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Calling a secretive government operation to strangle politically out-of-favor businesses “more dangerous” than the IRS targeting scandal, a congressman with a background in banking is preparing to introduce legislation to kill the Obama administration initiative. “I believe this activity is probably more dangerous and more disastrous than that of the IRS scandal because this is running people out of business for no reason and it’s harming livelihoods, incomes [and] families,” Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., said today in an interview with The Daily Signal. Luetkemeyer, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, was comparing the Department of Justice’s Operation Choke...

We reported of a strange incident that took place just after the Ukraine presidential coup, namely that .... "in a mysterious operation under the cover of night, Ukraine's gold reserves were promptly loaded onboard an unmarked plane, which subsequently took the gold to the US." "at 2:00 am, a transport plane took off took off from Boryspil airport. According to Boryspil staff, prior to the plane's appearance, four trucks and two cargo minibuses arrived at the airport all with their license plates missing. Fifteen people .... stepped out, some armed with machine guns. These people loaded the plane with more...

ALEPPO, Syria, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Here's what every caliphate apparently needs: its own money, so Islamic State leaders plan to mint their own gold, silver and copper coins. The decision aims to remove Muslims from the "tyrant's financial system" and a global monetary operation "based on satanic usury," said a statement by the Islamic State's Beit al Mal, or treasury, and posted on websites used by jihadist movements. The exchange rate of the new currency — which will consist of seven coins — and where it can be found will be spelled out in a future statement. Unlike many...

It has gathered its fortune through the tools of modern finance, but now Islamic State (ISIS) aims to mint its own coins. The move is reportedly the brainchild of the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has personally overseen the design of gold, silver and copper coins of the Islamic dinar to be used in his self-declared caliphate—as soon as the terror group can locate a mint and enough precious metals. ISIS released designs of the coins and a breakdown of denominations. It claims the currency will free Muslims from a financial order that has “enslaved and impoverished” them. But...

Putin Is Hoarding Gold and Rattling Sabers--What’s He Up to Now? By Rob Garver, The Fiscal Times November 14, 2014 The Russian government has spent the last few days giving the world a lot more to worry about. From moving more tanks into Ukraine, to transferring nuclear weapons-capable units to Crimea, to announcing that it will start flying long-range bombers over the Gulf of Mexico, the Kremlin hasn’t exactly been a stabilizing force in global affairs for the past few days. Then, there’s this: It turns out that in addition to invading neighbors and taking an increasingly belligerent global posture,...

CAIRO (AP) — The leader of the Islamic State group has ordered the terror organization to start minting gold, silver and copper coins for its own currency — the Islamic dinar. A website affiliated with the group posted the order late Thursday, saying IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi instructed his followers to mint the coins to "change the tyrannical monetary system" modelled on Western economies that "enslaved Muslims."

PRESS RELEASE NOVEMBER 14, 2014 ROBBER BARON BANKERS: Scam $1.3 Quadrillion/yr November 14, 2014 – Reuters reported yesterday: “Regulators fined six major banks including Citigroup (C.N) and UBS (UBSN.VX) a total of $4.3 billion for failing to stop traders from trying to manipulate the foreign exchange market, following a year-long global investigation. HSBC (HSBA.L), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), JP Morgan (JPM.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) also face penalties resulting from the inquiry that has put the largely unregulated $5 trillion-a-day market on a tighter leash, accelerated the push to automate trading and ensnared the Bank of England.” See:...

. It appears the rumors are true. Islamic State is set to become the only 'state' to back its currency with gold (silver and copper) as it unveils the new coins that will be used in an attempt to solidify its makeshift caliphate. ISIS says the new currency will take the group out of "the oppressors' money system." As Zaid Benjamin notes, ISIS releases details of its new currancy with golden 1 & 5 dinar, silver 1, 5, 10 dirham and copper 10 & 20 fils It seems Alan Greenspan may have been on to something after all... "Remember what...

ISIS wants to introduce its own currency and plans to bring back solid gold and silver dinar coins, it has emerged. The Middle East terror group apparently wants to introduce its own Islamic currency as part of its attempts to solidify its makeshift caliphate. The currency known as the dinar, which once consisted purely of gold and silver coins, is today used by a variety of countries, but the coins are created from different materials to the originals. However, the jihadi group is understood to be planning to return to the original gold and silver coins, which were first introduced...

Tyler Durden 11/07/2014 For some reason, the Council of Foreign Relations, where ex-Fed-Chief Alan Greenspan spoke last week, decided the following discussion should be left out of the official transcript. We can perhaps understand why... as Gillian Tett concludes, "comments like that will be turning you into a rock star amongst the gold bug community." Greenspan (Uncut):(Click to the site to see the video) TETT: Do you think that gold is currently a good investment? GREENSPAN: Yes... Remember what we're looking at. Gold is a currency. It is still, by all evidence, a premier currency. No fiat currency, including the...

Elena Holodny November 5, 2014 Gold is getting crushed. Again. The yellow metal is at $1,140 per ounce, down by about 2.3%. It got as low as $1,137. This is the lowest level since April 2010. Gold has been dropping to new lows for several weeks as the dollar has strengthened. Oil is another commodity that is tumbling again. WTI crude oil prices dropped as low as $75.84 per barrel shortly after 5 a.m. ET. Brent crude touched $81.63. While this is great for consumers, this is troubling for the oil producers, who may be forced to idle unprofitable projects....

Gold Core October 31, 2014 Stocks globally surged, while gold fell sharply today despite renewed hopes that the Bank of Japan’s vastly increasing money printing will fill some of the gaps left by the apparent end of Federal Reserve bond buying. The BOJ decided to increase the pace at which it expands base money to a whopping 80 trillion yen ($726 billion) per year. Previously, the BOJ targeted an annual increase of 60 to 70 trillion yen. The BOJ sailed into deeper uncharted monetary territory with the announcement that they would triple annual purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Japanese...

Yamana Gold dropped 15% in one day after news of a charge taken for Brazilian operations.

It appears it is time for some Hillary-Clinton-esque backtracking and Liesman-esque translation of just what the former Federal Reserve Chief really meant. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the Fed chief from 1987 to 2006 says the Fed's bond-buying program fell short of its goals, and had a lot more to add. Mr. Greenspan’s comments to the Council on Foreign Relations came as Fed officials were meeting in Washington, D.C., and expected to announce within hours an end to the bond purchases. He said the bond-buying program was ultimately a mixed bag. He said that the purchases of Treasury and...

Tyler Durden 10/28/2014 Ahead of tomorrow's decision by the FOMC, Peter Schiff ventured on to CNBC to discuss the economy, the fed, and gold... among other things. Schiff rightly fears that while the Fed may well stop QE3 tomorrow, QE4 will not be too long behind it as he notes, rather eloquently, that "an economy that lives by QE, will die by QE" as the Fed's total lack of willingness to allow stocks to fall (see Bullard 2 weeks ago) or a 'cleansing' recession leaves the nation's economy in far worse shape than it was before the Fed's intervention. Schiff...

A five pound, quarter of a million dollar gold nugget was found on Butte County public land this summer. The nugget, found in July, is currently being held at Kagin's Inc. in the Bay Area and will be unveiled to the public at the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show scheduled to begin Thursday. Information about the nugget and its finder remain vague. The person who found it has chosen to keep their identity a secret, and the location of its discovery is only being described as somewhere in the foothills in Butte County on public land. The Butte Nugget was...

Akin Oyedele October 22, 2014"Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head." That's what Warren Buffett said back in 1998. Gold has long been considered a safe-haven investment. However, the price of gold has performed dismally in recent years. For those who don't trust the conventional financial markets, there are alternative more unorthodox ways to put away wealth. We put together a list of some...

The Nevada gold-mining industry is keeping its ear carefully tuned to what residents think of the state's mining tax. In November Nevada residents will be asked to vote on whether to remove a mining-tax cap from the Nevada constitution, which stipulates that the mining industry will pay no more than 5 percent tax on the net proceeds of minerals. If voters reject the 5 percent provision, the state legislature could impose whatever tax rate it pleases.

Harnessing the energy of the St. Paul River in Liberia, the Mount Coffee hydroelectric plant was supposed to bring power -- and prosperity -- to a country upended by nearly two decades of civil war. That was before the outbreak of Ebola ravaged the developing nation, where less than 1 percent of the population has access to reliable public electricity. Construction on the plant has ground to a halt. The foreign staffers leading the project have left the country. Hopes of lighting up Liberia by 2016 could are dimming. The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 2,300 people in Liberia,...

LAS VEGAS — Proponents of a ballot measure that would remove a mining-tax cap from the Nevada constitution said the industry has a sweetheart deal that keeps it from paying its fair share, while opponents said the measure is the first step toward raising taxes and discouraging mining companies from doing business in the state. The remarks came during a debate on Question 2 that was scheduled to air at 7 p.m. Thursday on Vegas PBS. Passing the measure would repeal a 150-year-old constitutional provision that applies a 5 percent cap to taxes on the net proceeds of minerals and...