Today, I wanted to draw attention to an important organization that was formed in the face of mis-representation of both the value and costs (initial and added) of Interest Rate Swap Agreements (IRSA's) by banks in the UK. The organization is called Bully-Banks, and they are fighting back against the banking cartels that bilked the member business owners out exorbitant amounts of money through fraudulent mis-selling of IRSAs.
The website is Bully-Banks.co.uk, and they have a wealth of information and insight into the situation at hand posted throughout various pages on their website.
While this particular organization is based in the UK, it also has implications for clients of the major banks in the United States and elsewhere around the world, as these practices are common-place in today's finance sector.
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Monday, 1 October 2012
Mining Strikes Drop Gold Production, Stunting Supply While Demand Increases
September 27, 2012 GoldCore update from Mark OByrne:
In South Africa, gold mine strikes ceased nearly 39% of production, at AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG) and Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI), as labour walkouts spread across the country amid demands for above-inflation pay increases.
Today, AngloGold, the world’s 3rd largest gold producer, said all of its South African mines have been stopped. Gold Fields lost nearly 32,000 ounces, or metric ton, of output because of strikes at its KDC and Beatrix sites. The Kopanang mine was shut down after a strike last week that began with 5,000 workers, and AngloGold decided to halt all South African operations as most of its 35,000 employees have joined the industrial action.
In addition to the mining strike there is also a transport strike. More than 20,000 freight transport workers are also on strike, demanding a wage increase of 12%, reports the South African Press Association. Unions rejected an offer of a staggered increase of 8.5% next March followed by an additional 0.5% in September, SAPA said.
The Lonmin Plc’s Marikana platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg endured a six-week strike that took 46 lives and concluded last week with miners receiving pay increases of almost 22%, which is four times the country’s August inflation rate.
Read the rest of the article here, or alternatively here.
In South Africa, gold mine strikes ceased nearly 39% of production, at AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG) and Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI), as labour walkouts spread across the country amid demands for above-inflation pay increases.
Today, AngloGold, the world’s 3rd largest gold producer, said all of its South African mines have been stopped. Gold Fields lost nearly 32,000 ounces, or metric ton, of output because of strikes at its KDC and Beatrix sites. The Kopanang mine was shut down after a strike last week that began with 5,000 workers, and AngloGold decided to halt all South African operations as most of its 35,000 employees have joined the industrial action.
In addition to the mining strike there is also a transport strike. More than 20,000 freight transport workers are also on strike, demanding a wage increase of 12%, reports the South African Press Association. Unions rejected an offer of a staggered increase of 8.5% next March followed by an additional 0.5% in September, SAPA said.
The Lonmin Plc’s Marikana platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg endured a six-week strike that took 46 lives and concluded last week with miners receiving pay increases of almost 22%, which is four times the country’s August inflation rate.
Read the rest of the article here, or alternatively here.
Daily Reading Material Compilation 1.0
Here's a compilation of a bunch of articles that I've read over the last few days. This isn't everything I've read - but I've commented/written blog posts on most of the other things I've read already, and the rest seems somewhat unimportant for me to share.
Enjoy the links!
Enjoy the links!
US Bank Run Imminent?
Is there going to be a bank run in the US? There are many indicators point to a resounding "yes" - and that could be a lot sooner than most people think.
The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) currently covers 100% of insured deposits in member-organization banks. The list of member organization banks can be found here. The FDIC was created by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 (which had certain sections repealed under the Clinton administration, helping to contribute to the late 2000s financial crisis, as investment banks and commercial banks' funds were co-mingled and banks were over-leveraged, leading and contributing to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns).
In order to be a member a bank must meet certain requirements for liquidity and reserve/capital. They are categorized in 5 distinct groups based on their risk-based capital ratio:
The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) currently covers 100% of insured deposits in member-organization banks. The list of member organization banks can be found here. The FDIC was created by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 (which had certain sections repealed under the Clinton administration, helping to contribute to the late 2000s financial crisis, as investment banks and commercial banks' funds were co-mingled and banks were over-leveraged, leading and contributing to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns).
In order to be a member a bank must meet certain requirements for liquidity and reserve/capital. They are categorized in 5 distinct groups based on their risk-based capital ratio:
The Flawed Logic of Central Bank Defenders
I stumbled across this article really by chance, but it made some phenomenal points in regards to the three arguments that central bank supporters use to argue the value of a central bank, such as the Fed:
1) It helps to maintain price stability
2) It helps prevent deflation
3) It can accelerate economic growth
I could ramble on for hours as to why this logic is incredibly flawed, and indeed is part of the root of the problem with our current monetary and financial systems. Instead, however, I will let this article outline it for me, so I can move on in order to piece together more on the articles I'm working on.
1) It helps to maintain price stability
2) It helps prevent deflation
3) It can accelerate economic growth
I could ramble on for hours as to why this logic is incredibly flawed, and indeed is part of the root of the problem with our current monetary and financial systems. Instead, however, I will let this article outline it for me, so I can move on in order to piece together more on the articles I'm working on.
North Korea Exporting Gold Reserves To China - Central Banks Around The Globe Continue To Increase Gold Holdings
Desperate North Korea has exported more than 2 tons to gold hungry
China over the past year to earn US $100 million. Even in tough times
during the Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il regimes, North Korea refused to
let go of its precious gold reserves.
Chosun media reports that “a mysterious agency known as Room 39, which manages Kim Jong-un’s money, and the People’s Armed Forces are spearheading exports of gold, said an informed source in China. “They are selling not only gold that was produced since December last year, when Kim Jong-un came to power, but also gold from the country’s reserves and bought from its people.”
This is a sign of the desperation of the North Korean regime and also signals China’s intent to vastly increase the People’s Bank of China’s gold reserves.
Data on the International Monetary Fund’s website shows Kazakhstan’s assets rose 1.4 tons to 104.4 tons last month, Turkey’s gold reserves gained 6.6 tons to 295.5 tons, Ukraine’s rose 1.9 tons to 34.8 tons.
While the Czech Republic’s bullion assets fell 0.4 ton to 11.8 tons, data shows.
Nations bought 254.2 tons in the first half of 2012 and may add close to 500 tons for the year as a whole, the London-based World Gold Council said earlier this month.
Read more here.
Chosun media reports that “a mysterious agency known as Room 39, which manages Kim Jong-un’s money, and the People’s Armed Forces are spearheading exports of gold, said an informed source in China. “They are selling not only gold that was produced since December last year, when Kim Jong-un came to power, but also gold from the country’s reserves and bought from its people.”
This is a sign of the desperation of the North Korean regime and also signals China’s intent to vastly increase the People’s Bank of China’s gold reserves.
Data on the International Monetary Fund’s website shows Kazakhstan’s assets rose 1.4 tons to 104.4 tons last month, Turkey’s gold reserves gained 6.6 tons to 295.5 tons, Ukraine’s rose 1.9 tons to 34.8 tons.
While the Czech Republic’s bullion assets fell 0.4 ton to 11.8 tons, data shows.
Nations bought 254.2 tons in the first half of 2012 and may add close to 500 tons for the year as a whole, the London-based World Gold Council said earlier this month.
Read more here.
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