Free Republic

A rumor is swirling around the Internet that an inglorious end to the U.S. economy is imminent. Unlike previous rumors to this effect, this one carries the weight of recent events in the financial realm and has many believing the rumor will come to pass. Let's examine some of the claims being made: On March 18, 2008, a "closed door" session of Congress was held for only the fourth time in history. According to House Rule XVII, clause 9, it is forbidden for members of the U.S. House of Representatives to reveal the discussions held behind those doors. The penalty...

The Bush administration today projected that the budget deficit for FY09 would be $482 billion, more than the record $413 billion deficit recorded for FY04. The figure includes the $151 billion economic stimulus package enacted in February and would total 3.3 percent of gross domestic product. That compares with 3.6 percent in FY04. For FY08, the projected deficit is $389 billion, 2.7 percent of GDP. The projected FY09 deficit is roughly $70 billion more than the $410 billion FY09 deficit estimated in President Bush's budget proposal released in February and about $320 billion more than the $162 billion FY07 estimated...

Confessions of a Money Manager: Gold isn't a glittering investment Ray Unger — 7/25/2008 12:13 pm Have you heard those clever spiels on the radio coaxing us to buy gold in lieu of common stocks that can go to zero? Are they true? Yes, in a way. But sometimes the truth is mixed with a bit of chicanery. Those gold ads remind me of a funny golf story. Ben Hogan is about to play an approach shot to a green fronted by a yawning pond. He asks his caddy what club he should use. "I caddied for Sam Snead yesterday,...

The US Treasury Bond market can be confusing. Price inflation in the United States is intentionally made confusing. That keeps the public ignorant and poorly prepared to interrupt grand larceny and elite control of the printing press, the result of which has been a few decades of hidden confiscation of Middle Class work, wealth, and dreams. Long-term bond yields have many fundamental reasons why they should fall lower in the United States . They are interwoven and integrated. The US Economy is being killed by rising costs, in no way justifying higher borrowing costs. Yet amateurish opinions seem to coalesce...

South Africa: Anglogold Seeks 100 Percent of Cripple Creek15 January 2008Charlotte Mathews   GLOBAL gold producer AngloGold Ashanti was offering to buy Golden Cycle Corporation, its co-shareholder in the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company in the US, for $149m in shares, the companies said yesterday. The transaction would increase AngloGold's ownership to 100% of Cripple Creek, its only US operation, from 67% previously, although it had a 100% interest in the mine's production until the initial loan it made to the joint venture was repaid. At the end of September the outstanding value of the loan was...

The golden rule: He who has the gold makes the rules. In the 1964 James Bond Movie, Goldfinger, an international financial terrorist attempts to take over the world financial system by destroying American gold reserves stored at Fort Know with a nuclear bomb - a foreboding yet imaginative plot, but very messy and not too likely to succeed. What if you came up with a lucrative plan, ....

Like noxious bugs swarming over a crumbling tenement, followers of Ron Paul have invaded the blogosphere. Their target is anyone who dares to criticize their hero. Bloggers have dealt with them in various ways. Some have tried banning them outright. Others allow readers to engage them in back-and-forth debates that can easily take a thread to several hundred responses. I used to find the Paulites annoying, but recently I had a revelation: Far from being scorned, Paul’s rabid fans should be welcomed and encouraged. We should do everything we can to make certain they keep pushing their man, sending him...

The world’s financial system came precariously close to seizing up recently. In fact, as far as some big banks and financial institutions were concerned, for a moment in time, the system was in a full-blown cardiac arrest. Liquidity, the flow of money—the lifeblood of today’s economic structure—came uncomfortably close to clotting up in August this year. Defibrillators sizzling and money flowing, central banks around the world acted in concert to jump-start financial markets, slashing lending rates and injecting nearly a half trillion in dollar steroids into the economic pulmonary system. But contrary to what the big media outlets may have...

Oil producers shun dollar By Haig Simonian in Zurich and Javier Blas and Carola Hoyos in London Published: December 10 2006 Oil producing countries have reduced their exposure to the dollar to the lowest level in two years and shifted oil income into euros, yen and sterling, according to new data from the Bank for International Settlements. The revelation in the latest BIS quarterly review, published on Monday, confirms market speculation about a move out of dollars and could put new pressure on the ailing US currency. Market liquidity is traditionally low in December, and many traders have locked in...

The sagging dollar fell Thursday to its lowest level against the pound in 14 years amid a rise in U.K. house prices and a seasonal rally in the British currency. The dollar also declined against the euro and yen. In morning trading in London, the pound hit $1.9562, up from $1.9462 late Wednesday in New York -- its strongest showing against the dollar since September 1992, before Britain was forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. The pound last reached the $2 level on Sept. 8, 1992

An increasing surplus of bullion relative to demand could mean bad news for gold bulls, if the predictions of a new report prove accurate. Although the supply of gold looks set to drop by 159 metric tons for 2007, demand will plummet even faster, lower by 313 tons when compared to revised estimates for the whole of 2006, according to a new study scheduled for publishing Monday morning by Fortis Bank. The report was authored by a team of analysts led by veteran gold market watcher Jessica Cross, CEO at Virtual Metals, a London-based specialty consulting firm. Gold prices will...

Commodities had a miserable third quarter and many on Wall Street say they have further to fall. That theory was bolstered last week as oil prices sunk to their lowest level for the year. If commodities prices do sink further, it will be bad news for emerging markets and the investors who have poured billions of dollars into them over the past three years. Commodities prices tend to have a domino effect - lower oil prices often drag down gold prices, for instance. And lower commodities prices tend to push down stocks in emerging markets such as Russia and Brazil,...

When Ben Bernanke told Congress that moderating economic growth will likely contain inflationary pressures, Wall Street responded with its biggest one-day rally in nearly two years. Unfortunately for the Wall Street party boys, the Fed Chairman is likely wrong on both counts. In the first place the U.S. economy will not merely slow, but tumble, in the coming months/years, and rather than quelling inflation’s fire, the inevitable recession will actually stoke its flames. Bernanke’s faulty logic assumes that inflation is somehow a by-product of economic growth. However, real economic growth emanates from increased productivity, which tends to hold prices down....

With oil now hitting record highs and gold well off mid-May levels, the gold-oil ratio continues to shrink. Today, one ounce of gold only buys 8.57 barrels of oil - a ratio of 0.11.Oil hit a fresh record high of $75.78 a barrel today, boosted by strong demand in the United States and global tension ranging from Iran's nuclear work to North Korea's missile tests. Prices drew early support from a U.S. government report yesterday showing gasoline demand grew by 1.4% in the last four weeks from a year ago, with summer driving months still head. But rebel attacks in...

Casey Files: Government Debt – Termites in the HouseAs I write, gold has rebounded handsomely over the $600 mark, perhaps putting a stake through the heart of the recent steep correction. Or, perhaps not.After all, it isn’t the fundamentals, per se, that are currently causing gold to spike. It’s largely just the chattering of the trading community based on their reading of the tea leaves revealed in the Fed’s latest press release.In order to make any real sense of where gold should be trading, and will be trading soon enough, you have to look deeper, much deeper, into the...

Gold is selling for more than US$700 an ounce, up from $258 in 2001.......

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. benchmark gold futures scaled a new 25-year high at $700 an ounce on Tuesday, boosted by relentless investor buying powered by geopolitical concerns and expectations of further price gains ahead, dealers said. By 11:30 a.m. EDT, June delivery gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division was up $20.10 or 2.9 percent at a session peak of $700, which marked the loftiest level for futures since September 1980.

Gold and silver on a tear overseas. Also, oil seems to be breaking $70 a barrel. Anticipating problems tomorrow or just commodities on an upswing?

Gold closed higher on Thursday despite a CPI report and other data that convinced many inflation is not a problem and the Federal Reserve will stop raising interest rates sooner than later. But gold, which serves as a hedge against inflation, still found cause to rally. First, the dollar took a hit after the CPI. The Fed's 20-month-long campaign to raise rates has provided key support to the greenback. Gold, which is priced in dollars, normally rises when the dollar drops, as it takes less money to buy the same amount of the precious metal. Second, crude oil prices, which...

Abstract The American Empire depends on the U.S. dollar. The proposed Iranian Oil Bourse will accelerate the fall of the U.S. dollar and hence the fall of the American Empire. I. Economics of Empires A nation-state taxes its own citizens, while an empire taxes other nation-states. The history of empires, from Greek and Roman, to Ottoman and British, teaches that the economic foundation of every single empire is the taxation of other nations or of their subjects. The imperial ability to tax has always rested on a better and stronger economy, and as a consequence, a better and stronger military...

As we were driving to and from Dallas a few days ago, I couldn't resist taking the old US 66 when possible. It is striking to see how dependent businesses are on highway travel. (I have always thought that the damnable interstate highway system has caused ruin and loss of jobs to millions). The abandoned motels, gas stations, and restaurants were everywhere to be seen. How sad. The dependence which businesses have on the auto and traveling public is startling to see, when the travelers abandon their roadways. Then I began thinking of all the dependence we all have, on...

For over four decades, observant and open-minded individuals have become deeply concerned about the future of our great nation. They refused to accept the rosy official and media testimony regarding our nation's fiscal and monetary integrity. Similarly, they did not believe the negative rhetoric directed towards gold. Just as these independent thinking and far-sighted people recognized that one plus one would always equal two they also knew that no one, nor no nation, could create something from nothing. Throughout this period they witnessed the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve banking system work together to create U.S. dollars from thin...

Can Iraq's Policy Affect the US$ and Euro? Iraq decided to no longer accept dollars for oil... what do you think will be the effect on the greenback and on the Euro?" The burning question in cyber-space today is "Will this policy be limited to just Iraq?" In my opinion, we will see the dollar having to bid for Euro's instead of oil directly. That will reverse the current Euro-Dollar relationship. It will create a high demand for Euro's causing a higher Euro valuation; the dollar will significantly devalue against the Euro by 30% or more. Also, since the Euro...

SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) -- Gold futures climbed to a high of $472.40 an ounce, a level not seen since 1988, according to monthly charts. December gold was last at $471.10, up $7.80, or 1.7%. Prices found support as rallying energy prices sparked worries over inflation This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com

Transparent Quicksand With all the mock rapt attention directed to the hush-hush-what’s-the-Fed-going-to-say statement that followed the ¼% rate hike Tuesday, there was a puzzling ending to the affair that says a lot about what’s really happening on Planet Wall Street. At the appointed hour of 2:15 eastern time May 3rd, 2005, the Fed announced its eighth consecutive ¼ pt. increase in the Fed Funds rate. This move of course was widely expected. The drama was attached to what the Fed would say in its statement to follow. For months now the Fed has made clear its intention to continue interest...

Thu September 25, 2003 09:37 AM ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - COMEX benchmark December gold futures GCZ3 surged $4.10 at the open Thursday to $392.50 an ounce, surpassing a seven-year high. The previous high at $391.00 on a continuing contract basis was exceeded overnight, when December gold scaled a peak of $393.70. At 0833 EDT, gold was $4.00 higher at $392.40. Gold rallied on a surprise output cut by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, effective Nov 1. Analysts said higher oil prices could curtail the global economic recovery. Traders said gold investors were buying gold as an inflation hedge...

Gold Cracks 370.00...equity futures off, Euro edging up in overnight trading... SPOT MARKET IS OPENcloses in 10 hrs. 9 mins.  Jan 27, 2003 03:21 NY Time  Bid 372.10  Ask 372.60  Change +4.40 +1.20%  High 373.90  Low 368.80 6 Year High in Gold

We are terribly sorry to say our prediction of April 2000 of 50-70% of stockbrokers and stock brokerage firms going under before the bear market is over is sadly coming true. Broker commissions are off 80% and payout has been dropped to 23-35%. We hear many stories of alcohol and drug abuse, and suicide and many of these young men and women, who found transitory fame in their 20’s smashed on the financial rocks. The cool bachelor pads of the 1990’s have given way to one-room studios in the suburbs. They now struggle through life in menial jobs trying to...

Gold has sharply dropped this afternoon, losing 11.00 dollars per ounce as of 1:43PM EST. The loss amounted to more than 3% of overall value of the commodity.Normally considered a 'refuge investment', gold has gained in value while individuals try to find a place to keep their money in the face of a foundering stock market. While this has led to a run up in prices, there are risks of sharp losses in value, as has occured today.It is not yet clear what has caused this dropoff in gold prices.

Well, 'the new spoosman' and many like him have told me for months that the 'fiat' currency is worthless, and gold is the only valuable currency out there. Disregarding for a second the fact that these gold bugs are so ready to part with their gold for those 'worthless fiat notes', I would like to point out that since the height of their caterwalling, Jun 01 2002, gold is down from 326$ an ounce to 314$ an ounce today. That is a 4 percent drop in less than a month.The 'fiat currency' people are out to lunch. I don't expect...