Archive
Gold Prices Spike on Safe-Haven Appeal, South Korea Buy to $1660.10
NEW YORK (TheStreet ) — Gold prices hit record highs Tuesday as the Bank of Korea bought more gold and as the Senate passed the debt ceiling deal.
Gold for December delivery popped $22.80 to close at $1,644.50 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price has traded as high as $1,646.80 and as low as $1,618.80 while the spot gold price was skyrocketing almost $30, according to Kitco’s gold index.
Silver prices added 78 cents to close at $40.09 an ounce. The U.S. dollar index was up 0.22% at $74.48 while the euro was down 0.36% vs. the dollar.
With the debt-ceiling issue basically behind U.S. markets, investors are now looking at the health of the economy and the picture isn’t bright. Worries of slowing global growth were the main factors boosting gold prices.
Not only have quarterly growth numbers been anemic and July’s manufacturing index was barely above the critical 50 growth-mark, but the debt plan aims to Read more…
Indonesia, South Korea Launch Stealth Jet Project
Seoul. South Korea and Indonesia are launching a partnership today to develop a new stealth fighter jet which has been delayed for years by technical and budget problems.
Defense and procurement officials from the two countries will mark the beginning of their partnership with the opening today of a new joint research center in Daejeon, about 160km south of Seoul, reported Yonhap news agency yesterday.
Noh Dae Rae, head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (Dapa), and Eris Herryanto, secretary-general of the Indonesian defense ministry, will attend the event, said the administration.
Referring to the so-called KF-X project, Mr Noh said in a statement: ‘It will be a strategic project that will be responsible for the development of defense industries and national security in both countries.’
He said the KF-X project has been made possible because of ‘consistent exchange and cooperation in the defense industry and defense procurement’ by both sides.
South Korea launched the Read more…
The Imminent $2.5 Trillion Debt Ceiling Hike Will Unleash A Gold Price Surge To $1,950 And Higher
Two weeks ago we presented a chart that shows the uncanny correlation between the debt ceiling and the price of gold. Now that we know the final amount of the next debt ceiling hike, somewhere in the $2.5 trillion ballpark, it allows us to extrapolate where gold will end up as a result of the debt ceiling hike which will likely be voted into law at 7pm PDT. A simple correlation rule of thumb allows us to predict that gold will be at $1,950 by the end of the year if it simply retains it close correlation to the debt ceiling. Should Bernanke announce that he will additionally need to monetize some or all of this incremental debt amount, we anticipate that gold will be well over $2,000 by the end of the year, courtesy of yet another round of accelerated dollar debasement, which also means that real gains in US stocks will be negated courtesy of the devaluation of the currency in which they are priced. The same, however, does not apply for gold, which with every passing day is priced in nothing but itself.
The Bloomberg chart of the day first presented on July 20.
The Charts The Government Doesn’t Want You To See
A healthy skepticism of government statistics is one of those self-preservation mechanisms that keeps us from hurting ourselves. Misleading official statistics too often lead people and businesses to act contrary to their own best interests and plan for scenarios that never happen.
We have always questioned what the government gives us; it’s not only a self-preservation mechanism, it’s part of our patriotic duty in the democratic system.
Take these two charts, presented by Robin Harding over at the Financial Times Money Supply blog. One is of the U.S.’s real GDP in dollars, and one is of the percent change of real GDP. The green bars are the government’s GDP estimates in June 2010, the blue are estimates from a year later in June 2011, and the red are the most recent estimates, from July 29, 2011.
What the charts are screaming is that the government has a consistent tendency to overinflate GDP numbers, and that the United States never really emerged from recession.
Take the second quarter of 2009—which has been continuously revised lower to the tune of a quarter trillion dollars. That’s enough to pay the annual median income ($52,000) for 4.8 million U.S. families—no small error. The percentage change chart shows something starker—a consistent fall of GDP since early 2010
Super Congress To Target Second Amendment
The so-called “Super Congress” that is about to be created with the debt ceiling vote will have powers far beyond just controlling the nation’s purse strings – its authority will extend to target the second amendment – eviscerating normal protections that prevent unconstitutional legislation from being fast-tracked into law.As the Huffington Post reported last month, the debt deal that has already been passed by the House and faces the Senate tomorrow will create an unconstitutional “Super Congress” that will be comprised of six Republicans and six Democrats and granted “extraordinary new powers” to quickly force legislation through both chambers.
Legislation decided on by the Super Congress would be immune from amendment and lawmakers would only be able to register an up or down vote, eliminating the ability to filibuster. The Speaker of the House would effectively lose the power to prevent unpopular bills from making it to the House floor.
But far from just being a committee that would make recommendations concerning the debt ceiling, the body is now to be granted Read more…
Drought by area impacted is worst ever – though majority of US still drought free
From the University of Nebraska-Lincoln , a new record in the 12 year old drought monitor.
US sets drought monitor’s ‘exceptional drought’ record in July
Worst classification for drought in nearly 12 percent of contiguous US
The percent of contiguous U.S. land area experiencing exceptional drought in July reached the highest levels in the history of the U.S. Drought Monitor, an official at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said.
Nearly 12 percent of the contiguous United States fell into the “exceptional” classification during the month, peaking at 11.96 percent on July 12. That level of exceptional drought had never before been seen in the monitor’s 12-year history, said Brian Fuchs, UNL assistant geoscientist and climatologist at the NDMC.
The monitor uses a ranking system that Read more…
Vladimir Putin: U.S. global economy ‘parasite’
The U.S. spends beyond its means and “lives like a parasite off the global economy,” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday, 1 August 2011.U.S. President Barack Obama said earlier in the day he had reached a deal with Republican and Democratic leaders to raise the nation’s debt ceiling by at least $2.1 trillion and avoid a default.
The proposed legislation is expected to be put to a vote in Congress later on Monday.
Speaking at a Russian political youth camp, Putin said the U.S. exists to build up its debt by relying on credit.
“It lives beyond its means, taxing the global economy with its problems and living like a parasite off the global economy and the monopoly of the dollar,” he said.
At the same time, the Russian head of government admitted that in the present day situation the United States took a “balanced” decision as a possible default would also have affected the global economy, which would have been “no good at all,” he concluded.
Intense Solar Flare Erupts From the Sun
 |
| A powerful M9-class solar flare erupted from the sun at 10:09 p.m. EDT on July 29 (0209 GMT July 30). CREDIT: NASA/SDO |
A powerful flare erupted from the sun this past weekend, but while the storm was not aimed directly at Earth, it was nearly the most powerful type of solar storm there is, scientists say.
The brief but strong solar flare occurred late Friday (July 29) at 10:09 p.m. EDT (0209 GMT July 30), and grew in intensity. The flare was followed by an unrelated geomagnetic storm, which was triggered by fluctuations in the solar wind, according to Spaceweather.com, a website that monitors space weather events.
As a result of the solar storm, skywatchers at high latitudes, particularly in the southern Read more…
Extreme weather causes chaos in South Africa
A massive swirling and circulating electrical storm cell rolls across the South African landscape and packs some massive lightning strikes along with it. This weather phenomenon is a common sight in the Highveld region of South Africa during the summer rain months.
Extreme weather conditions this week left a trail of chaos and confusion with snowfalls in three South African provinces leaving thousands trapped in their homes, cars and buses as emergency workers battled to reach them.
Major roads were shut in the Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal after blizzards hit. It took emergency services more than six hours to clear through kilometres of snow and heavy wind to rescue trapped motorists and commuters. Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said no serious injuries were reported.
The 5 South African Infantry Battalion of the defence forces was called in to assist motorists and three Read more…
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://i0.wp.com/www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/silver/t24_ag_en_usoz_2.gif)
crisisboom
CRISISBOOM 
You must be logged in to post a comment.