By MARK SCOTT
LONDON — William C. Dudley, the current president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has been appointed chairman of the Committee on the Global Financial System, a central bank forum for monitoring and examining issues relating to financial markets and systems.
Before his role at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Mr. Dudley worked at Goldman Sachs from 1986 to 2007, and was the bank’s chief United States economist for 10 years.
His new position as chairman of the Committee on the Global Financial System, part of the Bank for International Settlements, an association of the world’s central banks,
09 January 2012
Swiss central bank chief quits over wife's currency deal
BERNE |
(Reuters) - Swiss National Bank Chairman Philipp Hildebrand resigned with immediate effect on Monday, saying he could not prove he had been unaware of a currency trade made by his wife and wanted to protect the integrity of the central bank.
Hildebrand's decision to relinquish one of the world's top central banking jobs after just two years came as Swiss parliamentarians met to discuss the scandal, which erupted last week after Sarasin bank sacked an employee who leaked details of the trade to a political opponent of the central banker.
Hildebrand's wife Kashya, a former hedge fund trader who now runs a Zurich art gallery, bought 400,000 Swiss francs ($418,000) worth of dollars on August 15, three weeks before her husband oversaw steps to cap the rise of the safe-haven franc. She later sold the dollars at a higher rate.
At a news conference four days ago, Hildebrand had resisted calls to step down, saying he only learned of his wife's trade the day after she made it and rejecting claims that he had personally authorized the currency deal.
But he told reporters on Monday he could not provide final evidence that he had been unaware of the trade and had decided to step down as he realized the intense public scrutiny over the affair was compromising his credibility.
"I have come to the conclusion that it is not possible to provide conclusive and final evidence that my wife did indeed initiate the foreign exchange transaction on the 15th August without my knowledge," he said.
Europe Has A Much Bigger Problem Than Debt, And Nobody Has Any Clue How To Fix It
Michael Pettis, China Financial Markets | Jan. 9, 2012, 1:42 PM
Europe’s underlying problem is not budget deficits or even unsustainable debt. These are mainly symptoms.
The real problem with Europe is the huge divergence in costs between the core and the periphery – in the past decade costs between Germany and some of the peripheral countries have diverged by anywhere from 20% to 40%.
This divergence has made the latter uncompetitive and has resulted in the massive trade imbalances within Europe.
Trade imbalances, of course, are the obverse of capital imbalances, and the surge in debt in peripheral Europe in the past decade – debt owed ultimately to Germany and the other core countries – was the inevitable consequence of those capital flow imbalances. While European policymakers alternatively sweat and shiver over fiscal deficits, surging government debt, and collapsing banks, there is almost no prospect of their resolving the European crisis until they address the divergence in costs. Of course if they don’t resolve this problem, the problem will be resolved for them in the form of a break-up of the euro.
Europe’s underlying problem is not budget deficits or even unsustainable debt. These are mainly symptoms.
The real problem with Europe is the huge divergence in costs between the core and the periphery – in the past decade costs between Germany and some of the peripheral countries have diverged by anywhere from 20% to 40%.
This divergence has made the latter uncompetitive and has resulted in the massive trade imbalances within Europe.
Trade imbalances, of course, are the obverse of capital imbalances, and the surge in debt in peripheral Europe in the past decade – debt owed ultimately to Germany and the other core countries – was the inevitable consequence of those capital flow imbalances. While European policymakers alternatively sweat and shiver over fiscal deficits, surging government debt, and collapsing banks, there is almost no prospect of their resolving the European crisis until they address the divergence in costs. Of course if they don’t resolve this problem, the problem will be resolved for them in the form of a break-up of the euro.
DYLAN RATIGAN: How We Can Stop Corporate Communists, Banksters And Other Vampires From Sucking America Dry
This is an excerpt from Dylan Ratigan's 'Greedy Bastards, How We Can Stop Corporate Communists, Banksters and Other Vampires from Sucking America Dry.'
Chapter 1: Trillion Dollar Vampires
Imagine an ordinary man so desperate that he decides to rob a bank. For years, he’s worked a steady job, but when he loses that job, the only work he can find is as a part-time clerk in a convenience store.
Still, he makes do. He cuts his expenses and relies on a little help from his family, though he hates to do so. Then he starts to develop health troubles. He’s nearly sixty years old, and he needs foot surgery. He develops crippling back pain and a frightening bone protrusion sticking out of his chest. He can no longer lift the stock he is supposed to load onto the shelves at the store. Although he could move in with his sister, he doesn’t want to be a burden, and he knows that she can’t afford to pay for his health care out of pocket any better than he can. So what choices does he have? He goes into the local bank and slips the teller a note. It demands $1—and health care.
This is not a fantasy, and the man wasn’t crazy. He was thinking clearly about a crazy situation. Jail, he realized, was the one place where he could get health care without bankrupting himself and his family. “Because he only asked for $1,” Yahoo! News reported, “he was charged with larceny, not bank robbery. But he said that if his punishment isn’t severe enough, he plans to tell the judge that he’ll do it again. His $100,000 bond has been reduced to $2,000, but he says he doesn’t plan to pay it.” Jail, he said, was the best of his bad options.
Chapter 1: Trillion Dollar Vampires
Imagine an ordinary man so desperate that he decides to rob a bank. For years, he’s worked a steady job, but when he loses that job, the only work he can find is as a part-time clerk in a convenience store.
Still, he makes do. He cuts his expenses and relies on a little help from his family, though he hates to do so. Then he starts to develop health troubles. He’s nearly sixty years old, and he needs foot surgery. He develops crippling back pain and a frightening bone protrusion sticking out of his chest. He can no longer lift the stock he is supposed to load onto the shelves at the store. Although he could move in with his sister, he doesn’t want to be a burden, and he knows that she can’t afford to pay for his health care out of pocket any better than he can. So what choices does he have? He goes into the local bank and slips the teller a note. It demands $1—and health care.
This is not a fantasy, and the man wasn’t crazy. He was thinking clearly about a crazy situation. Jail, he realized, was the one place where he could get health care without bankrupting himself and his family. “Because he only asked for $1,” Yahoo! News reported, “he was charged with larceny, not bank robbery. But he said that if his punishment isn’t severe enough, he plans to tell the judge that he’ll do it again. His $100,000 bond has been reduced to $2,000, but he says he doesn’t plan to pay it.” Jail, he said, was the best of his bad options.
SilverDoctors: FED Considering Expansion into Principle Reduction...
SilverDoctors: FED Considering Expansion into Principle Reduction...: Now this is the FED we know and have come to love. Captain Ben Bernank and crew are out to save the world beyond their monetary policy man...
Venezuela will not recognize World Bank ruling in Exxon case
CARACAS |
(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that his country would not recognize any ruling by a World Bank tribunal in a multibillion-dollar arbitration case with Exxon Mobil Corp.
Exxon took Venezuela to the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, seeking as much as $12 billion in compensation after Chavez ordered the nationalization of the Cerro Negro oil project in 2007.
"I tell you now: we will not recognize any decision by ICSID," Chavez said during a televised speech. He has repeatedly accused the U.S. oil major of using unfair deals in the past to "rob" the South American OPEC member of its resources.
"They are immoral ... How much could they steal in 50 years? Who would dare launch this madness without any foundation? They wanted $12 billion. From where, compadre?" he said.
"We are not going to bow before imperialism and its tentacles, understand that ... They are trying the impossible: to get us to pay them. We are not going to pay them anything."
SilverDoctors: Martin Armstrong: Investments Are No Longer Safe i...
SilverDoctors: Martin Armstrong: Investments Are No Longer Safe i...: Martin Armstrong discusses how Judge Jed Rakoff stands alone against the corruption of the SEC and the NY banks, and advises not to keep ANY...
SilverDoctors: Is Silver Making a Head & Shoulders Top, or A Mass...
SilverDoctors: Is Silver Making a Head & Shoulders Top, or A Mass...: The man who flip-flops more frequently than Mitt Romney is back to predicting an Armageddon-like collapse in silver. While we think a conti...
SilverDoctors: China Increases Easing to Prevent Slow-Down
SilverDoctors: China Increases Easing to Prevent Slow-Down: China will also participate in QE to Infinity.... AND BEYOND!!!! The stronger-than-expected lending and money supply figures suggested ...
Physical silver hits a record 30% premium over spot
By Tyler Durden
One of the main reasons why we have been not so focused on paper representations of real currencies (i.e., Gold and silver) is that ever since the MF Global debacle, in which it became all too clear that if physical gold can be "hypothecated" via conflicting ownership, then there is no way that paper versions of precious metals are viable and indeed credible. After all, the only real owner at the end of the day is the certificate holder, which as we have explained before, is none other than DTCC's Cede & Co. Good luck collecting when the daisy chain of counterparties starts falling.
Which leaves physical. And for a good sense of what the "real" price of the metal is, not one determined by institutions whose interest it is to preserve the hegemony of paper, one can either try to procure gold and Silver at a retail merchant, or one can look to the premium of a dedicated physical ETF over spot. Such as Eric Sprott's PSLV which as of today is trading at an all time high premium of 30%! In other words, someone is willing to pay up to 30% over spot for the right to be closer to the physical metal than merely have a paper claim on a paper claim (pre hyper rehypothecation and what not).
One of the main reasons why we have been not so focused on paper representations of real currencies (i.e., Gold and silver) is that ever since the MF Global debacle, in which it became all too clear that if physical gold can be "hypothecated" via conflicting ownership, then there is no way that paper versions of precious metals are viable and indeed credible. After all, the only real owner at the end of the day is the certificate holder, which as we have explained before, is none other than DTCC's Cede & Co. Good luck collecting when the daisy chain of counterparties starts falling.
Which leaves physical. And for a good sense of what the "real" price of the metal is, not one determined by institutions whose interest it is to preserve the hegemony of paper, one can either try to procure gold and Silver at a retail merchant, or one can look to the premium of a dedicated physical ETF over spot. Such as Eric Sprott's PSLV which as of today is trading at an all time high premium of 30%! In other words, someone is willing to pay up to 30% over spot for the right to be closer to the physical metal than merely have a paper claim on a paper claim (pre hyper rehypothecation and what not).
Weak Dollar, Chinese Buying Supporting Gold Prices
January 9, 2012 5:49 AM EST
A weakening dollar combined with bargain hunting, short covering and Chinese physical demand Monday to lift gold prices modestly.
The steady gains so far this year, however, leave the metal shy of its critical 200-day moving average in the $1,630 area, a target that if reached could spark a return to levels seen last year.
Although Indian demand was weak, Barclays Capital said in a note, "demand from China remains healthy ahead of the Lunar holidays, volumes traded on the Shanghai Gold Exchange have started the year on a positive note, exceeding the lower volumes traded in November and early December."
The dollar spent the day declining in Asian and European trading, which offered support for gold. The dollar index, which gauges the strength of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, including the euro, was down 0.33 percent to 81.32.
Iran: we will close the Strait of Hormuz if our oil exports are blocked
TEHRAN (Commodity Online): OPEC member Iran has issued a warning that if its Crude Oil exports are blocked in any way, it will go ahead and completely close down the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is the second largest oil producer in the OPEC.
Ali Ashraf Nouri was quoted by the Khorasan Daily as saying that "The supreme authorities … have insisted that if enemies block the export of our oil, we won't allow a drop of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. This is the strategy of the Islamic Republic in countering such threats”. Nouri is the a senior commander of Iran's revolutionary guard.
Ali Ashraf Nouri was quoted by the Khorasan Daily as saying that "The supreme authorities … have insisted that if enemies block the export of our oil, we won't allow a drop of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. This is the strategy of the Islamic Republic in countering such threats”. Nouri is the a senior commander of Iran's revolutionary guard.
Russian, French warships off Syria, Iran, US drones over Iranian coast
DEBKAfile Special Report January 9, 2012, 10:21 AM (GMT+02:00)
US, Russian French and British air and naval forces streamed to the Syrian and Iranian coasts over the weekend on guard for fresh developments at the two Middle East flashpoints.
The Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov anchored earlier than planned at Syria's Tartus port on the Mediterranean Sunday, Jan. 8, arriving together with the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and frigate Yaroslav Mudry.
To counter this movement, France consigned an air defense destroyer Forbin to the waters off Tartus.
debkafile's military sources report a buildup in the last 48 hours of western naval forces opposite Iran in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea in readiness for Tehran to carry out its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Britain has dispatched the HMS Daring, a Type 45 destroyer armed with new technology for shooting down missiles, to the Sea of Oman, due to arrive at the same time as the French Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.
Our sources report too that Saturday, the giant RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV, took off from the USS Stenning aircraft carrier for surveillance over the coasts of Iran. The Stennis and its strike group are cruising in the Sea of Oman at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran announced it would not be allowed to cross through.
US, Russian French and British air and naval forces streamed to the Syrian and Iranian coasts over the weekend on guard for fresh developments at the two Middle East flashpoints.
The Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov anchored earlier than planned at Syria's Tartus port on the Mediterranean Sunday, Jan. 8, arriving together with the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and frigate Yaroslav Mudry.
To counter this movement, France consigned an air defense destroyer Forbin to the waters off Tartus.
debkafile's military sources report a buildup in the last 48 hours of western naval forces opposite Iran in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea in readiness for Tehran to carry out its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Britain has dispatched the HMS Daring, a Type 45 destroyer armed with new technology for shooting down missiles, to the Sea of Oman, due to arrive at the same time as the French Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.
Our sources report too that Saturday, the giant RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV, took off from the USS Stenning aircraft carrier for surveillance over the coasts of Iran. The Stennis and its strike group are cruising in the Sea of Oman at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran announced it would not be allowed to cross through.
Gold prices may touch $ 2,000 an ounce in 2012: Study
NEW DELHI: Gold prices are likely to increase for the third consecutive year and would touch a record high of USD 2,000 an ounce in 2012, said a survey.
According to the annual London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) survey which covered 26 precious metal analysts, the average forecast for the precious metal for 2012 is USD 1,766 per ounce.
The average forecast for gold this year (USD 1,766 per ounce), a 12.34 per cent rise from average price in 2011 and a 10.2 per cent increase compared to the price in the first week of January, 2012.
Out of the 26 contributors to the survey, 19 expect gold to cross the USD 2,000 per ounce level in 2012.
Gold soared to an all time high in 2011 on strong demand as precious metals are considered as a 'safe-haven investment' in times of economic turmoil and rising inflation.
According to the annual London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) survey which covered 26 precious metal analysts, the average forecast for the precious metal for 2012 is USD 1,766 per ounce.
The average forecast for gold this year (USD 1,766 per ounce), a 12.34 per cent rise from average price in 2011 and a 10.2 per cent increase compared to the price in the first week of January, 2012.
Out of the 26 contributors to the survey, 19 expect gold to cross the USD 2,000 per ounce level in 2012.
Gold soared to an all time high in 2011 on strong demand as precious metals are considered as a 'safe-haven investment' in times of economic turmoil and rising inflation.
Gold Traders More Bullish After Bear Market Averted: Commodities
By Nicholas Larkin
Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Gold traders are the most bullish in a month as Europe’s deepening debt crisis and increasing tensions over Iran drove the metal to its longest winning streak since October.
Ten of 22 surveyed by Bloomberg expect the metal to gain next week and five were neutral, the highest proportion since Dec. 9. The U.S. Mint sold 45,500 ounces of American Eagle gold coins this month, compared with 65,500 ounces in the whole of December and 41,000 in November, data on its website showed.
Britain and France will press the European Union to stop Iranian crude imports at a Jan. 30 meeting, in response to the country’s nuclear program. Iran is threatening to retaliate by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global oil supplies. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos warned his nation may face economic collapse as soon as March. Investors are holding a near-record amount of gold through exchange-traded products after the metal rose for an 11th consecutive year.
“European sovereign-debt risk and the geopolitical risk of the Iranian situation escalating should support gold,” said Mark O’Byrne, executive director of Dublin-based GoldCore Ltd., a brokerage that sells everything from quarter-ounce British Sovereigns to 400-ounce bars. “Gold’s safe-haven attributes will continue to be in demand.”
Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Gold traders are the most bullish in a month as Europe’s deepening debt crisis and increasing tensions over Iran drove the metal to its longest winning streak since October.
Ten of 22 surveyed by Bloomberg expect the metal to gain next week and five were neutral, the highest proportion since Dec. 9. The U.S. Mint sold 45,500 ounces of American Eagle gold coins this month, compared with 65,500 ounces in the whole of December and 41,000 in November, data on its website showed.
Britain and France will press the European Union to stop Iranian crude imports at a Jan. 30 meeting, in response to the country’s nuclear program. Iran is threatening to retaliate by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global oil supplies. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos warned his nation may face economic collapse as soon as March. Investors are holding a near-record amount of gold through exchange-traded products after the metal rose for an 11th consecutive year.
“European sovereign-debt risk and the geopolitical risk of the Iranian situation escalating should support gold,” said Mark O’Byrne, executive director of Dublin-based GoldCore Ltd., a brokerage that sells everything from quarter-ounce British Sovereigns to 400-ounce bars. “Gold’s safe-haven attributes will continue to be in demand.”
Complex Systems, Dysfunctional Industries, and Catastrophic Collapse
Goldman Sachs execs must cringe every time they pass a newsstand where the latest Rolling Stone is calling their company a "vampire squid".
REPORT: Goldman Sachs And Morgan Stanley Bankers Will Take Huge Pay Cuts
At Goldman Sachs Group Inc., many of the roughly 400 partners can expect to see their 2011 pay cut at least in half from 2010, according to people familiar with the situation. Pay for some employees in the New York company's fixed-income trading business will shrink by 60%, with some workers getting no bonus, these people said.
Morgan Stanley is expected to shrink bonuses for some investment bankers and traders by 30% to 40% from 2010, said people familiar with the matter.
Morgan Stanley is expected to shrink bonuses for some investment bankers and traders by 30% to 40% from 2010, said people familiar with the matter.
Panic Mode? The Netherlands Urged to Repatriate Gold Reserves Held Overseas
By Esther Tanquintic-Misa: Subscribe to Esther's RSS feed
January 9, 2012 12:16 AM EST
Notwithstanding how good current relations may be between the Netherlands and the U.S., once global investor confidence waned on the American dollar, the Dutch could still lose the gold reserves it placed in full trust in various strategic vaults in the US. Call it perhaps survivor's instinct.
Gold experts in the Netherlands advised the federal government it should start facilitating the repatriation of its gold reserves from the U.S. , as well as from Great Britain and Canada, after the Dutch central bank (DNB) confirmed a Dutch newspaper report by the de Volkskrant that revealed much of the country's reserves of the yellow metal are not within the country.
Dutch gold experts all the more got restless when American commentator Jim Richards, according to the Radio Netherlands Worldwide, said the US government has the power to confiscate whatever foreign gold reserves it holds in the event global interest on the dollar decelerated, still owing to the global fiscal crisis that had shaken the fiscal stability of the much developed economies.
'Gold is great, so too is silver'
In this exclusive interview with James Turk, he discussed gold, but let’s start off with what he had to say about silver: “Whenever I look at Silver I keep going back to the wonderful blog piece you wrote on October 18th, titled, ‘Is Silver the Next Apple?’ That long-term chart of Apple conveys an important message. Despite five major corrections, over ten years, shares of Apple, nevertheless, rose 70 fold. If you were shaken out on any of those corrections, you would have missed one of greatest bull moves in history.”
James Turk continues:
“So that readers globally can get a visual of how violent some of the corrections in Apple have been, I am including a long-term chart of AAPL below. As was mentioned in your October 18th piece, there were five major corrections in Apple, ranging from 27% to 82%, which long-term investors had to endure in order to make 70 times their money.
James Turk continues:
“So that readers globally can get a visual of how violent some of the corrections in Apple have been, I am including a long-term chart of AAPL below. As was mentioned in your October 18th piece, there were five major corrections in Apple, ranging from 27% to 82%, which long-term investors had to endure in order to make 70 times their money.
Gold: Don't let the selling depress you
By Jeff Clark
Depite a few short-term fixes, there remains no real resolution to the sovereign debt issues in many European countries. We're certainly not spending less money here in the US, and now we're bailing out Europe via currency swaps with the European Central Bank. So shouldn't Gold Prices be rising?
Yes, but nothing happens in a vacuum. There are some simple explanations as to why Gold Prices remain in a funk.
-The MF Global bankruptcy, the seventh-largest in US history, forced a high degree of liquidation of commodities futures contracts, including gold. Many institutional investors had to sell whether they wanted to or not. This is similar to why big declines in the stock market can force funds and other large investors to sell some gold to raise cash for margin calls or meet redemption requests.
Depite a few short-term fixes, there remains no real resolution to the sovereign debt issues in many European countries. We're certainly not spending less money here in the US, and now we're bailing out Europe via currency swaps with the European Central Bank. So shouldn't Gold Prices be rising?
Yes, but nothing happens in a vacuum. There are some simple explanations as to why Gold Prices remain in a funk.
-The MF Global bankruptcy, the seventh-largest in US history, forced a high degree of liquidation of commodities futures contracts, including gold. Many institutional investors had to sell whether they wanted to or not. This is similar to why big declines in the stock market can force funds and other large investors to sell some gold to raise cash for margin calls or meet redemption requests.
SilverDoctors: LBMA Gold Trading Volume Would Have Been "Unthinka...
SilverDoctors: LBMA Gold Trading Volume Would Have Been "Unthinka...: £10 trillion worth of paper gold was traded on the LBMA in 2011, an average of £157 billion a day! What do you think will happen when £10...
SilverDoctors: Ron Paul Polling at 35% in New Hampshire
SilverDoctors: Ron Paul Polling at 35% in New Hampshire: -According to some 2nd grade arithmetic. CBS just happened to neglect reporting the 2nd place candidate however. Do they think no one will...
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