Seems like more and more people are waking up and investigating the Fed.

Not necessarily a bad thing.

Business Books: Fed is “fourth branch” of U.S. government

In Fed We Trust

By Neil Stempleman

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For David Wessel, an award-winning journalist for the Wall Street Journal, last year’s financial crisis was the “The Great Panic.”

In a new book, “In Fed We Trust” (Crown Business, $26.99), Wessel makes the case that policymakers at the Federal Reserve lacked a clear understanding of events leading up to the crisis. The result, when the crisis hit in late 2008, was panic.

The book gives a concise chronology of the events leading up to the crisis, with technical details of the banking system and the Fed, in clear language with little financial jargon.

In addition, he shows how Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s upbringing and study of the Great Depression provides his motivation and colors his actions.

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PARIS -(Dow Jones)- French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that the dollar can’t remain the world’s only reserve currency, as the rise of emerging powers such as China and Russia challenge the U.S.’s prominence.

“The political and economic reality of a multipolar world will have to find sooner or later a translation on the monetary level,” Sarkozy told foreign ambassadors, gathered for a yearly reception at the Elysee Palace. “A multipolar world can’t count upon one currency only.”

Sarkozy also said that he won’t allow the euro to be the only currency to bear the weight of foreign exchange market adjustments as has happened in the past.

-By Gabriele Parussini, Dow Jones Newswires; +33-1-4017-1740; gabriele.parussini@dowjones.com.

Original Article

If American politicians were subject to this kind of public lashing, they might be a bit more accountable.

The eloquence of this tongue lashing is epic.

The article below shares some staggering statistics regarding the saving of the average person.

If You Were Laid Off Without Severance, How Long Would your Savings Cover Your Living Expenses?

* One Week or Less: 34%
* 2-4 Weeks: 16%
* 1-2 Months: 16%
* 3-5 Months: 14 %
* 6 Months or Longer: 20%

I have said before that the best definition of wealth I have ever heard is “If all of your income sources were to stop right now, how long would you last?”

The reason this is so important has everything to do with a financial foundation, or lack of one.

Most people think financial foundations should consist of a mortgage, car loans, student loans, credit cards etc. On top of these foundations are built walls which create income such as jobs. Finally the roof of the house, meant to keep the rain out and provide for retirement is made up of investments in the stock market.

This kind of foundation might work for a while, until a storm comes. You see to me, this is a foundation built on sand – as long as there is good weather, a healthy economy, the house does fine. But in economic contraction how does it do?

Many of you already well know the answer to this.

To me, a solid foundation consists of a means of storing wealth that can act as a means of paying your expenses should the need arise during economic changes that catch many flat footed. This is a storehouse of wealth, some call it savings, I suggest it should be much more than that. Personally, savings if held in the form of paper can be just as risky if not more so than what many have already lost in the markets. To put your savings in cash for example, does two things:

1. It loses value over time as the monetary unit is debased (the US dollar has lost 80% of its value since 1971 when Nixon closed the gold window)

2. It places a great deal of counter-party risk between you and your savings.

This is one of the reasons that the generationally wealthy hold gold and silver. They have learned that over time, it is one of the most secure means of storing wealth as it is easily liquidated, can store great amounts of wealth, and it is easily transported and kept safe, while maintaining privacy.

What if a person had the ability to store their money in gold in a vault someplace, say, in Switzerland, and had a year or more of savings there worth in gold. In other words, enough to last several years, or if you’re a person heading to retirement, for 20 or 30 years.

Instead of keeping the wealth locked into paper which is basically on fire and losing value, it could be stored in gold.

Then what if you could simply make a phone call or place a secure encrypted order online to sell a small amount of it to cover expenses now and then, and have the funds wired to you…much like the way you use your normal bank, only the value is stored in Gold the Money of Kings instead of fiat paper money?

That isn’t a pipe dream, there are people doing it right now, and you can as well.

Monster Meter Poll Reveals 34 Percent of U.S. Workers Surveyed Have Only One Week or Less of Savings to Cover Expenses if Laid Off from Work

Less than One-Quarter of U.S. Workers Surveyed on Monster.com Say their Savings Would Last Six Months or Longer After Job Loss

MAYNARD, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Despite the fact that most financial advisors caution workers to save the equivalent of six months’ salary in preparation for troubled economic times, a recent Monster Meter Poll reveals more than one-third of U.S. workers surveyed on Monster.com admit they have only one week or less of savings to cover living expenses if they were to be laid off from work. Monster.com is the leading global online career and recruitment resource and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW).

Over a one week period beginning July 6 and running through July 13, more than 16,000 visitors to Monster.com participated in the Monster Meter Poll question “If you were laid off without severance, how long would your savings cover your living expenses?” Thirty-four percent of U.S. workers report their savings would last one week or less if they were laid off, compared to 20 percent who say their savings would last six months or longer, according to a nationwide poll conducted by Monster.com®.

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Robert Kiyosaki is an interesting fellow. While some might say he is just great at marketing, I would suggest he is more than that. One of the books he has written predicted the stock market crash well in advance.

I have learned alot from him about business on a fundamental level.

The 401(k)Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme, like the scheme Madoff ran, depends upon young money to pay off old money. In other words, a Ponzi scheme needs tadpoles to finance old frogs. The same is true for the 401(k) and other retirement plans to work. If young money does not come into the stock market, the old money cannot retire. One reason so many people my age are worried, not only about Social Security and Medicare, is because they’re concerned about getting their money out of the stock market before the other old frogs decide to drain the swamp.

Preparing for the Worst

by Robert Kiyosaki

Robert Kiyosaki

“Is the crisis over?” is a question I am often asked. “Is the economy coming back?”

My reply is, “I don’t think so. I would prepare for the worst.”

Like most people, I wish for a better future for all of us. Life is better when people are working, happy, and spending money.

The stock market has been going up since March 9, 2009. Talk of “green shoots” fill the air. Yet, in spite of the more positive news, I continue to recommend that people prepare for the worst. The following are some of my reasons:

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Sure I can see that the last thing we need right now is more shaking of confidence, especially when Reuters articles mention runs on deposits, but isn’t the fiat system all about confidence anyways?

Doesn’t the cycle always repeat? Fiat to commodity money due to loss of confidence?

Seems to me they are just trying to stave off the inevitable.

What I really want to know is, whats the real reason for the secrecy?

Time and history have shown that when governmental type institutions don’t want the public to know something, its usually because they are being naughty.

Fed urges secrecy on banks in bailout programs

Federal Reserve

* Fed urges judge not to enforce order pending appeal

* Banks say disclosure could cause loss of confidence

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve asked a federal judge not to enforce her order that it reveal the names of the banks that have participated in its emergency lending programs and the sums they received, saying such disclosure would threaten the companies and the economy.

The central bank filed its request on Wednesday, two days after Chief Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled in favor of Bloomberg News, which had sought information under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Preska said the Fed failed to show that revealing the names would stigmatize the banks and result in “imminent competitive harm.” The Fed asked the judge not to require disclosure while it readies an appeal.

“Immediate release of these documents will cause irreparable harm to these institutions and to the board’s ability to effectively manage the current, and any future, financial crisis,” the central bank argued.

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Its no accident that institutional investors such as John Paulson are getting more and more involved in gold.

Billionaire Paulson Backs AngloGold Chief Executive

John Paulson - Buying Gold

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) — John Paulson, the hedge fund billionaire who earned an estimated $2.5 billion last year betting against a recovery in the U.S. housing market, said he supports managers of AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. after becoming the South African mining company’s biggest investor.

AngloGold Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani “is an outstanding leader,” Paulson’s New York-based firm Paulson & Co. said in a statement late yesterday. “He is focusing on safety, low costs, production, growth and diversification.”

Paulson, whose company manages about $29 billion, increased his bets on gold by adding to his stake in Johannesburg-based Gold Fields Ltd. in the second quarter to become the third- largest owner of its U.S.-listed shares. The 53-year-old hedge fund manager bought a $1.28 billion holding in AngloGold, also based in Johannesburg, in March and has since boosted his stake to about 12 percent, according to an Aug. 12 regulatory filing.

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Usually when the gold price gets pounded at market open in New York I check to see how the USD is doing.

Many times you will see strength in the USD as a correlation to a morning beat down of the gold price.

Not today though…USD is basically flat as of the time of this post, yet Canada Dollar is crashing as the gold price is hammered.

I have never seen this before.

If you have any thoughts as to why this might be, I would love to hear them: alex@rapidtrends.com

Gold Price - Canadian Dollar - Chart

Again, this matches the pattern of what the US did in its rise to global power. The stockpiling of rare raw materials was standard procedure for the USA for many years.

In recent times, these stockpiles have been sold off, perhaps mirroring a decline in fiscal discipline and a willingness to debase its currency and accumulate historic levels of debt.

This also matches our philosophy of ‘Products of the Earth’. I expect the prices of such materials, along with other tangible goods will continue to rise for several reasons:

1. Obviously global demand is outstripping available supply
2. Global competitive devaluation (also known as inflation) will also force the price of real goods higher.

We are in an amazing time in history, one with incredible opportunities if a person has the wisdom to see them and get positioned.

World faces hi-tech crunch as China eyes ban on rare metal exports

China - Rare Earth Metals

Beijing is drawing up plans to prohibit or restrict exports of rare earth metals that are produced only in China and play a vital role in cutting edge technology, from hybrid cars and catalytic converters, to superconductors, and precision-guided weapons.

A draft report by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has called for a total ban on foreign shipments of terbium, dysprosium, yttrium, thulium, and lutetium. Other metals such as neodymium, europium, cerium, and lanthanum will be restricted to a combined export quota of 35,000 tonnes a year, far below global needs.

China mines over 95pc of the world’s rare earth minerals, mostly in Inner Mongolia. The move to hoard reserves is the clearest sign to date that the global struggle for diminishing resources is shifting into a new phase. Countries may find it hard to obtain key materials at any price.

Alistair Stephens, from Australia’s rare metals group Arafura, said his contacts in China had been shown a copy of the draft — `Rare Earths Industry Devlopment Plan 2009-2015’. Any decision will be made by China’s State Council.

“This isn’t about the China holding the world to ransom. They are saying we need these resources to develop our own economy and achieve energy efficiency, so go find your own supplies”, he said.

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Are you serious? Pens and notebooks on layaway?

I am by no means making fun of anyone. That is horrible.

But my mind screams, oh yes, this is evidence of more green shoots.

Consumer strain: Pens and notebooks put on layaway

NEW YORK (AP) — To gauge consumers’ strain, look no further than the rows and rows of plastic bags awaiting layaway payments at Kmart. They are filled with back-to-school basics — not just T-shirts and jeans but notebooks, magic markers and pencils.

It is unheard of for layaway rooms to be so packed at back-to-school time and for the packages to include relatively cheap school supplies.

A record number of shoppers, shut off from credit and short on cash, are relying on Kmart’s layaway program to pay for all of their kids’ school needs, said Tom Aiello, a spokesman for Kmart’s parent Sears Holdings Corp. Layaway allows shoppers to pay over time, interest- free, and pick up their merchandise when it’s paid in full.

“It’s a sight. In the past, we would see layaway start to pick up around Halloween” as people get a jump start for Christmas, said David Travis, manager of a Kmart store in Conover, N.C.

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The one thing the author is missing here is the argument regarding the FOIA requiring federal agencies to disclose information.

The Federal Reserve is not a Federal Agency.

The entire name is a misnomer. It is neither Federal, nor does it have an Reserves. It simply creates money when it wants to.

“… we conclude that the [Federal] Reserve Banks are not federal … but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations … without day-to-day direction from the federal government..”

—9th Circuit Court in Lewis vs. United States, 680 F. 2d 1239 June 24, 1982

Federal Reserve loses suit demanding transparency

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge on Monday ruled against an effort by the U.S. Federal Reserve to block disclosure of companies that participated in and securities covered by a series of emergency funding programs as the global credit crisis began to intensify.

In a 47-page opinion, Chief District Judge Loretta Preska of the federal court in Manhattan said the central bank failed to show that disclosure would cause borrowers in the Federal Reserve System to suffer “imminent competitive harm,” by stigmatizing them for using Fed lending programs.

“The board essentially speculates on how a borrower might enter a downward spiral of financial instability if its participation in the Federal Reserve lending programs were to be disclosed,” she wrote. “Conjecture, without evidence of imminent harm, simply fails to meet the board’s burden.”

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I find it both amusing and informative that this new clip from Bloomberg is so short.

This isn’t the kind of thing that the government, the banks and the wall st. thugs who took the American taxpayer for a ride want trumpeted in the news.

Since its inception the Federal Reserve has been immune to all oversight and audit. In fact, it has NEVER been audited by a third party.

“The Federal Reserve banks are one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever seen. There is not a man within the sound of my voice who does not know that this nation is run by the International Bankers.”

—Congressman Louis T. McFadden (Rep. Pa)

It will be enlightening to see what is revealed, and what is carefully obscured by political vernacular.

Now what we really need, is an audit of the US Gold Reserves.

Fed Must Make Public Reports on Emergency Loans, U.S. Judge Says

(Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve must make public reports about recipients of emergency loans from U.S. taxpayers under programs created to address the financial crisis, a federal judge ruled.

Original Article (Yes…its that short)

Excellent Article by Jim Willie of the Hat Trick Letter.

No extra commentary needed, this guy nails it.

Monetization of USTreasurys In Isolation

by Jim Willie, CB. Editor, Hat Trick Letter | August 20, 2009

Every few months a chart comes along that needs almost no follow-on paragraphs to make the point of the issue. The chart provided by CIGA Eric covers several important types of US$-based bonds, their inflow and outflow, and the aggregate GrandNet. The financial data is publicly available from the USGovt TIC Reports. The messages are clear. Inflows of foreign funds are dwindling. In the case of USAgency Mortgage Bonds and USCorp Bonds, the nation is witnessing something unprecedented, the net outflow of funds. This is outright rejection. This chart exposes the isolation problem of the USDollar in the bond world, clearly the most important market beneath the currency market. The printing press is the last option.

Ominous is a strong word. Abandonment is better, but disaster is better still. “I find this simple chart so ominous I had to send it. Decelerating year-over-year inflows and outflows across the board. Stick your head in the sand if you like, but string this trend out a little longer and you’re going to have flight from the dollar.” So wrote CIGA Eric. See the article that displays this graph and his few words on the JSMineset weblog (CLICK HERE).

The foreign creditors are moving away from the United States, plain and simple. The big bold red series shows the Grand Net US$-based bond reduction in net flow change from a high around $950 billion in early 2007 to a figure now approaching only $200 billion, thus a severe cut in net inflow. The greater alarm comes from the USCorporate Bonds in the yellow series, whose net flow change is down from a plus $600 billion high at the same time to a slight net outflow negative figure now. The USAgency Mortgage Bonds in chartreuse/mauve/pink have net flow change with peak of plus $300 billion at the same time to a net outflow of a frightening $150 billion now. Since the important peak for mortgage and corporate bonds, the USTreasurys in blue series have recovered from a $200 billion net positive inflow to a $400 billion net inflow. However, one should suspect that the USFed is purchasing the USTreasurys from convenient accounts bearing foreign names, using American funds, and laced with sinister motives founded in deception. Foreigners in all likelihood are not the primary purchasers.

The foreign purchase declines from peak levels two years ago have fallen off a cliff, much like that of Acapulco. The image of a brave diver is also quite vivid, as risk is determined by the shifting water (liquidity) level. The United States credit markets are losing their legitimate liquidity and increasingly are turning to the desperate reckless alternative, namely the dreaded MONETIZATION. Mortgages in the United States must maintain funding from the USFed and USGovt by direct purchase, no longer a market action. There are mainly sellers. The corporations in the US must maintain funding from a more desperate means. See the Samurai Bonds offered in Japanese Yen denomination, the ones growing in popularity. My view is that a good slice of USGovt Treasury Bonds will be denominated in foreign currency routinely within one year, if the US$ system survives in its current form that long. The conclusion is clear from the messages, both graphic and statistical, that THE US$-BASED BONDS OF ALL TYPES WILL RELY ON DIRECT MONETIZATION VERY SOON OR IMMEDIATELY.

Acapulco Cliff Diver

USTREASURY MONETIZATION

Monetization of USTreasurys is occurring in a profound blatant fashion. Such action infuriates the Chinese creditors, while at the same time creates a huge rift between the US Federal Reserve and the USDept Treasury. The rift is political and will come to a head when Chairman Bernanke is due for renewal of his post in a few months. China exerts its constant pressure on the USFed to end the Quantitative Easing efforts. Like doctors, they wish to apply a tourniquet to a gaping leg wound that bleeds a red river onto the pavement. The term is a funny euphemism, a sophisticated economist term for Heavy Duty Money Printing that results in destruction of a currency if not kept under control. The USDollar stewards are NOT demonstrating control, discipline, or even anything remotely resembling honesty or integrity. The USDept Treasury wants to continue funding the federal deficit, and for yucks, add any and every conceivable new program onto the books while the federal insolvent bankruptcy makes marginal additions not so noticeable.

The USFed engages in almost immediately permanent operations to snag the primary dealer USTreasurys gatherings bid at auction, for a simple shell game shuffle. The USFed engages in a sneakier but still obvious hidden bidder game with foreign central banks. They use USDollar Swap Facilities (with gargantuan funds) and bid heavily on the USTreasurys, evidence being the ‘Indirect Bid’ component. If not for the USFed buying most of the USTreasurys issued, the long-term interest rates would be rising quickly and with alarm. If not for the USFed heavy buying, the USDollar would be doing a swan dive off a cliff into rough waters. As has been claimed in past work, the USGovt stewards of the wrecked buck can save the USTreasury or save the USDollar, but not both. Their monetization efforts here and abroad indicate a clear intention to save the USTreasury Bond. They put the USDollar at grave risk. The Weimar Territory lies directly ahead!

USDOLLAR DELAYS INEVITABLE CRASH

The USDollar remains firmly stuck at the cliff’s edge. It cannot recover, as the 80 level offers stiff resistance. The Powerz seem to prevent the breakdown but they cannot engineer a rally for recovery with any gusto. Two notable technical factors bear importance. The downtrendline is becoming clear, which worked to make the 80 level more stubborn. Also, the moving average crossover that occurred in early June still casts a dark cloud over the entire USDollar trading. The US$ DX index is stuck in a bear market, unable to bounce, and now is running out of time. Resolution is demanded. A key point must be mentioned. We are fast in the land of the non-linear, where discontinuous events occur, and disjointed price movements are highly likely. The ground from under the currency market is shifting in an unstable fashion. See the British Pound Sterling in the last week. It has jumped up and fallen down by 200 basis points in several days. Even the Euro has shown unstable movement. That is akin to a hanging lamp in your study, or a displayed chandelier in the living room, and see it shift to and fro in grand swings. Something big is coming and soon. All billboards scream it!!

The evidence of futility in a USDollar potential to recover is shown in the same daily chart, but with only three months shown. Faced with a likely breakdown, the USGovt engineered a small GDP decline two weeks ago in the statistical laboratories. A minus 0.1% advance on the Q2 economic growth sounded great at the time, if one believes it. On an annual basis, viewing Q2 versus last year’s second quarter, nothing has improved. The sequential approach used by the USGovt stat-rats lends itself well to finagles and gimmicks. They look at Q2 versus Q1, load in the nonsensical adjustments, and multiply by four in a laughable indefensible exercise. Just a week later, the European Union announced its GDP for Q2 was also a minus 0.1%, only to sidetrack the wondrous USDollar bounce. So the USEconomy is not going to lead the world out of the recession. Anyone who thinks that is a patented moron. The site of the implosion damage is never the foundation for the next recovery. Ground Zero was Wall Street, lest one forget. The Chinese financial market is actually leading the US market on directional turns. Sadly and tragically, the USDollar is stuck in mud, running out of time, awaiting a meat cleaver by foreign creditors. The August Hat Trick Letter report on gold & currency is to be posted this weekend. It contains some very surprising information on the cash intermediary currency market. A deep USDollar devaluation comes!!!

Original Article

Some people are shocked and horrified when they learn that their payments are getting smaller. These people have a right feel this way. They have basically been lied to.

On the flip side of that, we are all responsible for our own financial decisions and actions, or lack thereof as well.

I suspect that this is not just a new or one time occurrence, but a trend that will continue into the future. SSA is insolvent, and it is mathematically impossible to foot the bill.

Prepare for reduction in SSA payments to be standard operating procedure in the future. In a time where money continues to depreciate in buying power, it is even more important to protect your wealth.

Please protect yourself if you have not already done so.

Millions face shrinking Social Security payments

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER (AP) – 19 hours ago

WASHINGTON — Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time in a generation that payments would not rise.

The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won’t be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next two years. That hasn’t happened since automatic increases were adopted in 1975.

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On the way to the states for a time…

Thought I would leave you with a picture of gold…

Myself at Argor in Switzerland standing next to a bench of 1 kilo gold bars

Alex Stanczyk - Argor-Heraeus

Recent deals such as this one seem to paint a clear picture: China isnt as trapped into USD as the financial talking heads would like you to believe.

A China that is not trapped into the USD is very bearish for the dollar.

Why?

I have heard many who simply refuse to accept the truth, that China has been loaning the US Government (by buying US paper) over $18 billion a day just to keep the lights on.

When China refuses to buy US paper, then the Federal Reserve has to step to the plate and do so (by buying through their pet banks, JP Morgan and Government Sachs etc…or is it the Fed is the pet of the banks?)

The problem with this is that any government that buys its own debt because no one else wants it is in the death throes of trying to salvage its own currency.

Bad for USD. Good for Gold. Got any yet?

Exxon, China sign $41 billion Australian gas deal

Exxon Mobil and China

By Fayen Wong and Tom Miles

PERTH/BEIJING (Reuters) – Australia and China struck their biggest trade deal on Tuesday, as the world’s two most valuable listed oil companies, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and PetroChina (601857.SS), reached a $41 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) agreement.

Exxon will supply LNG from the massive A$50 billion Gorgon LNG project on Australia’s northwest coast, expected to have an output of 15 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) at its peak.

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One of the biggest things to impact not only our finances but every other aspect of our lifestyles is the upcoming changes in the energy landscape.

The IEA reports that we are losing oil production capacity at a rate of 6% to 8% a year and will continue to do so unless the equivalent of six new Saudi Arabia’s are found.

This technology will be very interesting to watch:

Ceramatec says its new generation of battery would deliver a continuous flow of 5 kilowatts of electricity over four hours, with 3,650 daily discharge/recharge cycles over 10 years. With the batteries expected to sell in the neighborhood of $2,000, that translates to less than 3 cents per kilowatt hour over the battery’s life. Conventional power from the grid typically costs in the neighborhood of 8 cents per kilowatt hour.

New battery could change world, one house at a time

Ceramatec

In a modest building on the west side of Salt Lake City, a team of specialists in advanced materials and electrochemistry has produced what could be the single most important breakthrough for clean, alternative energy since Socrates first noted solar heating 2,400 years ago.

The prize is the culmination of 10 years of research and testing — a new generation of deep-storage battery that’s small enough, and safe enough, to sit in your basement and power your home.

It promises to nudge the world to a paradigm shift as big as the switch from centralized mainframe computers in the 1980s to personal laptops. But this time the mainframe is America’s antiquated electrical grid; and the switch is to personal power stations in millions of individual homes.

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Hubris. Always interesting to see how blinded people can become when their pride precludes them from seeing the truth.

Reminds me of this old story:

The fog was very thick, and the Chief Officer of the tramp steamer was peering over the side of the bridge. Suddenly, to his intense surprise, he saw a man leaning over a rail, only a few yards away.

“You confounded fool!” He roared. “Where the devil do you think your ship’s going? Don’t you know I’ve got the right of way?”

Out of the gloom came a sardonic voice:

“This ain’t no blinkin’ ship, guv’nor. This ‘ere’s a light’ouse!”

Excellent chart from the fine fellows over at Zeal LLC.

Notice how the actual sales from Central Banks has been declining, at the same time gold demand has exploded. This is very bullish for gold, obviously.

Central Bank Gold Sales Versus Demand

Dollar Cocaine

Kind of humorous to think that there is more intrinsic value in traces of drugs on greenbacks than there is in the paper.

Hat tip to my good friend Josh Peak.

Most U.S. Money Laced With Cocaine

LiveScience Staff

Traces of cocaine taint up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, a new study finds.

A group of scientists tested banknotes from more than 30 cities in five countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan, and found “alarming” evidence of cocaine use in many areas.

U.S. and Canadian currency had the highest levels, with an average contamination rate of between 85 and 90 percent, while Chinese and Japanese currency had the lowest, between 12 and 20 percent contamination.

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