October Blog Archives 2015

Gold last traded at $1,141 an ounce. Silver at $15.56 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks struggled Friday, amid sagging consumer sentiment. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar extended losses while precious metal prices eased slightly, but ended the month with a 2.4% gain.

Death of the 40-hour week is killing us -Financial Times
"In the 19th century the slogan 'eight hours’ labor, eight hours’ recreation, eight hours’ rest' became the rallying cry of unions and social justice reformers on both sides of the Atlantic. More than a century later, that hard-won victory is under threat. In many cases it has already been overturned....'The 40-hour week is long gone,' says Karyn Twaronite, global diversity and inclusiveness officer at Ernst & Young. Its study of nearly 10,000 full-time managers in eight countries found that working hours have increased sharply since the financial crisis hit in 2007-8....It now takes two earners to keep a household going, not just one. We’ve moved away from the traditional breadwinner model."

26 Bankers Jailed, Icelanders Repaid by Bank Sale -Zero Hedge
"First, Iceland jailed its crooked bankers for their direct involvement in the financial crisis of 2008. Now, every Icelander will receive a payout for the sale of one of its three largest banks, Íslandsbanki. If Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson has his way - and he likely will - Icelanders will be paid kr 30,000 after the government takes over ownership of the bank....Iceland recently jailed its 26th banker - with 74 years of prison time amongst them - for causing the financial chaos. Meanwhile, U.S. banking criminals were rewarded for their fraud and market manipulation with an enormous bailout at the taxpayer’s expense."

We tip our hat to Iceland's Financial Minister for proving to the citizens that bankers are NOT above the law, NOR are they too big to jail. Read more in The Biggest Bank Heist in History

Dennis Hastert’s conviction is an outrage -Marketwatch
"Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, now age 73, faces possible jail time after pleading guilty this week to making a series of illegal bank withdrawals and evading federal financial regulations. He denied a second charge of lying to federal investigators about it. His crime? Withdrawing $1.7 million of his own money from his own bank accounts. His own money. His own bank accounts. Yeah....Hastert withdrew the money in cash between 2010 and 2014 in order to pay hush money to an undisclosed second person....Here in America we are supposed to live under a fair and just system of law, and by any reasonable count this entire case is an absolute disgrace."

In the new book, WE HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE AND IT LOOKS LIKE BALTIMORE, authors Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte explain why all bank depositors could soon become casualties of the "war on cash"..."Denny Hastert is a casualty of war. In 2015, the former Speaker of the House was caught in a legal trap, one weapon being used in a 'war against cash' our government and others are now waging. This trap was set to catch those who have the old-fashioned notion that they are free to withdraw their cash money from their bank as they wish. You, too, are a casualty of this war if you have a bank account – and probably do not even know it." (page 127) FREE 16-page Executive Summary.

Consumer Sentiment Unexpectedly Declines -Fox Business
"Consumer confidence rebounded less than expected in October as wealthier households worried about volatility in financial markets. The University of Michigan final consumer sentiment index for October, released Friday, came in at 90, lower than the preliminary reading of 92.1....U.S. household spending is a driving force in the economy. Consumer spending increased at a 3.2% rate in the third quarter, only slightly slowdown from the 3.6% advance during the prior three months. That helped prop up overall growth, though gross domestic product advanced a modest 1.5% during the period."

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,147 an ounce. Silver at $15.55 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks fell Thursday as U.S. GDP fell to a stall-speed of just 1.5% growth last quarter. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar, commodities and precious metal prices all drifted lower amid Fed uncertainty and slowing U.S. growth.

Foreign Nations Buying Up U.S. Natural Resources -Fox Business
Fox Business channel's Risk & Reward with Dierdre Bolton asks Swiss America Chairman Craig R. Smith what he thinks about China's recent $1.3 billion purchase of giant oil fields in Texas and of Goldman Saks latest prediction of $20 a barrel oil prices ahead. Watch now.

Listen to Craig Smith's economic outlook for 2016 in a recent interview with Pat Boone: RIGHT ON THE MONEY

Economic Growth Stalls in Third Quarter -US News
"U.S. economic growth slammed on the brakes in the third quarter as a strong dollar, weak international trade numbers and a business inventory correction weighed on America's gross domestic product. Real GDP ballooned at a 1.5 percent clip in the third quarter, down sharply from the second quarter's 3.9 percent growth but an improvement from the first quarter's 0.6 percent expansion. Still, the three-month period ending in September was the third-worst quarter of economic growth for the U.S. since mid-2013."

In The Biggest Bank Heist in History authors Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte explain why the Fed's zero interest policy is creating a zero growth economy.

Strapped Venezuela Turns to Gold Reserves -CNN Money
"Venezuela is running out of money fast and has started selling its gold. The cash-strapped country could default by next year when lots of debt payments are due. Venezuela's reserves, which are mostly made up of gold, have fallen sharply this year as the country needs cash to pay off debt and tries to maintain its social welfare programs. Venezuela owes about $15.8 billion in debt payments between now and the end of 2016....Venezuela only has $15.2 billion in foreign reserves -- the lowest amount since 2003. A lot of those reserves are in gold."

Gold has a long history of saving individuals and nations from economic ruin, read more in The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

GOP Debate: The biggest loser? The media -Boston Globe
"One of the CNBC moderators, Carl Quintanilla, asked Senator Ted Cruz whether his opposition to the just-announced congressional deal raising the federal debt limit demonstrates that he’s 'not the kind of problem-solver American voters want.' Cruz’s response was to turn the tables on the moderators, blasting them for the hostility toward the candidates that oozed from virtually every question they had asked so far. 'Donald Trump, are you a comic-book villain? Ben Carson, can you do math? John Kasich, will you insult two people over here? Marco Rubio, why don’t you resign? Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen?'.... It was a good night for Cruz and Rubio; a bad night for Bush. But the biggest loser in Boulder wasn’t a candidate: It was the media."

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,176 an ounce. Silver at $16.29 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks see-sawed lower after the Federal Reserve hinted of a possible December 2015 interest rate hike. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar rebounded following Fedspeak and precious metal prices weakened slightly.

Free Market Challenges the Fed’s Power -Wall Street Journal
"Surging levels of cash in U.S. money markets threaten to undermine the Federal Reserve’s control over short-term interest rates....The Fed’s benchmark federal-funds effective rate, the daily average rate charged on overnight loans between banks, has fallen sharply at the ends of recent months....The declines have been caused by financial institutions boosting their holdings of cash ahead of financial-reporting deadlines, reducing demand for loans in the fed-funds market....If the central bank can’t manage interest rates effectively, it would lose control of a key lever that shapes economic and financial activity....The daily fed-funds effective rate 'could conceivably go through the bottom of the range,' currently between zero and 0.25%..."

Is the Fed's power to levitate interest rates about to slide off cliff, taking the U.S. dollar with it? Read The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

3Q GDP Another Reason to Delay Rate Hike -Fox Business
"Amid a slew of economic data scheduled for release this week, the first reading of third-quarter gross domestic product (or GDP) due out Thursday will be one of the most closely-watched as the self-described "data dependent" Federal Reserve mulls the timing of the first interest rate hike in nearly a decade. Forecasters are predicting the report will provide an already-reluctant Fed with another reason to delay liftoff at least until December....The IHS analysts said domestic growth likely 'decelerated' to 1.4% in the third quarter, down from 3.9% in the second quarter. GDP represents the total value of goods and services produced in the U.S."

GOP Debate: It's the Economy, Stupid! -CNBC
"The economy is barely growing and too many men and women are still without work. All across this country, people are worried about economic uncertainty and their financial futures. The good news for economic conservatives is that the GOP presidential field is one of the strongest pro-growth fields in history, which is why at tonight's CNBC debate in Colorado, the candidates must step forward and tell the country how they plan to right our nation's financial ship and restore confidence in our foundering economy....This election is going to give economic conservatives an historic opportunity to elect a president who is committed to shrinking the size and scope of government, cutting taxes and spending, and reducing the regulatory burden on small businesses and families."

U.S. Government Too Big To Succeed -Trump/CNBC
"Real leadership is about competence. Take a look at any government program. I defy anyone to identify a single program that is successful and without fraud or waste. Take a look at the Iran nuclear deal. Take a look at how we are dealing with things in the Middle East. Take a look at how we are handling things on our southern border, in Syria or in Ukraine. Our government is 'too big to succeed' so we need to find ways to better manage the people's resources and the best way of doing that is bringing to Washington the best leaders we can find....Real leadership is about selflessness. Sure, I am what I am, but when it comes to accomplishing the goals of my organization, I put the interests of my employees and the company ahead of everything else. A person who seeks public office must do the same. Special interests have corrupted - and will continue to corrupt - our national government."

We agree the solution is to shrink government. But could president Trump really reverse the power of special interests? In Swiss America's 2016 Real Money Perspectives newsletter RIGHT ON THE MONEY Swiss America Chairman Craig R. Smith explains why the future of our nation now hangs in the balance.

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,165 an ounce. Silver at $15.86 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks fell Tuesday on weak data, mixed earnings, sinking oil and Fed uncertainty. Meanwhile, precious metal prices inched higher despite a firmer U.S. dollar

Overstock.com Establishes Payroll Gold Standard -Zero Hedge
One week ago Overstock.com's Chairman Jonathan Johnson spoke at the United Precious Metals Association, saying...."We are not big fans of Wall Street and we don't trust them. We foresaw the financial crisis, we fought against the financial crisis that happened in 2008; we don't trust the banks still and we foresee that with QE3 and QE4 that at some point there is going to be another significant financial crisis. So what do we do as a business so that we would be prepared when that happens. One thing that we do that is fairly unique: we have about $10 million in gold, mostly the small button-sized coins, that we keep outside of the banking system. We expect that when there is a financial crisis there will be a banking holiday. I don't know if it will be 2 days, or 2 weeks, or 2 months. We have $10 million in gold and silver in denominations small enough that we can use for payroll. We want to be able to keep our employees paid, safe and our site up and running during a financial crisis."

Bravo to Overstock for including physical gold and silver in their preparation for the next financial crisis! Swiss America has always done the same. Now is time for you to follow the leaders in establishing a personal gold standard for your family, before it is too late. Read The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

Government Leaders Reach Tentative Budget Deal -Wall Street Journal
"The White House and congressional leaders began selling lawmakers Tuesday on a deal to raise the federal debt limit and set a budget for the next two years. The deal, struck late Monday, is designed to remove the risk that the government might default and diminish the prospect of a partial government shutdown in December. It would suspend the debt limit through mid-March 2017 and boost spending by $80 billion through September 2017. Lawmakers still would need to pass detailed spending bills by December, likely in one combined measure....If passed, the deal would clear out many of the immediate legislative challenges facing Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), who is expected to become House speaker when elections take place Thursday."

No big surprise here. Our leaders again are kicking the debt can down the road, rather than shrinking the size of government. Thomas Jefferson wisely said, "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." In the new book, WE HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE AND IT LOOKS LIKE BALTIMORE, readers will discover how to restore the American Dream ... before we face a Progressive nightmare. FREE 16-page Executive Summary.

How we can fix this broken economy -John Crudele, New York Post
"On Thursday, we will officially get the bad news - the US economy barely moved forward in the third quarter of 2015....It wasn’t even close to the 3.9 percent annual growth that Commerce said occurred in the second quarter. That better-than-expected 3.9 percent growth, you might remember, was spun as catch-up from the disastrous 0.6 percent GDP growth in the first quarter - a gain that only came about after Commerce put its 'revision magic' into action....The US economy isn’t only weak - it is broken. And new tools are needed to fix it....Yellen is helpless. And Congress is useless. And the president is hopeless....If Washington wants to get the economy moving, it needs to do what I’ve been proposing for a long time: Change the rules on retirement accounts so those who want to can spend some of that prosperity - perhaps by investing in real estate. That could energize the economy."

If there is one thing most Americans agree on it is that the economy is broken. As covered in The Biggest Bank Heist in History, after seven years of artificial debt-based Fed stimulus and experimentation with zero interest rates, the time has come for new strategies to allow the American Dream to grow again, instead of continuing to shrink along with our GDP.

Fed Won't Raise Interest Rates -Fox Business
"There’s almost no chance the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at their meeting this week. Nevertheless, the Fed’s statement will undoubtedly shed some light on when they will. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday and Wednesday and release its statement at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the conclusion of the meeting....Flatlining wages have vexed central bankers throughout 2015 and contributed to their reluctance to raise rates. Meanwhile, concerns that Chinese economic growth may be stalling, a scenario that certainly won’t help already-low global commodity prices, haven’t abated since September."

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,166 an ounce. Silver at $15.90 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks traded mixed on Monday following data showing an 11.5% drop in new home sales last month ahead of the Fed's 'do-nothing' policy meeting this week. Meanwhile, precious metal prices inched higher on a weaker dollar.

U.S. Companies Warn of Slowing Economy -Wall Street Journal
"Quarterly profits and revenue at big American companies are poised to decline for the first time since the recession, as some industrial firms warn of a pullback in spending. From railroads to manufacturers to energy producers, businesses say they are facing a protracted slowdown in production, sales and employment that will spill into next year. Some of them say they are already experiencing a downturn. 'The industrial environment's in a recession. I don’t care what anybody says,' Daniel Florness, chief financial officer of Fastenal Co., told investors and analysts earlier this month."

Smart, Free Market Capitalism -Fox News
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's decision to return $200 million in Twitter stock to employees last week is a good example of smart free market capitalism, Swiss America Chairman Craig R. Smith tells Fox News Channel's 'Your World With Neil Cavuto'. Mr. Cavuto wonders if this is more of an exception than the rule, which is why the federal government feels compelled to intervene by mandating higher wages, etc. Mr. Smith says government coercion never works. Watch the interview

The Fed Can’t Raise Rates, But Must Pretend It Will -Zero Hedge
"Since spring 2013, the Fed has been playing with the idea of raising rates, which it had suppressed to basically zero percent in December 2008. So far, however, it has not taken any action. Upon closer inspection, the reason is obvious. With its policy of extremely low interest rates, the Fed is fueling an artificial economic expansion and inflating asset prices....Raising short-term rates would be like taking away the punch bowl just as the party gets going. As rates rise, the economy’s production and employment structure couldn’t be upheld. Neither could inflated bond, equity, and housing prices. If the economy slows down, let alone falls back into recession, the Fed’s fiat money pipe dream would run into serious trouble."

The Fed is now cornered. Will they risk an interest rate hike in 2015? Read The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Big Government/Business Stick It to Small U.S. Businesses -The Daily Beast
"The Obama administration’s progressive-sounding rhetoric may offend some of the thinner-skinned members of the oligarchy, but his economic policies - the bank bailouts, super-low interest rates, and growing federal power - have also improved the balance sheets of the corporate hegemons and the super-rich. In contrast, these policies do little, or less than little, for the yeoman class. Money today is made far more easily today by playing games with the market than making or selling on Main Street....The large banks also benefited from the Obama administration’s steady refusal to prosecute any Wall Street grandees. Their get-out-of-jail-free card is a testament to the pilfering lobbyists of Washington’s K Street and the greed of politicians in both parties."

In Swiss America's 2016 Real Money Perspectives newsletter RIGHT ON THE MONEY Swiss America Chairman Craig R. Smith explains the difference between a free market and crony capitalism.

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,162 an ounce. Silver at $15.82 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks cheered a surprise interest-rate cut from the People’s Bank of China and upbeat earnings from tech giants. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar rose on euro weakness and precious metal prices traded flat.

China's Central Bank Cuts Rates -Fox Business
"Just days after it reported its worst economic performance since the global financial crisis, China unveiled a one-two punch to prop up growth while it also swept away a major control on how banks set deposit rates. The country's central bank combined a quarter-point cut in benchmark interest rates with a half-percentage reduction in banks' reserve-requirement ratios--moves aimed at lowering corporate financing costs and funneling liquidity to the economy. Friday's action was the sixth time since November that the Chinese central bank has cut interest rates and the fourth across-the-board reduction of the amount of deposits banks are required to hold in reserve."

China has joined the EU central bank in attempting to boost their economy in the short-term with lower interest rates and stimulus, just like the U.S. Fed's failed stimulus programs. Stock investors love stimulus of all types because it artificially pumps up market values, as we explain in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Why aren't GOP candidates blaming the Fed? -CNBC
"GOP candidates should unite in pointing out that the Fed's remedy for recovery, which has served to channel low-cost funding to affluent investors and big corporations while starving small business, has yet to enable the real economy to grow at a decent pace. It's time to make the case to Main Street: If America's economy has been rigged in favor of Wall Street and the wealthiest 1%, it's because of monetary policy decisions made by our nation's central bank....Republicans need to call out the Fed for its failure to anticipate the 2008 crisis and for its ill-conceived efforts in the aftermath of that financial debacle to emphasize regulatory overkill over fundamental monetary reform."

It will be interesting to see if any of the GOP candidates will place the blame for the stagnant economic growth upon the Fed instead of blaming the 1% in the upcoming debate next Wednesday.

Silver Coin Sales Are Soaring -InvestmentU
"Have you seen what’s going on at the U.S. Mint? It sold 14.26 million ounces of American Eagle silver coins in the third quarter. That’s the most in 29 years! The Mint can’t meet demand. First it ran out of coins in July. (Yep, simply ran out.) Now, it is carefully limiting sales through quotas. This, despite the fact that at the U.S. Mint in West Point, New York - where the American Eagle is made - the plant is spinning out new coins on three shifts around the clock. In fact, the U.S. Mint sold more than 433 metric tons of silver in the third quarter. That’s more than the world’s No. 1 silver producer, Mexico, produces in a month - 424 tons! And this isn’t just happening in the U.S. The Canadian Mint has also limited sales. And have you seen what’s happened in Australia?"

There is a giant disconnect between the physical gold and silver market and the virtual (ETF) market. Now is the time to own both gold and silver as wealth insurance, as we cover in The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

Billionaires give economy a D+ grade -CNBC
"Grading the U.S. economy, the rosiest scores from two billionaires on CNBC on Friday would average about 68, equal to a D+ on a report card. Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, told 'Squawk Box' he'd give the economy a 7 or 7.5 out of 10, saying there's been improvement since the financial crisis but more has to be done to jumpstart growth. Appearing alongside Case in a wide-ranging interview, Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert initially rated the economy a 5.5 out of 10, but increased his assessment to a 6 after hearing Case's argument."

Obama defends Black Lives Matter movement -Associated Press
"Defending the Black Lives Matter movement, President Barack Obama said Thursday the protests are giving voice to a problem happening only in African-American communities, adding, 'We, as a society, particularly given our history, have to take this seriously.' Obama said the movement, which sprung up after the deaths of unarmed black men in Florida, Missouri and elsewhere, quickly came to be viewed as being opposed to police and suggesting that other people's lives don't matter. Opponents have countered that 'all lives matter.'"

Indeed ALL lives matter, including the lives of law enforcement. Will we witness a cultural rebirth in Baltimore in the months ahead or will "The Ferguson Effect" drag the city down further? In a soon-to-be-released book, WE HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE AND IT LOOKS LIKE BALTIMORE, readers will discover how to restore the American Dream ... before we face a Progressive nightmare. FREE 16-page Executive Summary.

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,166 an ounce. Silver at $15.83 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks rose Thursday amid upbeat McDonald's earnings and additional EU central bank stimulus. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar surged against the euro while precious metal prices steadied on bargain hunting.

ECB hints at more stimulus, euro falls -Telegraph
"The European Central Bank could pump up its quantitative easing program as soon as December, President Mario Draghi has suggested. 'The degree of monetary policy accommodation will need to be re-examined at our December monetary policy meeting,' he said at a press conference after the central bank's October meeting. The euro fell by 1.3% against the dollar on signs that more stimulus could be on the way. 'We are open to a whole menu of monetary policy instruments,' Mr Draghi said, noting that further interest rate cuts had been discussed."

The EU central bank is predictably following in the footsteps of the U.S. Fed's failed stimulus programs. Stock investors love stimulus of all types because it artificially pumps up market values, as we explain in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Rebranding Socialism -City Journal
"Democrats increasingly suggest that the failed ideology is just another word for benevolent government....Tearing a page from Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals — 'If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive' — Democratic leaders like Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are road-testing a redefinition of socialism that they hope the American public finds palatable. It goes like this: government is just the things that we do together; doing things together is socialism; government is socialism. We have a government already; therefore, we have socialism already. Get over it....Whether Democrats succeed in rebranding socialism will depend on whether enough Americans believe that saying something often enough can make it so."

Authors Craig R. Smith and Lowell Ponte reveal how to stop the spread of a Progressive-Socialist nightmare in its tracks and how to restore the American Dream in their soon-to-be-released book, WE HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE AND IT LOOKS LIKE BALTIMORE. Click HERE for a FREE 16-page Executive Summary.

Home Sales Surge Thanks To Massive Seasonal Adjustment -Zero Hedge
"September Existing Home Sales fell 6.5% from August, but you will not see that in the headlines as after adjustments for seasonals, existing home sales actually rose in September by 4.7%, bouncing back from a 5.0% revised lower drop in August (and beating expectations of a mere 1.5% rise). 2015 has seen unprecedented volatility in the NAR's reported data, but a they note, 'Unfortunately, first–time buyers are still failing to generate any meaningful traction this year.'"

Obama Seeks Bankruptcy Power for Puerto Rico -NewsMax
"President Barack Obama is pressing for Congress to give Puerto Rico sweeping powers to reduce its $73 billion debt burden through bankruptcy, escalating administration involvement as the Caribbean island’s access to cash dries up. Puerto Rico would be provided with a form of bankruptcy protection not now available to American territories. Administration officials also called for lawmakers late Wednesday to increase health-care funding for Puerto Rico, extend tax credits to the poor and put independent oversight in place to monitor the government’s budget."

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,167 an ounce. Silver at $15.71 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks were mixed in choppy trading Wednesday as investors digested fresh corporate earnings and rising oil inventory data. Meanwhile, precious metal prices dipped slightly on profit taking as the dollar traded modestly higher.

You’re Not Supposed to Understand the Fed -New York Times
"It’s almost as if the Fed were designed to confound explanation of it, precisely so the Rick Sterns of the world could never hope to influence it. Aristotle, in his 'Poetics,' described a formula for emotionally engaging drama that screenwriters still consult to this day, with central characters and a plot that moves from a beginning through a climax to resolution. Presidential elections can be molded into this Aristotelian structure perfectly, as can many major news stories. The Fed, by contrast, seems more like somebody sat down with a copy of 'Poetics' and carefully constructed its opposite. There is no beginning to Fed action; it’s always there, always acting, even when its action is to not make any changes. There is no natural climax. It’s just an ongoing conference between a group of economists. And it is never resolved. There is no single moment when the Fed is done."

Why is understanding the Federal Reserve so difficult for most Americans? HINT: It was purposely designed that way, as we cover in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Chinese yuan on track to be included in IMF basket -Reuters
"China's yuan 'ticks all the right boxes' for inclusion in the International Monetary Fund's SDR list of global reserve currencies, the biggest international bank in China, HSBC, said in a report on Tuesday. The report by the bank's chief strategist Paul Mackel comes ahead of discussions within the Fund next month on whether to include the yuan, or renminbi, in the basket behind the Special Drawing Rights, a virtual currency that values IMF reserves and emergency payouts to members. Britain and other members of the Group of 20 leading economies are jostling for position as financial partners for China and have made positive noises about the inclusion of the yuan, which bankers say would be a turning point for trading of the currency."

China's long-term strategy is replacing the U.S. dollar as the supreme world reserve currency. Recently a technical signal confirmed the dollar's downward trajectory, as Craig Smith explains in What's Next For The Dollar?

O Wage Inflation, Where Art Thou? -Zero Hedge
"Currently, wage growth is the middle of its 5 year range - the last reading was just 1.63%. Positive wage growth is a good thing. Still, it is not accelerating the way it would if we were at full employment. The US labor markets are not weak but they are not as strong as some of the headline data suggests they are. If we look beneath the surface then it is clear that there are multiple explanations for the lack of growth in wage inflation."

Socialism Loathes the Poor, Capitalism Loves Them -Real Clear Markets
"Socialism requires force--not only force against those whose earnings are to be seized, but also force against its purported beneficiaries: the poor. For if we left the poor free, they would do the 'wrong' things--such as coming to America, where they will only be 'ripped off' (i.e., employed) by profit-seeking capitalists. It seems that only the wise rulers know what is actually in the interest of the poor. Altruist-collectivists must hold that the poor are actually better off under Latin American socialism....There is another, and truly amazing, proof that the altruist-collectivists, contrary to their claims, have no concern whatever with the fate of the poor: the story of India and China. The quickest and largest-scale betterment of the poor in all of history came to these 2 billion people once they moved away from socialism toward capitalism"

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,177 an ounce. Silver at $15.91 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks again struggled for direction Tuesday as investors digested a mixed bag of corporate earnings. Meanwhile, precious metal prices rose again on a weaker U.S. dollar and safe haven buying.

Gold Primed to Rally on Downside Dollar -The Street
"Gold has rallied in recent weeks. Gold futures, gold ETFs, gold miners and mutual funds -- everything that shines is climbing. Chartists believe that history tends to repeat itself, which is why they look for patterns in the charts....To understand this pattern one should think of a watch spring that is getting wound tighter and tighter. Eventually prices break out of this tightening pattern and 'spring' higher. Breaking out of this pattern could lead to a fairly rapid rally for spot gold to the $1,300 area or the $140 to $150 area for the GLD....In the U.S. Dollar Index, we see a similar-looking pattern that could breakout to the downside. A downside break in the dollar could be just the spark to ignite a rally in gold."

Market speculators are always looking for smart timing points in which to buy undervalued assets. But wise long-term investors know the best time to own 'real money' gold and silver as wealth insurance is right now. Why? Read The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver

Rate Hike Window May Be Closed for A While -Fox Business
"Just when U.S. labor markets seem to be gaining sustained momentum Chinese economic growth weakens. Just when job creation starts picking up steam wages inexplicably flat-line. And when runaway inflation fails to emerge after nearly seven years of near-zero interest rates the threat of deflation does....The question is whether conditions will ever be ideal for a rate hike that will eventually make borrowing more expensive. And the answer is that conditions may have been more ideal in June or September, which means the Fed may have missed its opportunity to start normalizing U.S. monetary policy and could now be stuck with near-zero rates for the foreseeable future."

The Fed is stuck alright - which means we are ALL stuck in a zero-interest rate world of wage stagnation and near-zero growth well into next year - as predicted in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Fragile Baltimore Struggles to Heal itself -New York Times
"The Rev. Donté L. Hickman Sr., pastor of one of this city’s largest African-American churches, wrapped up a fiery, foot-stomping sermon one recent Sunday with a somber request. 'Pray for the city and the mayor,' he urged his congregation, reminding them that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had decided not to run again....'Baltimore,' he warned, 'is on the brink of a breakthrough - or a breakdown.'....Baltimore is in search of new leadership and unsure of its future, as it braces for the trials of six police officers implicated in Freddie Gray’s death....Everyone is hoping for a way forward, but no one seems to agree on just what that is."

Today Americans faces an epic political and economic battle for our future. Which visionary 'dream' will rule our nation? The American Dream? Or the Progressive-Socialist-Utopian Dream? Will Baltimore’s decline be our future? Authors Craig R. Smith and Lowell Ponte reveal Baltimore’s little-noticed seeds and secrets of greatness that could restore the American Dream in their soon-to-be-released book, WE HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE AND IT LOOKS LIKE BALTIMORE. Click HERE for a FREE 16-page Executive Summary.

When the Bank Bubble Bursts -Egon von Greyerz/Gold Switzerland
"The Great Financial Crisis that started in 2007 was only temporarily patched up....It is very likely that the total global derivatives exposure of at least $1.5 quadrillion will not just lead to another financial crisis but to The Great Financial Disaster. The bubbles in all asset markets that governments and central banks have created in the last 25 years must implode before real growth in the world can resume again....But Central Bank will not give up easily. They will print more money than anyone thought possible....Therefore wealth preservation is critical. Physical gold (and some silver) is the best protection against both hyperinflation and deflation." Must read: DON'T BANK ON IT!

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,170 an ounce. Silver at $15.76 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks struggled Monday following downbeat bank earnings, China's slowing growth and falling oil prices. Meanwhile, gold prices steadied near $1,175 an ounce despite a firmer U.S. dollar.

Big banks: We don’t want your cash -Wall Street Journal
"U.S. banks are going to new lengths to ward off a surprising threat to their financial health: big cash deposits. State Street Corp., the Boston bank that manages assets for institutional investors, for the first time has begun charging some customers for large dollar deposits. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. the nation’s largest bank by assets, has cut unwanted deposits by more than $150 billion this year, in part by charging fees. The developments underscore a deepening conflict over cash. Many businesses have large sums on hand and opportunities to profitably invest it appear scarce....The banks’ actions are driven by profit-crunching low interest rates and regulations adopted since the financial crisis to gird banks against funding disruptions....Since last year, Bank of America Corp. has told some institutional clients that they will need to move their deposits or pay to keep them at the bank, people familiar with the matter said." For more details, read DON'T BANK ON IT!

The Greatest Central Banking Con Job in History -Zero Hedge
"One of the greatest con jobs in history was convincing ordinary people that Central Bankers care about the 'economy' or Main Street. Aside from the complete lack of relevance that Main Street has for Central Bankers from a professional perspective, when do you think was the last time that Janet Yellen or her ilk spent an evening with non-banker/financial types? Years ago? Decades ago? Yellen lives in a super-affluent, gated part of Washington DC. And even within that subset of the US population she lives in a higher echelon: her entourage of security annoys her wealthy neighbors… though I suspect part of the annoyance stems from jealousy. Regarding professional significance… why would Janet Yellen care about ordinary people? They’re just data points in her financial models. Ordinary people didn’t place her at the Fed (the big banks did). And they didn’t place her as Fed Chair (the financial/ political elite did… with the express intent of gaining future favors)." Read more in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Jack Lew: I worry about 'terrible' debt limit accident -CNBC
"Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Monday he worries that waiting until the last minute to raise the nation's borrowing authority could result in an accident 'that would be terrible.' Last week, Lew said the U.S. debt ceiling will be exhausted Nov. 3, two days before previously estimated. In a letter to congressional leaders, he added that a remaining cash balance of less than $30 billion would swiftly deplete. 'Our best estimate is November 3rd is when we'll exhaust what we call extraordinary measures; those are things we can do to manage things. I will run out of things that I can manage on November 3rd,' Lew told CNBC's 'Squawk Box.' The federal government is scraping by just under its $18 trillion legal borrowing limit."

Gold Shines Again - How High Can It Go? -Seeking Alpha
"Gold launched higher after making a key-reversal trading pattern on October 2. The price traded below the previous day's low and closed above its highs. Subsequent to this technical signal, the gold price moved some $50 higher when it reached its apex. Action in the silver market was similar in that it too put in a key-reversal trading pattern on October 2. On a percentage basis, silver actually increased more than gold, which is another positive sign for the precious metals sector." Read The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver

The problems with progressives -The Hill
"Progressives - and Hillary specifically - very much aim to carry forward the ethos and legacy of President Obama. His aims are theirs. The only difference of any consequence, as Hillary said in the debate, is that the progressives want to go further. This presidency has built itself around a few core elements of the progressive cause. One such element involves developing a culture where class identity, and the envy it inherently infuses, is the driver of policy. We are not one country, in this view. Progressives have no sense that the United States has created one people out of citizens with many disparate roots. Instead they see a country divided - and one that needs to be further divided - by race, wealth, education, geography and identity. The American dream has been redefined according to the European experience of class confrontation."

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,170 an ounce. Silver at $15.79 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks struggled Friday despite upbeat data and continued expectations of a delay in a Fed rate hike. Meanwhile, the dollar traded flat and precious metal prices held above 3-month highs.

Gold price move points to 2016 Fed Rate Hike -CNBC
"Gold prices have staged a four-day rally after having enjoyed a strong run since mid-September on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would hold off on raising rates before the end of the year. Analysts are now predicting further strength in the yellow metal as demand for physical gold should lend support to the interest rate related rally, and as weakness is starting to creep into the U.S. dollar....'The gold price has been driven by expectations of the U.S. dollar and as the next Fed hike gets pushed out to probably March 2016, I suspect that is what the futures markets is pricing in now, we will see gold prices move higher. It is also a safe haven demand that is driving the price higher,' metals & mining analyst at BMO Capital Markets, Jessica Fung told CNBC."

Now is the time to own physical gold for long-term peace of mind, no matter what the Fed or Wall Street does. Read The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

Rate-Hike Looms As Consumer Confidence Bounces -Zero Hedge
"Thanks, we presume, to a resurgent stock market (because almost every macro and micro fundamental data item has been a disaster), UMich Consumer Sentiment rose from 89.0 to 92.1, bouncing after 3 straight months lower. Both current situation and futures expectations rose (the former to near cycle highs). Good news right? Be careful what you wish for however, as The Fed's Bill Dudley previously noted this consumer confidence data is a must-watch for The Fed in its rate-hike decision-making."

Repossessions spike 66%, foreclosure crisis lingers -CNBC
"New foreclosures may be back to nearly normal, but the mess from the epic housing disaster in the last decade is far from gone. Bank repossessions, the final stage of the foreclosure process, jumped 66% year over year in the third quarter of this year, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure sales and analytics company. It's the largest annual rise ever recorded in bank repossessions by RealtyTrac. More than 123,000 homes went back to the bank in just three months. 'In states such as New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York, a flood of deferred distress from the last housing crisis is finally spilling over the legislative and legal dams that have held back some foreclosure activity for years,' said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac."

The housing bubble is re-inflating quickly in some U.S. markets as ads appear offering 'No Down Payment' schemes. What will the next housing price fall do to the value of your dollars in savings and retirement accounts? To find out read What's Next For The Dollar?

End the Fed -Bill Bonner/Bonnerandpartners.com
"There are two parties to robbery – the taker and the takee. We have seen what happened to the victims. They are too busy picking through trash bins to go to the Walmart website. But what about the takers? They are busy too – lobbying... eating foie gras and caviar... and offering to save the world with increasingly radical monetary policies. They are, of course, those who pay net interest, not those who earn it....'You complain about all this stuff,' said one of the attendees on our MoneyWeek investment cruise last week, probably speaking for thousands of readers. 'But you never offer any solutions. What would you do about it?' 'We would do nothing. We would undo a lot,' we replied. The first thing we would undo is the Fed’s control of the financial system. Let takees get the interest they are entitled to. And let the takers get what they’ve got coming to them."

The movement to "End the Fed!" could gain major traction in 2016 as Fed policy unravels and the public discovers the truths covered in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,185 an ounce. Silver at $16.12 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks rebounded Thursday amid falling jobless claims, weak manufacturing, inflation and mixed earnings. Meanwhile, precious metal prices inched higher despite a firmer dollar.

Social Security: No Cost-of-Living Increase in 2016 -Wall Street Journal
"For the third time this decade, Social Security recipients won’t be seeing an annual cost-of-living adjustment next year, officials said Thursday. Blame soft inflation, including the nearly 30% drop in gas prices over the past year. The official price measure used to calculate the annual living-cost adjustment was down 0.4% from last year’s level in the third quarter, the Labor Department said Thursday....Some 56 million Americans receive Social Security benefits along with another eight million who collect a benefit called Supplemental Security Income, which goes mainly to the poor and disabled. The average monthly Social Security check is $1,224. Social Security checks remain a critical source of incomes to many American households. An estimated 26 million more people would have fallen below the government’s official poverty line last year without the payments, according to the Census Bureau."

It is a sad fact that our eldery population will be the primary victims of misleading, understated official government inflation data. Medical and housing costs are up dramatically for the elderly, yet their benefits will remain unchanged in 2016. Read Where retirees should invest today.

Gold Springs Back to Life -Bloomberg
"'Crossing the 200-day moving average is very important in terms of short-term sentiment for gold,' Dan Smith, a senior adviser at Oxford Economics, said by phone from London. 'Gold is looking a lot more lively now than it had been for a while.' The weak dollar and physical demand from China and India are also supporting bullion, Bob Takai, the chief executive officer and president of Sumitomo Corp. Global Research, said from Tokyo. The greenback is near its lowest in more than three months."

Owning physical gold today is just common sense. It is perhaps the most reasonably priced form of money on earth. Don't wait to buy gold, buy gold and wait. Read The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

For Wall Street, Bad is Good Again -Fox Business
"Sometimes the market environment is just hopelessly difficult. Just when consensus grew comfortable with the new mantra of 'bad is bad' and 'good is good,' October proved otherwise pulling the old 'bad is (for the moment) good'....It’s been a strange two weeks. Strange in that real activity continues to grow, yet inflation has moved sharply lower. Strange in that although markets have screamed higher, recent demand for VIX, Wall Street’s fear gauge, calls has shattered a nine-year old record as investors are paying record amounts to guard against a spike in volatility....Strange in that the U.S. dollar has been a drag anchor against most currencies; acting strangely similarly to the March post- FOMC meeting." Read Stock Market Meltdown Confirmation.

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,179 an ounce. Silver at $16.11 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks fell again Wednesday as Walmart shares plunged after the company said 2016 sales growth will be flat. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar fell further on rising odds of a Fed rate hike delay helping push precious metal prices to fresh 3-month highs.

WalMart Plummets, Blames Wage Hikes -ZeroHedge
"Do you see what happens Larry when Walmart succumbs to 'progressive' pressure and hikes minimum wage? Yes, the company just slashed its 2017 earnings forecast by up to a whopping 12%... but at least the workers are happy, if not so much the market as WalMart stock plunges the most since September 1998, and has lost more market cap than Twitter....Oh and speaking of 'happy workers', now that Walmart has just become an activist target, and eliminate any growth CapEx for the next 4 years, expect the company to proceed with the logical next step after it hikes wages: massive layoffs."

Walmart is the canary in the coal mine for the coming Stock Market Meltdown.

Is This The "Death" Of The Dollar? -Zero Hedge
"For the first time since September 2013, The US Dollar Index just signaled a 'death cross.' Three of the last four times that the 50-day moving-average crossed below the 200-day moving-average, The USD Index tumbled significantly. This makes sense as the rate-hike odds (and implicitly timing) continues to plunge."

This is a technical signal confirming the dollar's downward trajectory, as Craig Smith explains in What's Next For The Dollar? ... "The U.S. Dollar is slowly dying a death by a thousand cuts; largely because our progressive politicians refuse to contain their out-of-control spending and money-printing."

Trump: Economic bubble about to burst -The Hill
"GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump warned The Hill in an exclusive interview of a looming economic recession, arguing that the stock market has already entered into another bubble. He also slammed the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law as a 'disaster' that has stifled economic growth. 'It’s terrible,' he said in an interview with The Hill, saying that he would 'absolutely' repeal it....Trump also accused Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen of keeping interest rates low in order to shield Obama from having to leave office during a recession. 'She’s keeping the economy going, barely,' Trump said. 'The reason they’re keeping the interest rate down is Obama doesn’t want to have a recession-slash-depression during his administration.'"

Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is right about Dodd-Frank and Janet Yellen, as discussed in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Who won the first Democratic debate? -CNBC
"The first Democratic debate of the election season saw fewer fireworks than the two Republican showdowns, but it still featured some tense moments of disagreement. Many commentators were quick to call former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the winner, but Sen. Bernie Sanders hit the main points that will likely keep his base intact....To absolutely no one's surprise, Wall Street proved a significant punching bag. The candidates all fought to claim they would be the toughest on the American financial sector. In fact, Sanders happily named Wall Street as one of the groups at the top of his list 'of people who don't like me.' The closest thing to a defense of the system came from Clinton's comment that it would be a mistake for the country to entirely turn its back on the capitalist system."

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,164 an ounce. Silver at $15.86 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks slumped Tuesday, following downbeat China data, as investors await corporate earnings and economic reports. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar drifted lower and precious metal prices inched higher.

Gold May Shine in Next Bear Market -Merk Investments
"While some continue dancing, the music might have already stopped: are we already in a bear market in stocks? In this context, we study past bear markets to see whether gold may serve as a valuable diversifier for what's ahead....A key reason we look at gold as a diversifier is because of its low correlation to the equity markets....When all is said and done, over the past 45 years, the correlation between the price of gold and the S&P 500 is zero....During the five equity bear markets, an investment in gold came out ahead in four of them.... In fact, given the run-up in equity prices in recent years, we wouldn't be surprised if the looming bear market, if it indeed becomes one, will last at least as long as historic bear markets. Got gold?"

We agree with Axel Merk - you can bank on the 80/20 principle regarding gold prices rising during stock bear markets. But regardless of whether gold prices rise or remain steady, we believe gold plays and important role in every portfolio, 100% of the time! To find out why, read Read The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

The Mindless Stupidity of Negative Interest Rates -Wall Street Examiner
"Here we are in the midst of The Great Stagnation Middle Class Elimination and some central bankers and mainstream economists are promoting negative interest rates....The move to negative rates imposes new costs on the banks, unlike low positive rates or ZIRP which reduce bank costs....As opposed to stimulating growth, the European banking system shrinks. As opposed to encouraging borrowing and spending and economic growth, the policy encouraged deleveraging....We know that it is categorically false the negative rates are working in Europe. But facts have a way of eluding mainstream economists and central bankers....How can anything positive come from this?" To learn more about why negative interest rates will not work at reviving Europe's economy, read The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Where Will Next Fed 'Helicopter Money' Drop Land? -Daily Reckoning
"So what’s left in the toolbag of central banks and states to stimulate recessionary economies if QE has been discredited? The answer: Helicopter Money....This monetizing of state debt by the central bank is the engine of helicopter money. When the central state issues $1 trillion in bonds and drops the money into household bank accounts, the central bank buys the new bonds and promptly buries them in the bank’s balance sheet as an asset....So where will the first drops of helicopter money land? How about the student loan Titanic, which is already bow down after hitting the iceberg of reality? Or how about some big fat tax credits, politicos’ favorite form of helicopter money?" What will the next round of Fed stimulus do to the U.S. dollar? Read What's Next For The Dollar?

6 things to watch at the CNN Democratic debate -CNN
"Five Democratic presidential candidates are about to try their luck at the first Democratic debate of the 2016 election in Las Vegas on Tuesday night (at 8:30pm ET). But the spotlight is largely on two: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The former secretary of state needs to remind viewers of the debate sponsored by CNN and Facebook about why she began the year as the overwhelming front-runner and is best able to take the torch from President Barack Obama. Sanders has the opportunity to prove to millions of voters why a 74-year-old self-described democratic socialist can take on both Clinton and Republicans....Here are CNN's six things to watch in Tuesday night's debate: Can Clinton flip-flop gracefully? ... The emails: Will anyone go there? ... Trump: Democrats' favorite punching bag? ... Feel the Bern ... Which Clinton shows up? ... Is this Martin O'Malley's only chance?" This first Democratic debate should be entertaining as progressive socialists go head-to-head to see who can promise the most goodies to half the population already receiving some form of government assistance.

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,164 an ounce. Silver at $15.86 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks traded near flat Monday in thin, Columbus Day holiday trading. Meanwhile, precious metal prices extended gains as the U.S. dollar weakened on the rising likelihood of Fed rate hike delays.

Gold Rises to Seven-Week High -Bloomberg
"Gold advanced to the highest in seven weeks, boosted as investor confidence in the dollar waivered amid doubts U.S. interest rates will rise this year. Bullion advanced in three of the past four weeks, rebounding from a five-year low in July, on speculation that the Federal Reserve will refrain from tightening monetary policy until next year. The chances of a rate liftoff in December fell to 39% on Monday, from 59% a month earlier, futures data show. While Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said on Sunday the U.S. economy may be strong enough to merit an increase by year-end, dollar investors shrugged off his comments as a gauge of the U.S. currency touched a three-week low." Now is the time to convert dollars into precious metals - while prices are still near 5-year lows. Read The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver.

US banks have been 'nationalized' -CNBC
"A transportation bill in Congress has put the U.S. well on the road to socialism, Dick Bove said Monday. The bipartisan Senate bill, announced in July, would cut the dividend paid by the Federal Reserve to banks each year from 6% to 1.5%, and the difference would go toward funding highway projects. 'The government has taken the position that, because they offer FDIC insurance, they have the right to invade banks,' Rafferty Capital Markets' vice president of equity research told CNBC's 'Squawk Box.' 'Unfortunately, I believe the banks have been nationalized; I believe we're well on the road to socialism in terms of the way we're taking money flows out of the banking system and putting it into highways,' he said."

Indeed, our great nation and economic system is on the road to socialism, as covered in DON'T BANK ON IT! ... In America today, almost no enterprise is more regulated than banking. And every regulation is one more pressure point – choke point, if you will – that can be pressed to extort from banks whatever Progressive politicians desire. (page 184)

US banks build defenses against downturn -FT.com
"Wall Street’s biggest banks are beginning to build their defenses against downturns, signalling an end to the steady thinning of reserves that has helped boost profits in the past five years. Tapping into reserves set aside for bad loans has become a reliable source of income for the banks in the post-crisis environment, allowing them to offset the effects of weak demand and ultra-low interest rates. Regulators let lenders dip into reserves in this way if they can argue that an improving outlook makes losses less likely....Sectors such as construction and certain classes of multifamily mortgages, for example, look vulnerable to reserves increases, as the reported credit quality is 'simply too good to be believed - or sustained,' said Chris Whalen, senior managing director at Kroll Bond Rating Agency in New York. 'When valuations for commercial and residential assets are rising faster than income or GDP, and loan-to-value ratios are rising as well, the only certainty is that the prices will not be maintained,' he said." Today's housing boom appears too good to be true. Big banks are adding reserves to cover loans that could default in the next downturn. Now is a good time for citizens to boost reserves also, before Fed-created assets bubbles begin to pop. Read more in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Greek Cash Ban Escalates: 'Permanent' Stricter "Capital Controls" -Zero Hedge
"In a stunning move towards the elites' endgame of 'banning cash', Greek authorities unveiled stricter capital controls for civil servants and pensioners this weekend. By drastically limiting cash withdrawals and forcing the more 'controllable' compulsory use of plastic money, Greek authorities hope to stop tax evasion through the use of 'fake cash registers'. A shock-measure: civil servants and pensioners will be subject to stricter capital controls than the rest of the Greeks. They will be able to withdraw only €150 per week – with the cash withdrawal cap being €420 per week – that is a total of €600 per month. The rest of their wage or pension they will have to spend by using debit or credit card."

Indigenous Peoples Day and Columbus Day -Fox5NY
"More cities are recognizing Native Americans on Columbus Day this year as they revive a movement to change the name of the holiday to celebrate the history and contributions of indigenous cultures around the country. As the U.S. observes Columbus Day on Monday, it will also be Indigenous Peoples Day in at least nine cities for the first time this year, including Albuquerque; Portland, Oregon; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Olympia, Washington."

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,155 an ounce. Silver at $15.81 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks traded mixed Friday as traders digested the Fed's economic outlook gloom and corporate earnings failed to inspire. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar fell again helping to boost precious metal prices near 7-week highs.

Fed minutes downgrade U.S. economy -Marketwatch
"Minutes of the Fed’s Sept. 16-17 policy meeting disclose the Fed staff further trimmed its assumptions for the rates of productivity and potential growth over the medium term....The Fed staff’s view was already gloomy. A mistaken leak this summer by the U.S. central bank revealed, going into the Fed’s June policy committee meeting, the U.S. central bank’s staff penciled in potential growth averaging just 1.74% over 2015-2020, according to the document now on the Fed’s website....With trend growth so low, the economy is in a pickle. Even moderate gross domestic product in the range of 2.0-2.5% that the Fed expects can produce inflation. 'It’s a bad place to be,' said Robert Brusca, chief economist at FAO Economics." More confirmation the Fed's zero interest policy has failed to boost the U.S. economy, as projected in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

U.S. Recession Just Got a Little More Likely -Bloomberg
"The probability that the world's biggest economy will enter a recession in the next 12 months jumped to 15 percent, its highest level since October 2013, according to economists surveyed Oct. 2-7 by Bloomberg. The median had held at 10 percent for 13 consecutive months. Concerns over China, and the potential spillover to other economies, have led economists to cut their third-quarter growth forecasts to 2 percent from as high as 3 percent in July. China also is worrying Fed officials, who cited it as a risk to their outlook for economic growth and inflation - so much so that they delayed what would have been the first increase in the benchmark interest rate since 2006."

Central bank policy divergence to widen -Financial Times
"When the US Federal Reserve chose to leave interest rates on hold in September, it left policymakers elsewhere with a conundrum. The dollar has weakened, and diminishing expectations for the pace of global growth and inflation are undoing the impact of European and Japanese stimulus programs. The only thing increasing is the pressure for fresh action. 'Even if the Fed lifts off zero in December, it will probably be the most dovish rate hike ever. By contrast, the other big players — the ECB, the BOJ and the PBOC — look set to ease policy further,' notes Joachim Fels, global economic adviser at Pimco." In What's Next For The Dollar? author and Swiss America Chairman Craig Smith explains why the U.S. dollar is the tallest midget in the world of paper currencies and is set for a fall.

Debt ceiling fail by Congress could get really ugly -CNBC
"Last week a government shutdown was narrowly averted by a last minute deal in Congress that angered its most conservative members and prompted House Speaker John Boehner, R.-Ohio, to step down. His presumptive replacement, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R.-Calif., abruptly announced Thursday that he would not seek the job. Now, amid the leadership vacuum, Congress remains paralyzed over a long list of contentious issues, from budget battles to a sweeping new trade deal. But unless Congress acts in the next few weeks to raise the government's legal borrowing limit, the Treasury will be forced to stop borrowing and paying its bill - including interest on government bonds that have already been sold to investors. 'Congress needs to act or we could be faced with a crisis,' Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Thursday at an International Monetary Fund meeting in Lima, Peru. 'We have the capacity, but do we have the will?'" Good question. All things are possible amid our current environment of political confusion.

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,144 an ounce. Silver at $15.76 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks rallied Thursday after the Fed minutes revealed 'downside risk' fears restrained them from lifting interest rates. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar traded lower and precious metal prices eased back slightly.

Recession buzz is heating up on Wall Street -CNBC
"Wall Street is getting increasingly nervous about the prospects for recession, both on a global and domestic level. Slowing global growth has been one of the predominant investing themes in 2015, causing enough turmoil to send both the S&P 500 and the MSCI World Index down about 4 percent. The $73.5 trillion global economy is expected to grow 3.1 percent in 2015 and 3.6 percent in 2016, according to the latest International Monetary Fund projections. Those numbers, though, are heading lower and could be revised even more before all is said and done." Investor angst is rising as the markets anticipate rising debt and risk levels. The solution is to diversify into assets that are currently undervalued, such as precious metals, for peace of mind says Jim Carrillo in Stock Market Meltdown Confirmed.

Shiller Sees ‘Anxious Worrisome’ Times -Fox Business
"During a conversation on FOX Business Network’s Mornings with Maria, Yale University Professor of Economics Robert Shiller talks about his new book Phishing for Phools, which addresses the dark side of economics. 'People can be manipulative and deceptive, I guess we teach that to our children, but what we don’t emphasize is how an economy actually incentivizes that, unless there is a civil society watching, it incentivizes that, it’s a fundamental problem with completely unregulated or unwatched free markets.....A recent example is Volkswagen, they, a venerable corporation, put in a defeat device in their cars, it was fraud and they got away with it for a long time,' he said, '...we get into an atmosphere where everyone is doing it.'" Governments and central banks can also be 'manipulative and deceptive' as Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte explain in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

$3 trillion corporate credit crunch looms -Telegraph
"A poisonous triad of global risks is pushing the world to the brink of a new financial crisis, says stark IMF report. Governments and central banks risk tipping the world into a fresh financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund has warned, as it called time on a corporate debt binge in the developing world. Emerging market companies have 'over-borrowed' by $3 trillion in the last decade, reflecting a quadrupling of private sector debt between 2004 and 2014, found the IMF's Global Financial Stability Report. This dangerous over-leveraging now threatens to unleash a wave of defaults that will imperil an already weak global economy, said stark findings from the IMF's twice yearly report."

What people regret the most in retirement -CNBC
"Ready for retirement? Whether Americans have a retirement savings plan plays a big role in their opinion about having an affordable retirement, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's 2015 annual retirement confidence survey. But financial advisors say there are many other factors potential retirees should consider before leaving the workforce, including the timing of Social Security payments, planning for leisure time and budgeting based on unrealistic rates of return. Some retirees, they say, get these wrong and live to regret it."

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,148 an ounce. Silver at $16.09 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks inched higher Wednesday despite rising oil inventory data ahead and uncertain stock earnings data next week. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar rose slightly and precious metal prices were steady.

China Starts Dumping U.S. Government Debt -Wall Street Journal
"Central banks around the world are selling U.S. government bonds at the fastest pace on record, the most dramatic shift in the $12.8 trillion Treasury market since the financial crisis. Sales by China, Russia, Brazil and Taiwan are the latest sign of an emerging-markets slowdown that is threatening to spill over into the U.S. economy. Previously, all four were large purchasers of U.S. debt....China isn’t alone. Russia’s holdings of all U.S. Treasury debt fell by $32.8 billion in the year ended in July, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Treasury. Taiwan’s holdings dropped by $6.8 billion. Norway, a developed nation hit by the oil-price decline, reduced its Treasury holdings by $18.3 billion."

Marc Faber: We Have Colossal Asset Inflation -Newsmax
"Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, says the Federal Reserve should have started raising rates years ago, but all that may not matter because the U.S. stock market could be on the verge of yet another 'very significant correction,' perhaps as bad as the 1987 crash....'The problem is that they (the Fed) should have raised the rates, in my view, in 2011,' he explained. 'Now the problem is this that the global economy is slowing down remarkably, especially coming as the result of the slowdown in China. Then we have weakness in the euro and the Japanese yen, which reduces global GDP in U.S. dollar terms. And that lowers demand for goods from around the world,' he said."

Chindia Demand May Boost Gold in Q4 -CNBC
"After escaping the summer doldrums, gold has been edging up in recent weeks, raising the possibility of a rally in the final quarter of 2015....The 'key missing piece', UBS notes, is physical demand. That could ramp up in soon, with Chinese investors returning from holidays later this week. 'Healthy appetite from India and China would act as an added reassurance for investors,' the brokerage said."

Drudge: Copyright Laws Could End Web Freedom -Info Wars
"During an appearance on the Alex Jones Show, Drudge asserted that copyright laws which prevent websites from even linking to news stories were being advanced....'I had a Supreme Court Justice tell me it’s over for me,' said Drudge. 'They’ve got the votes now to enforce copyright law, you’re out of there. They’re going to make it so you can’t even use headlines....To have a Supreme Court Justice say to me it’s over, they’ve got the votes, which means time is limited,' he added, noting that a day was coming when simply operating an independent website could be outlawed."

Hillary Clinton more progressive than Bernie Sanders? -Washington Post
"Bernie Sanders attracted a 20,000-person crowd in Boston over the weekend with his uncreative wish list of a platform, in which college would be free for all, Social Security would be expanded for all and medical coverage would be highly subsidized for all - regardless of whether you actually need the help. Hillary Clinton finally pushed back Monday against 'progressives' who propose shoveling public benefits at rich and poor alike. One sentence in particular drew a clear distinction between her campaign and Sanders’s: 'I am not in favor of making college free for Donald Trump’s kids,' she said, after explaining that 'I’m a little different from those who say free college for everybody.'"

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,147 an ounce. Silver at $16.04 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks traded mixed Tuesday following data showing the U.S. trade gap widened last month. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar fell on the news and precious metal prices pushed higher.

Stocks tell me 'party is over' -Barry Sternlicht/CNBC
"The reasonably healthy U.S. economy is doing little to assuage investor concerns about the stock market, and all the conflicting signs makes it feel like we're 'standing in quicksand,' Starwood Capital Group chief Barry Sternlicht said Tuesday. 'It feels like the market is telling you the party is over,' Sternlicht told CNBC's 'Squawk Box,' citing concerns about low liquidity. 'Everyone feels like we haven't seen what's around the corner, behind the curtain, and we're nervous'....'The biggest issues in the housing market are jobs. They can't find the workers' because of the low labor-participation rate at a time of nearly full employment, he said." In Stock Market Meltdown Confirmed, James Carrillo reports, "As in 2008, there will be no warning of the collapse. Taxpayer bailouts are now outlawed with the signing of Dodd-Frank bill. No more bailouts could mean an initial collapse of our banks that would trigger 'bail-in' scenarios, restricting access to our deposits."

Job Stagnation: Not In The Labor Force -Charles Hugh Smith/Of Two Minds
"Heroic efforts are being made to cloak the stagnation of the U.S. economy. One of these is to shift the unemployed work force from the negative-sounding jobless category to the benign-sounding Not in the Labor Force (NILF) category. But re-labeling stagnation does not magically transform a stagnant economy. To get a sense of long-term stagnation, let's look at the data going back 38 years, to 1977....In the golden era of 1982 - 2000, population rose 22.4% while NILF expanded by 15%. This chart shows the difference between the two eras: those Not in the Labor Force soared by an unprecedented 26 million people--a staggering 15.6% of the nation's work force of 166 million."

Dollar slips on expectations for later Fed rate hike -CNBC
"The U.S. dollar slipped against a basket of major currencies on Tuesday on continued expectations that the Federal Reserve will not hike interest rates this year, while uncertainty over the outcome of a Bank of Japan meeting capped the yen's gains. Commerce Department data showing the largest expansion in the U.S. trade deficit in five months in August reinforced expectations that the Fed would delay hiking rates for the first time since 2006 until next year. A weak U.S. jobs report on Friday has also driven expectations of a later Fed rate hike." To discover why the Fed now has us trapped in a zero interest, zero growth world read The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

IMF Downgrades Global Growth Outlook -Fox Business
"A slowdown in emerging markets is pushing the world economy into its weakest expansion since the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday as it once again downgraded its outlook for global growth. China's deceleration and the subsequent plummet in commodity prices revealed a developing world that overinvested, borrowed excessively and exhausted its ability to expand without major economic overhauls....The IMF's increasingly dour outlook sets a gloomy tone for the fund's annual meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Peru this week. 'Six years after the world economy emerged from its broadest and deepest postwar recession, a return to robust and synchronized global expansion remains elusive,' Maurice Obstfeld, the IMF's new chief economist, said in the foreword to the fund's latest World Economic Outlook."

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,137 an ounce. Silver at $15.70 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks rebounded Monday as speculators felt more confident the Fed will delay lifting interest rates until 2016. Meanwhile the U.S. dollar traded up slightly and precious metal prices were steady.

Bernanke: Bank Execs Should Be Accountable -Fox Business
"Perhaps Ben Bernanke should have spoken up sooner. Bernanke, the former chair of the Federal Reserve who helped mastermind the massive bank bailouts in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, says he believes more Wall Street executives should have been held accountable for their roles leading up to the crisis. While all the major Wall Street firms – J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, etc... -- have agreed to pay fines now totaling in the hundreds of billions stemming from widespread fraud that occurred ahead of the 2008 meltdown, not a single top Wall Street executive was charged ever as a criminal. Bernanke is now questioning that oversight." In DON'T BANK ON IT! authors Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte explain why deals have been made rendering big bankers "too big to jail".

‘Bubbles all over the place’: Ron Paul -RT
"The US economy is set to grow 0.9 percent in the third quarter after a bigger-than-expected widening of the trade gap for goods in August, according to the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow. This appeared to be a much slower rate from the regional Fed bank's prior estimate of 1.8 percent last week, the Atlanta Fed noted. 'It’s just the beginning of a downturn, nothing’s really happened yet,' former congressman Ron Paul said. 'Everything is misdirected because of the price of money. There are bubbles every place. You have a stock market bubble, you have still bubblemaking in housing when you see houses selling for $500 million, and you have a bubble in student loans.'" In Stock Market Meltdown Confirmed, James Carrillo reports, "The overinflated, propped up stock market bull is over. Long term market analysis has signaled that a long term sell off is imminent."

Central Banks Now In "Dangerous Situation" -Zero Hedge
"When both Europe and Japan slipped back into deflation despite trillions in central bank stimulus, it served notice that what developed market central planners are doing simply isn’t working. That is, the idea that ZIRP, NIRP, and endless asset monetization can stimulate aggregate demand and boost inflation expectations is a myth, and the longer the Janet Yellens, Mario Draghis, and Haruhiko Kurodas of the world attempt to perpetuate it, the more the market loses faith....Now, in the wake of the Fed's policy 'error' that paradoxically triggered a flight to safety even as the FOMC leaned dovish, the market is signalling that investors are beginning to lose faith." Indeed, confidence in central banking is falling fast. Where will it all end? Read The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Scottrade hacked, customer data stolen -CNN
"Scottrade, the stock trading service, has been hacked -- and it lost information on 4.6 million customers. The breach affected those who signed up for a Scottrade brokerage account before February 2014....On Friday, the firm acknowledged that unknown criminals had broken into its computer network. The company said it didn't know about the theft until it was alerted by the FBI in August. According to the company, federal agents were still investigating the incident and told the company to keep silent until now."

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,136 an ounce. Silver at $15.26 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks whipsawed down and then up after Friday's disappointing jobs and unemployment data intensifying uncertainty about Fed interest rate hikes this year. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar fell and precious metal prices jumped over 2%.

US hiring slump in September -Associated Press
"U.S. employers cut back sharply on hiring in September and added fewer jobs in July and August than previously thought - a sour note for a labor market that had been steadily improving. The economy added just 142,000 jobs last month, depressed by job cuts by manufacturers and oil drillers. The unemployment rate remained 5.1 percent, but only because many Americans have stopped looking for work and are no longer counted as unemployed. The proportion of adults either with a job or looking for one is at a 38-year low." Today's jobs data is further confirmation the Fed will likely not raise interest rates this year, as predicted in The Biggest Bank Heist in History.

Markets are back at panic levels, says Credit Suisse -Marketwatch
"During this week, global risk appetite dropped to 'panic' levels for the first time since January 2012, according to Credit Suisse’s Global Risk Appetite Index. That was back when investors feared a breakup of the euro bloc, grappled with unsustainably high sovereign borrowing costs and freaking out about the spillover from Greece....'Global growth is not a strong supportive factor for risky assets right now,' said the analyst team led by the bank’s chief economist, James Sweeney....Indeed, the U.S. economy may not even have grown 1% in the third quarter, according to the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker." Panic now and get it out of the way early. Owning gold helps maintain your peace of mind during times of crisis.

Stock Market Meltdown Confirmation -Jim Carrillo/Swiss America
"The overinflated, propped up stock market bull is over. Long term market analysis has signaled that a long term sell off is imminent. Stocks now need to be liquidated for the ride down. I recommend moving to cash, cash equivalents and gold. This is the first major long term stock sell signal I have issued since I warned investors back on Monday, January 21, 2008....I see gold prices potentially skyrocketing to levels nobody can fathom. Why? Gold has no debts and no third party liabilities. Every other asset is reliant on availability to credit and credit worthiness. Credit could freeze up overnight like it did in 2008 but this time with no way out. I fully expect QE4 to end in a complete loss of public confidence." more...

Gold price surges as rates hopes fade fast -The Week
"The gold price surged this afternoon, as a surprisingly weak US jobs report blew apart assumptions of a countdown to a rate hike this year....The upshot of it all is that most analysts are now anticipating rates will not rise until next year, with the consensus being that the US Federal Reserve will looks to act in March at the earliest. This is good news for gold, as well as other non-yielding commodities, which tend to suffer when rates rise. Gold jumped $25 in just 15 minutes and was up 1.9 per cent at $1,138 for the day." The U.S. dollar is about to become toast for many reasons which are detailed by Mr. Smith in What's Next For The Dollar?

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email

Gold last traded at $1,113 an ounce. Silver at $14.51 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: U.S. stocks fell Thursday on downbeat manufacturing data ahead of Friday jobs report. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar drifted lower and precious metal prices steadied.

The Middle East Meltdown and Global Risk -Roubini/Project Syndicate
"Among today’s geopolitical risks, none is greater than the long arc of instability stretching from the Maghreb to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. With the Arab Spring an increasingly distant memory, the instability along this arc is deepening....And, as in Libya, civil wars are raging in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia, all of which increasingly look like failed states....So, if the West ignores the Middle East or addresses the region’s problems only through military means (the US has spent $2 trillion in its Afghan and Iraqi wars, only to create more instability), rather than relying on diplomacy and financial resources to support growth and job creation, the region’s instability will only worsen. Such a choice would haunt the US and Europe - and thus the global economy - for decades to come."

A Global Recession? -Samuelson/Washington Post
"It’s beginning to look like the economic game of 2016 will be a tug of war, defined by a simple question. Will the plodding but steady U.S. recovery be derailed by the weakness of so-called 'emerging market' economies, led by China, Brazil and others?....David Stockton, a former top Fed economist now at the Peterson Institute, agrees that emerging-market countries have 'only small spillover' for the United States....What compounds the danger, he says, is that governments seem to lack the weapons to combat a new slump. Central banks (the Fed in the United States, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan) are already holding interest rates close to zero. There’s little enthusiasm for bigger budget deficits." In DON'T BANK ON IT! authors Craig Smith and Lowell Ponte explain why we never really recovered from the last recession in 2009.

Global Silver-Coin Shortage -CNBC
"The global silver-coin market is in the grips of an unprecedented supply squeeze, forcing some mints to ration sales and step up overtime while sending U.S. buyers racing abroad to fulfill a sudden surge in demand. The U.S. Mint began setting weekly sales quotas for its flagship American Eagle silver coins in July because it can't meet demand, and the Canadian mint followed suit after record monthly sales in July....Some investors like to own physical metal to protect from volatility in other assets, particularly currencies and stocks, and to hedge against geopolitical and economic upheaval." We expect the demand for both gold and silver coins to rise this Fall. Swiss America can help you take physical delivery of silver and gold coins. Read The Timeless Truth About Gold & Silver

Nationwide ‘Suspicious Activity’ Files Document Online Activity -Nextgov
"The director of national intelligence in 2008 stood up the 'suspicious activity reporting,' or SAR, program as a post-Sept. 11 national security initiative. Authorities were trained to monitor for certain behaviors at airports, train stations and large events that might indicate a security threat. Local authorities currently send reports of sketchy behavior to Department of Homeland Security-funded, regional fusion centers, where analysts make sense of the narratives. Today, as physical systems become connected to the Internet of Things, and federal watchdogs warn of plane hacking, authorities also are filing suspicious online activity reports." Author and Swiss America Chairman Craig Smith discusses the impact increased financial surveillance is having upon bank consumer withdrawals in on our new Right On The Money CD.

RealMoneyBlog - Free daily/weekly email