one US cent. The country has a spiraling inflation rate. Official inflation is high enough, at 68.5%, but like the official exchange rate, that paints a much rosier picture than reality. Professor Steve Hanke, who runs the Troubled Currencies Project, a joint program between the Cato Institute and Johns Hopkins University, says in reality inflation is more like 808%. Food is increasingly hard to get hold of, shop shelves are often empty, and the country's social order is deteriorating." If you want a peek into the future of all fiat paper currencies, you need to read The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

Gird for the Worst as Fed Loses Its Grip on Debt -Bloomberg
"What happens when the Federal Reserve loses its stranglehold over debt markets? Investors are finding out. The selloff in corporate bonds is deepening and investors are seeking safety in the longest-dated government debt, which does best when the economy does worst. Defaults are rising as oil tumbles and investors are looking for the best ways to hedge against credit losses. All this comes as the Fed does, well, nothing much. 'The Fed was ready to move, waited too long, and China moved first,' wrote Wells Fargo & Co. analysts led by Richard Gordon on Aug. 18." Yes, the Fed has lost their grip, just as we predicted in In The Biggest Bank Heist in History

The USS Social Security is sinking fast! -MillerOnTheMoney
"Somewhere between 2026 and 2034, hard-working Americans who paid into a pension fund will not get the benefits they are counting on. That is a real problem, not only for the retirees, but also future generations having to make good on promises they did not make. In many cases, their futures were mortgaged long before they were old enough to vote....Savvy Americans understand the problem and will look after their family now and in the future. They have learned to depend on themselves and never count on the government. Most of those promises are made by politicians looking for your vote, who will be long gone before they must make good on them. We must understand our priorities and focus on the task at hand. You can’t say we have not had ample warning - very loud and clear. It’s time to heed the warning and protect your family....While many pundits are declaring the demise of gold, silver and precious metals, having assets that are historical hedges against high inflation is a must."

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Gold last traded at $1,153 an ounce. Silver at $15.53 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks fell 2% on Thursday as oil prices hit fresh lows and continued uncertainty over the Fed amid data releases. Gold prices shot up over 1.65% on safe haven buying as the dollar drifted lower.

Gold rally could be similar to 1980 -CNBC
"Prices of Gold continued to rally Thursday, rising more than 1 percent to a four-week high as uncertainty over a possible Fed rate hike had investors piling into the safe haven asset. The precious metal is now up more than 6 percent from the recent low hit in late July and some traders think now could be its time to shine....'The is one of the first times in a while that we've seen options traders bet on a rebound,' Mike Khouw, a CNBC contributor, said Wednesday on CNBC's 'Fast Money'....'We don't quite know how this will end', added Khouw. 'But if gold's bear market is similar to the one in the early 1980s, it may still be marked by some significant rebounds.'" Are we headed back to $2,000 an ounce gold? Find out by reading The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

A Flyspeck of Gold -Hugo Salinas Price, Plata
"The idea of a 'Dollar price of gold' is a mistaken idea, although universally shared. Just as mistaken as the idea that the Sun revolves around the Earth. Gold is the most highly demanded of all things in this world. Every single gram of gold in the world is owned by someone - either directly as personal property, or through legal participation in Funds owning gold....There can never be an over-supply of gold, and only gold enjoys such demand. Gold is the Sun at the center of the monetary universe, and all other currencies are sailing around it....The true concept is the price of the dollar in gold. How many grams of gold will purchase a dollar? The gram weight of gold which is needed to purchase a dollar is the price of the dollar....The dollar, like all fiat currencies through the ages, is on its way to meeting its doom: the moment when no one will want to spend even a flyspeck of gold on purchasing a dollar." Mr. Price is right on the money! The U.S. dollar has morphed from a promise to pay a specific weight measurement of gold or silver into a nebulous promise to pay an unmeasurable weight of debt, as we explain in The Golden Numeraire.

United States Drops In Overall Freedom Ranking -DailyCaller
"A new report on the freedom of countries around the world ranks the United States 20th, putting countries like Chile and the United Kingdom ahead of the U.S. Last year, the U.S. was ranked 17th, but a steady decline of economic freedom and 'rule of law' has dropped the level of freedom, according to the Cato Institute, Fraser Institute and the Swiss Liberales Institute, which created the study together....Co-author of the report Ian Vasquez told The Daily Caller News Foundation that the steady growth of government and increased regulations of business and labor contribute to the U.S. low rating. 'Since the year 2000, the U.S. has been on a decline in terms of economic freedom,' Vasquez told TheDCNF."

IMF: China must wait to join exclusive currency club -AP
"The currency club China wants to join is known as the IMF's Special Drawing Rights basket. This is a virtual currency the IMF can use for emergency loans and IMF member countries can use to bolster their own reserves in times of crisis. The IMF's board voted to leave unchanged until Sept. 30, 2016 a basket of currencies used in IMF operations. China, world's second-biggest economy, had wanted the IMF to include its currency, the yuan, in the basket along with the U.S. dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen starting Jan. 1." For more details read Mr. Smith's newest special report, What's Next For The Dollar?

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Gold last traded at $1,127 an ounce. Silver at $15.17 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks traded down Wednesday amid Asian market volatility, falling oil prices and the release of the Fed's July meeting minutes. Precious metal prices rose sharply on safe haven buying. The dollar fell after the Fed said they might not be ready to raise interest rates.

Gold Jumps as Equity Retreat Spurs Haven Demand -Bloomberg
"Gold futures advanced most in a week as a retreat in equities and emerging-market currencies revived demand for the metal as a haven....Bullion on Friday capped the biggest weekly gain since mid-June after China unexpectedly devalued its currency, shaking up markets and boosting the appeal of haven assets....'The selloff in equity markets reflects economic concern, which is supportive of gold,' James Cordier, the founder of Optionsellers.com in Tampa, Florida, said in a telephone interview. 'With so many problems globally, people think the Fed will have to wait to raise rates.'" Get up to speed fast on the best gold buying opportunity of the year by reading The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

First Time In Six Years Gold Is "Undervalued" Says BofA -ZeroHedge
"With hedge funds net short for the first time ever, and Commercial Hedgers are holding the lowest net short position in gold futures since the launch of the gold bull market in 2001, we thought it interesting that - for the first time since 2009, BofAML's fund managers' survey finds Gold is 'undervalued.'....This is what happened the last time gold saw a 'low' net long position." For over 30 years Swiss America has told the public the full story: Gold is neither a commodity nor an investment - it is the world's most trustworthy store of value, time and labor. This explains why gold prices are rising while oil and other commodity prices are falling. Gold is much more than "just another commodity" as former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke once said. Gold is in fact the ultimate, worldwide "numeraire" which serves as the most fundamental form of money, which today is temporarily undervalued.

Iran Accord, War and the Doomed Dollar -Daily Reckoning
"US President Barack Obama has given an extraordinary ultimatum to the Republican-controlled Congress, arguing that they must not block the nuclear accord with Iran. It’s either 'deal or war,' he says. But what could really be behind Obama’s dire warning of 'deal or war' is another scenario - the collapse of the US dollar, and with that the implosion of the US economy....Doug Casey, a top American investment analyst, last week warned that the woeful state of the US economy means that the dollar is teetering on the brink of a long-overdue crash....He added that the crash will also presage a collapse in the American banking system which is carrying trillions of dollars of toxic debt derivatives, at levels much greater than when the system crashed in 2007-08." For more details read Mr. Smith's newest special report, What's Next For The Dollar?

Obama, the Left downsizing the American Dream -Orange County Register
"President Obama’s great accomplishment, arguably, has been to spur the evolution of a society that formerly rested on individual and familial aspiration, and turn it into a more regulated and centralized regime focused on broader social and environmental concerns....Three ideas prevail in shaping today’s new politics: sexual liberation, racial redress and environmental determinism. The first notion has made rapid progress, in that gay marriage now is, rightfully, legal, and women are making steady gains across the employment spectrum....The second major thrust of the reconstituted American Dream is the imposition of a regime of permanent racial redress. In contrast to assuring equal rights, the new drive is to guarantee similar results....Worse still, the third major lodestone of current reigning ideology - environmentalism - increasingly tends to tilt against broad-based economic growth. The celebration of economic stagnation is accepted openly among European greens who support an agenda of 'degrowth.' It is also reflected in American calls for 'de-development,' a phrase employed by President Obama’s Science Adviser John Holdren."

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Gold last traded at $1,116 an ounce. Silver at $14.79 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks closed lower Tuesday on mixed economic data. Shanghai stocks fell 6% amid renewed worries the Chinese government may further devalue the yuan. Meanwhile, precious metal prices steadied despite a stronger U.S. dollar.

No evidence Fed's money printing boosted economy -CNBC
"In a white paper dissecting the U.S. central bank's actions to stem the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, Stephen D. Williamson, vice president of the St. Louis Fed, finds fault with three key policy tenets. Specifically, he believes the zero interest rates in place since 2008 that were designed to spark good inflation actually have resulted in just the opposite....'With the nominal interest rate at zero for a long period of time, inflation is low, and the central banker reasons that maintaining ZIRP will eventually increase the inflation rate. But this never happens and, as long as the central banker adheres to a sufficiently aggressive Taylor rule, ZIRP will continue forever, and the central bank will fall short of its inflation target indefinitely,' Williamson said." In The Biggest Bank Heist in History Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte explain why The Fed's zero interest policy and quantitative easing are destined to fail everyone, except Progressive politicians and mega-banks.

China crisis could crash down on us all -Telegraph
"If the yuan dropped very sharply, inflation could soar, leading Beijing to raise interest rates, which would slow the country’s economy - which at the moment seems unthinkable. Having grown 9.8% a year since the late-Seventies, the Chinese economy now outstrips America on a purchasing power parity basis....This autumn, the IMF publishes its review of the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the official currency basket used by central banks everywhere to denominate their reserves. Inclusion of the yuan, if matched by a loosening of capital controls by Beijing, would mark China’s full integration into the global financial system. More hard-nosed observers, myself included, will judge that Beijing, while it has an eye on the IMF’s decision on SDRs, is firing back a 'currency war' salvo." In Swiss America's latest FREE report, What's Next For The Dollar?, Craig Smith explains why the politics of replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency will greatly impact the financial markets, the banking world and your dollar-denominated savings.

U.S. Lacks Ammo for Next Economic Crisis -Wall Street Journal
"As the U.S. economic expansion ages and clouds gather overseas, policy makers worry about recession. The U.S. generally injects cash into the economy through interest-rate cuts, tax cuts or ramped-up federal spending. Those tools could be hard to employ when the next dip comes: Interest rates are near zero, and fiscal stimulus plans could be hampered by high levels of government debt and the prospect of growing budget deficits to cover entitlement spending on retired baby boomers....'The world economy is like an ocean liner without lifeboats,' economists at HSBC Bank wrote in a recent research note."

GDP won't accelerate, so why hike rates: Former Fed gov -CNBC
"The Federal Reserve may have missed its window for an interest rate hike, former Fed Gov. Larry Lindsey said Monday, a month before the central bank's crucial September monetary policy meeting....'Looking at the Fed's own behavior, I'd bet they're going to take a pass in September,' predicted Lindsey, who also served as director of the National Economic Council for President George W. Bush. 'I think [the Fed] could have done it painlessly. There's no cause and effect here,' he said. 'I think they're running the risk of raising and then being embarrassed by a slowdown.'"

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Gold last traded at $1,118 an ounce. Silver at $15.29 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks shrugged off pessimism to push higher Monday as upbeat housing confidence outweighed a dismal manufacturing report. Precious metal prices rose on safe-haven buying despite a stronger dollar.

Doomsday Clock: One minute to midnight -Telegraph
"China currency devaluation signals endgame leaving equity markets free to collapse under the weight of impossible expectations. When the banking crisis crippled global markets seven years ago, central bankers stepped in as lenders of last resort. Profligate private-sector loans were moved on to the public-sector balance sheet and vast money-printing gave the global economy room to heal. Time is now rapidly running out. From China to Brazil, the central banks have lost control and at the same time the global economy is grinding to a halt. It is only a matter of time before stock markets collapse under the weight of their lofty expectations and record valuations....As central banks run out of silver bullets then, credit markets are desperately seeking to reprice risk."

What's Next For the Dollar? - Swiss America
"Today the U.S. dollar is the tallest midget in the world of paper currencies and is set for a fall," writes Swiss America Chairman Craig R. Smith in a new Special Report. Last week Secretary of State John Kerry warned the world about a potential dollar crash on the exact same day the Chinese announced a government-engineered depreciation of their Yuan currency - which sent shock waves throughout the global financial markets. In recent years China has been quietly sidestepping the dollar by opening currency swap lines with several Asian countries. The U.S. dollar has been the world's reserve currency since 1921, but its days may be numbered. The only form of world currency which has lasted for centuries is gold. Gold is the world's ultimate currency because it is scarce, it provides instant liquidity and maintains a trustworthy store of value over time.

Why gas prices are rising despite oil's plunge -CNBC
"Crude oil fell about 1 percent on Monday, trading near six-year lows. However, the national gasoline price average has increased to $2.67 from $2.59 one week ago, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Report. Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates said the rise in gas prices is driven by California and the greater Chicago area, where major oil refineries are having trouble processing crude oil into gasoline for the consumer. BP recently shut down its largest crude-oil processing unit in the Midwest after heavy damage from a malfunction. Lipow said California gas prices are still feeling the blows from an explosion in February at an Exxon Mobil refinery in the Los Angeles area."

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8.14.15 - TIME TO "SELL" DOLLARS NOW

Gold last traded at $1,112 an ounce. Silver at $15.21 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks ended slightly higher Friday as investors mulled over rising inflation, falling consumer sentiment data and how both may impact Fed interest rate policy in September. Meanwhile the U.S. dollar inched upward. Precious metals ended the week with a 1.5% gain, the highest level in three weeks.

Welcome To The Revenue Recession -Zero Hedge
"The 'Revenue Recession' is alive and well, at least when it comes to the 30 companies of the Dow Jones Industrial Average....Overall, the lack of revenue growth combined with full equity valuations (unless you think +17x is cheap) is all you need to know about the current market churn... and why it will likely continue....Until we see the U.S. economy accelerate and/or the dollar weaken and/or oil prices stabilize, the chance that investors will pay even higher multiples for stagnant earnings appears remote. That's a recipe for more volatility - potentially a lot more."

History Shows Time to Sell Dollar Is Now -Bloomberg
"Anyone looking for the dollar to surge after the Federal Reserve lifts interest rates has a short memory. The U.S. currency strengthened an average of almost 9 percent during the six to nine months prior to the past three rate-rise cycles. After that, it's been a downhill ride, with the six-month drop averaging about 6 percent....'The assumption that the dollar has to go up as the Fed tightens is not borne out by history,' David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s JPMorgan Funds unit, said in a phone interview. 'It does tend to go up in advance of an actual rate hike, but it's one of those cases where people buy the rumor and sell the fact.'....The dollar fell 9.3 percent in the six months following 2004's first rate increase, even as the Fed tightened another 100 basis points, according to the Intercontinental Exchange Inc.'s U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against six major peers." What would a crashing dollar mean to your portfolio and savings? Find out by reading The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

John Kerry: U.S. Dollar Could Lose World Reserve Status -RealClearPolitics
"Speaking with Reuters on Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry said that if Congress rejects the Iran nuclear deal, 'that is a recipe, very quickly, my friends, businesspeople here, for the American dollar to cease to be the reserve currency of the world, which is already bubbling out there.'....Is Kerry setting the ground work for blaming Congressional Republicans for this calamatous possibility that is 'already bubbling out there?'" The answer is; quite possibly. How else can you explain a Secretary of State talking about economic issues as important as the dollar's potentially demise unless Congress passes a lousy Iran nuclear deal? More on this topic Monday.

Gold's loud message to stock bulls -Marketwatch
"I know, I know. Gold is a controversial metal. Some people hate it as an investment because it provides no income, and is a "relic of the past." Some people love it, arguing it is the safest form of currency in the world with historical relevance....So let us look at gold not from an emotional side, but rather from a signaling one....Focus not on gold as an investment, and not on gold as a trade. Focus on gold as a messenger of information. Right now, the message for the stock market isn't positive. The question is simply when the market will begin to act on it. Will you?"

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Gold last traded at $1,115 an ounce. Silver at $15.40 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks cautiously rose Thursday in choppy trading amid upbeat economic data and Chinese promises of currency stability. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar rebounded slightly from its dramatic fall on Wednesday as precious metal prices eased back on speculative profit-taking.

Economists Expect Fed Liftoff in September -Wall Street Journal
"About 82% of economists surveyed Friday through Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal said the Fed’s first rate increase will come in September, versus 13% who said the central bank will wait until December....Only one of the 60 business and academic economists who offered a prediction this month said the Fed would wait until 2016 to start raising rates." In The Biggest Bank Heist in History Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte explain why the Fed is quite likely bluffing on raising interest rates hikes in 2015.

China efforts to slow yuan fall -Reuters
"The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said there was no basis for more yuan depreciation in light of strong economic fundamentals, even though the yuan dropped for the third straight day. Still, traders remained cautious. Sources told Reuters some powerful voices in the government were pushing for an even deeper devaluation to help China's struggling exporters." In DON'T BANK ON IT!, (page 116) Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte write, "As Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote in 1848 in The Communist Manifesto, one of the 10 best ways to destroy capitalism is for government to seize power over all lending and credit." China's central bankers along with the U.S. Fed are attempting to control lending, credit and the free market. Both will ultimately fail.

China risks global chaos of currency devaluation -Telegraph
"If China really is trying to drive down its currency in any meaningful way to gain trade advantage, the world faces an extremely dangerous moment. Such desperate behavior would send a deflationary shock through a global economy already reeling from near recession earlier this year, and would risk a repeat of East Asia's currency crisis in 1998 on a larger planetary scale....'The world economy is sailing across the ocean without any lifeboats to use in case of emergency,' said Stephen King from HSBC in a haunting report in May....The Communist Party has not yet run out of stimulus and is clearly deploying the state banking system to engineer yet another mini-cycle right now."

Voter anger fuels outsider candidates -Washington Post
"The surging candidacies of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are fueled by people’s anger with the status quo and desire for authenticity in political leaders....Carson’s and Fiorina’s stock has risen after last week’s first primary debate, as has that of Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), who, despite a career in politics, has positioned himself firmly as antiestablishment. Post-debate polls show these candidates gaining ground. In Iowa, a CNN survey released Wednesday shows Trump leading with 22 percent and Carson in second, with 14 percent. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who had been the Iowa front-runner, was third, with 9 percent, followed by Cruz and Fiorina, with 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively."

Fiorina's Compassionate Conservative Economics -Marketwatch
"Businesswoman Carly Fiorina was the hands-down winner of the JV debate, an audience-free Q&A with the seven candidates who didn’t make the top-10 cut. Fiorina was poised, knowledgeable and precise in her responses....On taxes, Fiorina would lower every rate, close every loophole - maybe retain a few that benefit the middle class - and shrink the 75,000-page U.S. tax code to three pages....Probably the most controversial statement Fiorina has made on the economy ... is that progressive policies contribute to income inequality....Now that she’s impressed the public with her debate performance, Fiorina is in a position to demonstrate that conservatives are compassionate, that their opposition to government programs that have failed those they were intended to help is not a sign of indifference."

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Gold last traded at $1,123 an ounce. Silver at $15.48 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: The global stock market sell-off continued Wednesday as China further devalued its currency, the Yuan. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar fell over 1% which helped propel precious metal prices to 3-week highs.

China triggers financial rout -MarketWatch
"So much for that 'one-time correction.' The People’s Bank of China let the yuan drop again overnight, fixing the currency 1.6% below Tuesday’s close, following the 1.9% devaluation heard around the world a day ago....Deutsche Bank, for one, is predicting the yuan is overvalued by around 10%, so if the yuan continues to weaken, things could yet get a lot darker for markets. And stocks aren’t dealing well with the new China reality they’ve seen so far."

China's No-Win Currency War -Fox Business
Neil Cavuto discusses with author and Swiss America Chairman Craig Smith why economic manipulation by government simply does not work. "The government can mess up a one-piece puzzle," says Smith, "and it doesn't matter which government it is!". The Chinese Yuan has fallen 3.5% in the last two days as the Chinese government is attempting to manipulate the international currency markets to overcome their economic slowdown and stock market decline. "This will backfire on the Chinese. I don't believe the drop in the Yuan is over yet ... we are in a full-blown currency war and it's going to get worse," says Mr. Smith. Read Craig Smith's latest research report, THE SECRET WAR, which explains why, under threat of regulatory punishment, banks must now spy on you for the government.

Gold & Silver Surge As Dollar Dumps -ZeroHedge
"Just 3 weeks after the world could not purge itself fast enough of 'pet rocks', Gold is pushing to one-month highs this morning (at $1120) and Silver just broke a key technical level at its 50-day moving average as USD weakness and global turmoil have seen Precious metals gain for the last few days." Find out why precious metals have likely bottomed for the year and could rebound dramatically in the next few months by reading The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

Dollar falls after China moves cast doubt on Fed rate hike -CNBC
"The U.S. dollar fell on Wednesday to its lowest in about a month against a basket of major currencies, on doubts over whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in September given China's devaluation of the yuan. 'China is still a big unknown, and the market is pricing in the worst,' said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York. 'Many people in the market think that there's less chance of a September hike, and that's one of the factors that has helped lift the euro.'"

The Fiat Yuan -New York Sun
"In China, in any event, it has disclosed a bubble in stocks and certain other assets that has crested in recent years. What this adds up to, according to a wire from David Malpass, one of the fastest and shrewdest economists on the beat, is a 'de-linking' of the yuan and the dollar. He reckons that the Chinese communists are 'laying the groundwork for a yuan bloc and closer relationships with other Asian currencies.' By our lights this is but another consequence of the failure of the Congress to exercise its constitutional power to coin money and regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin and to fix the standard of weights and measures....Why should the Chinese comrades link their yuan to the dollar if the dollar is linked merely to Janet Yellen’s Ph.D.? That phrase is but a facet of what James Grant likes to call the Ph.D. standard, meaning a dollar whose value is established by a group of economists credentialed with graduate degrees in economics, rather than by reference to classical specie."

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Gold last traded at $1,107 an ounce. Silver at $15.28 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: Stock and commodity prices fell sharply worldwide on Tuesday after a surprise 2% devaluation of the Chinese currency. Meanwhile, the news lifted the U.S. dollar index and precious metal prices.

China Devalues Its Currency on Economic Slowdown Worries -New York Times
"As China contends with an economic slowdown and a stock market slump, the authorities on Tuesday sharply devalued the country’s currency, the renminbi, a move that could raise geopolitical tensions and weigh on growth elsewhere. China’s abrupt devaluation is the clearest sign yet of mounting concern in Beijing that the country could fall short of its goal of roughly 7 percent economic growth this year....China’s central bank 'has finally thrown in the towel on supporting the renminbi,' said Eswar S. Prasad, a professor of economics at Cornell University."

India, Russia And Thailand Prepare For Currency War -ZeroHedge
"We give Russia, Thailand and India (as well as the rest of the EM countries, actually make that all countries, the US included) at least a few days (hours may suffice) before they all realize that in a beggar-thy-neighbor global currency war, where the ZIRP (or NIRP) liquidity trap is already stalking at least half of the entire world, there really is no choice....Expect a dramatic surge in interest rate cuts over the next several weeks as the rest of the world realizes this is not some bad dream and responds, and the tit-for-tat FX defection regime (also known elsewhere as 'war') goes thermonuclear."

Will China Play The 'Gold Card'? -Hugo Salinas Price, Plata
"The thrust of the article is that China, at some point, will have to revalue gold in China; which means, in other words, that China will decide to devalue the Yuan against gold....The only way that the US might counter the Chinese move, would be to revalue gold in Dollars; which is to say, the US would have to effect a corresponding devaluation of the Dollar against gold, to nullify the effect of the Chinese devaluation of the Yuan against gold....When might this happen? The world economy is going from bad to worse by the day. The Chinese may opt for this measure out of sheer desperation, and it may be a reality soon. I have the sensation that things are falling apart around the world at an increasing rate of speed. Perhaps China will move this Fall?" The time to move yourself onto a personal gold standard is now, while prices are still near 5-year lows. Call your Swiss America representative at 800-289-2646 to discuss The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

AS SOCIAL SECURITY TURNS 80, ITS DAYS MAY BE NUMBERED, WARN EXPERTS - PRBuzz
"Social Security was signed into law on August 14, 1935, by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Friday, August 14, 2015 is this huge government program’s 80th birthday. Today Social Security and its related benefit programs Medicare and Medicaid are running short of money - and are in real trouble. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is expected to run out of money in 2016. President Barack Obama’s administration relaxed its qualifications, and SSDI beneficiaries increased by 50 percent, to more than 10 million. This is almost as many as have full-time jobs in all of manufacturing. In their latest book, DON'T BANK ON IT!, Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte explain why Social Security may not be there for a large share of today’s workers - but could soon demand that they pay 25 percent or more of their income in taxes to provide benefits for Baby Boomers." Discover 12 Shocking Facts About Social Security

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Gold last traded at $1,104 an ounce. Silver at $15.29 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks rallied Monday on speculation the Fed will hold off on interest rate hikes until consumer inflation rises faster. Meanwhile, the prospect of a delayed rate hike sent the U.S. dollar lower and precious metal prices higher.

Inflation Skepticism Sends Wall Street Higher -Fox Business
"U.S. equity markets surged after comments from the Fed's No. 2 official that inflation continues to run below the central bank's 2% objective. On Bloomberg TV, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said the labor market has reached 'nearly full employment' but with 'very low inflation.' While he didn't predict when the central bank is most likely to hike rates, he did say 'the concern about the situation is not to move before we see inflation as well as employment returning to more normal levels.'" In DON'T BANK ON IT!, Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte predict the trillions of dollars in Fed stimulus will ultimately cause runaway inflation.

Gold Rebounds Near Three-Week High -Wall Street Journal
"Gold prices rose to a near three-week high Monday, after a Federal Reserve member said the central bank won’t raise interest rates until inflation has returned to normal. 'Traders believe the Fed is giving themselves an excuse for not raising rates in September, and that’s a positive for gold,' said James Cordier, president at Optionsellers.com....A weakening dollar also supported gold prices, which are denominated in the U.S. currency and become more expensive for foreign buyers when the buck falls." Discover why every American needs to own physical gold regardless of the price by reading The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

'Responsible banking' law ruled unconstitutional -Reuters
"New York City's 'responsible banking' law, which called for banks holding the city's over $6 billion in deposits to document how well they meet the needs of low-income neighborhoods, is unconstitutional, a U.S. federal judge has ruled. In a 71-page decision made public on Monday, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla said the 2012 law illegally conflicts with both federal and state statutes that regulate banks. 'While the animating concerns of the City Council are valid, the means by which it sought to harness banks to redress those concerns intrudes on the province of the federal and state governments,' Failla wrote." In The Biggest Bank Heist in History Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte explain how simple it is to become your own banker by hedging bank deposits with real, tangible assets that are held outside of the banking system.

The Advent of Local Artisanal Cash -New York Times
"As Bitcoin, PayPal and other electronic forms of payment grow in popularity in the global economy, cash in a growing number of places - not only Bristol and Brixton, but also Amsterdam; Ithaca, N.Y.; and elsewhere - is becoming quite literally an artisanal object. In England, a £10 note in Brixton, designed by Charlie Waterhouse and Clive Paul Russell, honors David Bowie. Many of the new alternative currencies have the look and feel of the regular legal tender accepted at such places. Most include anticounterfeiting measures like holograms and serial numbers....'If you use a local currency, you keep the money local, and that has a 'lifts all boats' vibe to it,' said David Wolman, the author of The End of Money. 'When some people hold a bank note, it makes them furious about fiat money and the debt,' Mr. Wolman said, 'but for others, those symbols embedded in that paper mean a lot - the note conjures feelings of togetherness or nationalism - and the state wants you to have that feeling.'....Perhaps these smaller, more attractive artisanal paper notes are merely last bursts of glory before it disappears entirely."

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Gold last traded at $1,094 an ounce. Silver at $14.93 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks traded lower Friday amid falling oil prices and a mediocre July employment report. Meanwhile, precious metal prices rose on safe haven buying.

GOP Debate: The Morning After -Fox News
"The only thing wider than the Republican field this morning is the range of pundit scorecards over who won last night's Fox News debates in Cleveland - though most analysts seem to agree that Carly Fiorina dominated the early debate, gaining much-needed name recognition via social media. Today and tomorrow, many of last night's debaters are in Atlanta for the Red State Gathering, trying to capitalize on their performance." The polls say Donald Trump "won" the debate last night, perhaps due to the public perception of his economic expertise coupled with his flamboyant dressing-down of career politicians from both parties. However, Fox News may have been the biggest winner last night, scoring a record-breaking 24 million viewers.

Go-go economy becomes so-so economy -Marketwatch
"Millions of Americans who want a full-time job still can’t find still one. Worker paychecks are barely keeping ahead of inflation. And governments at all levels are struggling to prevent future costs from spiraling out of control. All of these ailments can be traced to one malady: slow economic growth....The U.S. is in a straitjacket. Sure, the economy has been growing steadily at a 2% clip since a recovery began in mid-2009. But the U.S. is expanding well below its historic growth rate of 3.3%. And it hasn’t topped the 3% mark in a decade - the longest barren stretch in modern times." In The Biggest Bank Heist in History Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte explain why near zero interest rates are to blame for near zero growth after subtracting inflation.

Dollar has peaked, here comes China: Economist -CNBC
"The dollar's appreciation has 'peaked,' the U.S. economy is 'doing nothing' and China will soon be vying with the country on the global stage, an economist has told CNBC....'We're having a perfect storm for the dollar,' Steen Jakobsen, the chief economist at Danish investment bank Saxo Bank, told CNBC. The greenback has rallied 20 percent against a basket of leading currencies since the beginning of 2014....He predicts that China's foreign exchange reserves of more than $3 trillion will start to be invested. With a sizeable chunk of China's reserves being held in dollar-denominated assets, he added that this investment would be to the detriment of the dollar and U.S. bond markets." In DON'T BANK ON IT!, Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte predict the trillions of dollars in Fed stimulus will turn out to be 'anti-stimulus,' causing huge economic distortions and, ultimately, high inflation.

The New American Dream -Forbes
"The American Dream, as articulated by James Truslow Adams and others, has always been in its essence about working hard in order to build a better life. But for the past few generations, success in achieving the American Dream has been measured far too much in terms of home-ownership and career stability....Forget ownership and stability: The new American Dream promises flexibility and adventure and the return of a certain pioneer spirit. For a person still early in her career, it means she can feel great about her future … if she can make peace with not having some of the goodies her peers have or her parents and grandparents had."

5 Nations Still Buying Gold for Their Central Banks -247WallSt
"It is no secret that gold has been pounded in recent weeks....What has been interesting to see is that a handful of nations are still adding to their gold reserves. After all, gold reserves are viewed as being crucial to actually putting in a real value that aims to support a nation’s currency. The decline in the price of gold has gotten even worse since the end of June, but five central banks were buyers of gold in the first half of 2015. New data released by the World Gold Council (WGC) shows central bank purchases and holdings for the month of August. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the data and there were really only five nations that added handily to their gold reserves in the first half of 2015. These were China and Russia for the lion’s share, followed by Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Jordan." Wise investors (like central banks) are looking beyond the temporary gold price weakness to see the reality that summertime is historically the best season to buy precious metals near their annual price lows. Read more in The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

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Gold last traded at $1,090 an ounce. Silver at $14.68 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks fell again Thursday as investors dealt with earnings disappointment and the continued decline in oil prices, ahead of Friday's key employment report. Meanwhile, precious metal prices rose on a weaker U.S. dollar.

Atlanta Fed Sees Q3 Growth At 1% -Zero Hedge
"The Atlanta Fed's Q1 and Q2 GDP forecasts were virtually spot on with what the BEA ultimately reported. Which is why if its accuracy persists, not only the Fed, but Wall Street strategists suddenly have a very big headache on their hands. Moments ago, the Atlanta Fed just released its much anticipated first estimate for Q3 GDP. It was a doozy, at just 1.0%, or more than 2% below the consensus sellside estimate. If this is confirmed, not only are all rate hike bets off, but one may as well start the countdown to the recession, and more importantly, QE4." As discussed in The Biggest Bank Heist in History, Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte do not expect an interest rate hike this year and argue more stimulus may be soon proposed by the Fed.

It's The Dollar, Stupid -Market Anthropology
"From our perspective - and represented by the Fed's arduous task of administrating policy from ZIRP and within the trough of the long-term yield cycle, the conditions in the economy that were reflected in the markets of the 70's, 80's and 90's - are not remotely similar with today or have the potential reach and trend capacity that was fundamentally set in motion and sustained by the rise and fall in yields, from their secular icarus heights of the early 1980's....Moreover, from a performance point-of-view, the magnitude and pace of gains over the past year is in fact rare and more representative of culminating blowoff extremes - rather than the early headwaters of a longer trend....Although the dollar appears to be testing those highs this summer, we maintain our expectations that similar to the relative performance extreme in longer-term yields going into 2014, momentum in the dollar will once again roll-over and ultimately test the bottom of its long-term range." In today's corrupt world of floating currency values it has become impossible to identify the true value of almost every other asset. The U.S. dollar has morphed from a promise to pay a specific weight measurement of gold or silver into a nebulous promise to pay an unmeasurable weight of debt. Our economy and money system, once a solid "gold-based" monetary system, has gradually become a politically "faith-based" system. Read more...

Wages At Center of Rate Hike Drama -Fox Business
"No one seems to know why workers’ paychecks aren’t getting much bigger even as the economy generates lots of jobs each month and the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level in seven years....Analysts are predicting the U.S. added 237,000 new jobs last month, up from 223,000 a month earlier, and that the unemployment rate will dip to 5.2%, down from 5.3% in June....Stubbornly weak wage growth has emerged as a central issue for Federal Reserve policy makers as they mull the timing of the first rate hike in nearly a decade."

Greece's banks are dying, and fast -Washington Post
"Greece is finding out that you can't have an economy without banks, but you can't have banks without an economy, either. Or at least one where businesses aren't allowed to buy the things they need to stay in business....It's only a slight exaggeration to say that this has made Greece go from having not much of an economy to having not one at all. Greek companies haven't been able to pay foreign suppliers since they can't send money out of the country, so their factories have run out of supplies. Everything has come to a standstill....Greece's Purchasing Mangers Index, which measures manufacturing activity, just collapsed from a sickly 46.9 to a deathly 30.2." To discover the most likely outcome to the ongoing Greek debt and banking crisis read THE GREEK SHOWDOWN.

America Deserves a Servant Leader -Howard Schultz, New York Times
"The values of servant leadership - putting others first and leading from the heart - need to emerge from every corner of American life, including the business community....Despite the encouragement of others, I have no intention of entering the presidential fray. I’m not done serving at Starbucks....Americans who are tired of politics as usual should demand a clear answer to a simple question from every candidate: What will you do to unite all of us?"

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Gold last traded at $1,085 an ounce. Silver at $14.55 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks inched higher Wednesday following mixed economic data showing job weakness, but service-sector growth strength. Meanwhile, precious metal prices steadied as the dollar zig-zagged lower.

China knocking on the reserve-currency door -The Economist
"Now China, eager to make the yuan go global, has placed SDRs in the spotlight. The International Monetary Fund, which manages the SDRs, is conducting a five-yearly review of the basket of currencies that form its value. China wants it to bring the yuan into the basket. That would be a big decision, meaning that the IMF has in effect recognized the yuan as a reserve currency, despite China’s extensive capital controls. Two criteria determine whether a currency can be part of the SDR. Its issuing country must be a major exporter, and the currency must be freely usable. No one disputes that China meets the first criterion....The second criterion is the tricky one. If freely usable is understood as fully convertible, the yuan would not make the grade....But, as the IMF explains in its paper, freely usable means something else. It refers to whether a currency is widely used in international transactions and whether it is widely traded in global markets."

Why the Government Hates Gold -Bill Bonner
"To the American people, Alan Greenspan was a combination of Mr. Fixit and the Wizard of Oz. They didn’t understand a word of what he said. And why should they? Greenspan made no sense when he spoke as Fed chairman - intentionally. As he later explained: 'What I've learned at the Federal Reserve is a new language, which is called Fed-speak. You soon learn to mumble with great incoherence.' But the blither and blather worked. The politicians kneeled before him. The press took off their hats. And the masses, awestruck by the incomprehensible, thought he was a genius....Back in 1966, when he still believed in free markets and sound money, he expressed himself clearly. 'In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold. This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard.'" Read Gold and Economic Freedom by Alan Greenspan.

New ‘gig’ economy spells end to lifetime careers -Financial Times
"Employees recast as contractors, vendors and temporary workers. The gig economy is only part of a shift in employment over the past three decades, unleashed by technology and global trade. It has created many winners and losers, both by outsourcing jobs from the west to Asia and Africa, and by changing the terms on which most people work. Financial and contractual risk that used to be born by companies has been transferred to employees....The new world of work must chart a course between the twin dangers of corporate conformism and worker exploitation." Another reason for the massive U.S. shift toward part-time vs. full-time jobs is the economic uncertainty of misguided government and Fed policies over the last seven years, as covered in The Biggest Bank Heist in History

GDP: Index of Economic Welfare or Meaningless Metric? -Independent Review
"Economics is not a science of the production of hammers and nails but of wealth - the goods and services that people actually value, as they demonstrate by voluntarily forgoing alternative goods and services in the process of acquiring those they choose to acquire. It is unfortunate that once we recognize this reality, we are left to conclude only that, notwithstanding the disclaimers of nearly all current economists and other analysts who use the NIPA concepts and estimates, GDP is indeed a measure of economic welfare. It is simply an exceedingly poor such measure....It thus probably makes more sense to classify government services in general as 'anti-output' rather than as 'output'....As one looks upon what passes for empirical analysis in macroeconomics, the first impression that comes to mind is not the loveliness of GDP, but the ugliness of GIGO - garbage in, garbage out."

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Gold last traded at $1,090 an ounce. Silver at $14.56 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks drifted lower Tuesday weighed down by a bearish outlook for Apple stock and downbeat economic reports ahead of jobs data later this week. Meanwhile, precious metals prices steadied on bargain hunting despite a firmer U.S. dollar.

US Recession Imminent As Factory Orders Plunge -ZeroHedge
"For the 8th month in a row, US factory orders fell YoY. Down 6.2% in June, this is the longest streak of declining factory orders outside of a recession in history. MoM, factory orders rose 1.8% - as expected - the most since May 2014, but historical orders and shipments were revised lower. Inventories continue to rise leaving inventories-to-shipments ratios at cycle highs."

Welcome to the New Normal: Zero Growth - SwissAmerica
"In this, the weakest economic recovery since World War II, government claims of 200,000 jobs per month ring hollow – especially when the bulk of these are low-wage, hamburger flipper jobs with static wages that are killing America’s Middle Class. Dying, too, in today’s stagnant economy is the traditional American Dream of home ownership. This is especially true for those 34 years of age or younger who cannot buy a first home or new car with their low credit, average $27,000 in college loan debt to repay, and low incomes. A large proportion of Millennials have postponed starting a family, and for the first time in history America’s fertility rate has fallen below the needed 2.1 babies per couple replacement rate. At 1.84 babies per couple, we have now joined the downward death spiral to demographic doom seen in Western Europe and Japan."

Greeks lose their love of cash -Telegraph
"Greece’s banking crisis is having at least one positive outcome, and it’s made of plastic. In a country where cash is king and undeclared transactions still make up about a quarter of the economy, about one million debit cards have been issued by banks since the government closed lenders for three weeks and imposed controls on euro bills." THE GREEK SHOWDOWN explains why capital controls, such as Greek citizens have faced may soon become the new normal worldwide.

Uber Represents a New Kind of Capitalism -NewsMax
"A popular new kind of capitalism, 'the sharing economy,' is emerging in America, and those on the left are fighting among themselves over whether to embrace or attack it. Sharing economy services must compete without having government monopolies and therefore are more responsive and reliable than the taxis and hotels of government crony businesses that take customers for granted....This is the choice: Incentives so we work voluntarily, or threats, coercion and involuntary servitude. As Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman said, 'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.' Somebody - free market capitalist or unmotivated socialist slave - must produce the goods we want and need. The new capitalism produces more goods and more freedom."

Cybersecurity bill could 'sweep away' internet privacy -The Guardian
"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday said a controversial new surveillance bill could sweep away 'important privacy protections', a move that bodes ill for the measure’s return to the floor of the Senate this week. The latest in a series of failed attempts to reform cybersecurity, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (Cisa) grants broad latitude to tech companies, data brokers and anyone with a web-based data collection to mine user information and then share it with 'appropriate Federal entities', which themselves then have permission to share it throughout the government." In THE SECRET WAR, discover why, under threat of regulatory punishment, banks must now spy on you for the government.

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Gold last traded at $1,089 an ounce. Silver at $14.52 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks tumbled Monday after data showed manufacturing and construction spending slumped to fresh lows. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar rose sending oil and commodity prices lower.

Fed may spark dreaded stock correction -CNBC
"The stock market could be poised for a 10 percent decline as the Federal Reserve gets ready to hike interest rates for the first time in nine years, BlackRock Global Investment Strategist Russ Koesterich told CNBC on Monday. 'I think there's going to be a better opportunity to buy this market over the next two to three months,' he said....Another economic hurdle comes on Friday, when the U.S. government releases the July employment report, which could sway this self-proclaimed, data-driven Fed. " As covered in The Biggest Bank Heist in History, the Fed's zero interest rate policy has successfully painted the U.S. economy and stock market into a near-zero growth corner.

Greek shares plunge as market reopens -BBC
"The main Athens stock index, the Athex, ended the day down by 16.23% as trading resumed after a five-week closure. The nation's top four lenders - Piraeus Bank, National Bank, Alpha Bank and Eurobank - fell the most, all down 30%, the maximum allowed. Banks make up about a fifth of the index. The bourse was shut just before Athens imposed capital controls at the height of the debt crisis." THE GREEK SHOWDOWN explains why this Greek tragedy is still far from over.

THE OBAMA ECONOMY IS FLAT-LINING...AND SOON MIGHT SPIRAL INTO RECESSION -PRBuzz
Forget the American Dream. Welcome to Progressivism’s American Nightmare - By Craig R. Smith and Lowell Ponte - "Our economy’s growth from 2011 through 2014 has grown by an unlucky 13% less than claimed – averaging a miserably weak 2.0% growth. This embarrassingly-low growth, remember, happened in an era when the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve were injecting perhaps $6 Trillion of stimulus into the economy – and this astronomically large expenditure, much of which must be repaid by our children and grandchildren, produced only 2% growth. We might have done better by simply sending a check for more than $20,000 to every American. In several of our books, including our latest, DON'T BANK ON IT!, we expanded our prediction and analysis of why all this Keynesian stimulus would in reality become an 'anti-stimulus'....Our economy is supposedly growing by 2.3% but is being eaten up by 1.8% inflation not fully factored into the government’s books. This might mean that our real annual 'growth' could be 0.5%. Welcome to the New Normal."

Kansas $25 ATM withdrawal limit for welfare recipients -Kansas.com
"Kansas plans to keep a controversial $25 limit on ATM withdrawals by welfare recipients, despite the possibility that the restriction might violate federal law. Legislation was passed earlier this year to raise the limit, or do away with it entirely, but a newly revised version of Kansas’ welfare plan does not permit withdrawals of more than $25 per transaction per day. Out-of-state purchases also will be blocked."

Centennial Monetary Commission Act Advances -NY Sun
"The decision of Congressman Jeb Hensarling and the House Financial Services Committee to move the Centennial Monetary Commission Act to the floor marks an important moment in the dollar crisis. The measure would set up a commission to review the performance of the Federal Reserve as it begins its second century. What we like about this bill is that it lays this question where it belongs: the Congress of the United States. No central bank can be expected to examine its own performance. The universities did not create the Fed. The question of the Federal Reserve belongs in the body to which the Constitution grants the enumerated monetary powers. The Congress is the body that created the Fed, and it is the only body that can revise its mandates."

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