There are many signs of gangster state America. One is the
collusion between federal authorities and banksters in a criminal
conspiracy to rig the markets for gold and silver.
My explanation that the sudden appearance of an unprecedented 400 ton
short sale of gold on the COMEX in April was a manipulation designed to
protect the dollar from the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing
policy has found acceptance among gold investors and hedge fund
managers.
The sale was a naked short. The seller had no gold to sell. COMEX
reported having gold only equal to about half of the short sale in its
vaults, and not all of that was available for delivery. No one but the
Federal Reserve could have placed such an order, and the order came from
one of the Fed’s bullion banks, one of the entities “too big to fail.”
Bill Kaye of the Greater Asian Hedge Fund in Hong Kong and Dave
Kranzler of Golden Returns Capital have filled in the details of how the
manipulation worked. Being sophisticated investors of many years of
experience, both Kaye and Kranzler understand that the financial press
runs with the authorized story planted to serve the agenda that has been
put into play.
Institutional investors who have bullion in their portfolio do not
want the expense associated with storing it securely. Instead, they buy
into Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) and hold their bullion in the form of a
paper claim. The largest, the SPDR Gold Trust or GLD, trades on the New
York Stock Exchange. The trustee and custodian is a bankster, and only
other banksters are able to turn investments into delivery of physical
bullion. Only shares in the amount of 100,000 can be redeemed in gold.
The price of bullion is not set in the physical market where
individuals take delivery of bullion purchases. It is set in the paper
futures market where short selling can drive down the price even if the
demand for physical possession is rising. The paper gold market is also
the market in which people speculate and leverage their positions, place
stop-loss orders, and are subject to margin calls.
When the enormous naked shorts hit the COMEX, stop-loss orders were
triggered adding to the sales, and margin calls forced more sales.
Investors who were not in on the manipulation lost a lot of money.
The sales of GLD shares are accumulated by the banksters in 100,000
lots and presented to GLD for redemption in gold acquired at the driven
down price.
The short sale is leveraged by the stop-loss triggers and margin
calls, and results in a profit for the banksters who placed the short
sell order. The banksters then profit again as they sell the released
gold into the physical market, especially in Asia, where demand has been
stimulated by the sharp drop in bullion price and by the loss of
confidence in fiat currency. Asian prices are usually at a higher
premium above the spot prices in New York-London.
Some readers have said “don’t bet against the Federal Reserve; the
manipulation can go on forever.” But can it? As the ETFs such as GLD are
drained of gold, their ability to cover any of their obligations to
investors diminishes. In my opinion, these ETFs are like a fractional
reserve banking system. The claims on gold exceed the amount of gold in
the trusts. When the ETFs are looted of their gold by the banksters, the
gold price will explode, as the claims on gold will greatly exceed the
supply.
Kranzler reports that the current June futures contracts are 12.5
times the amount of deliverable gold. If more than 8 percent of these
trades were to demand delivery, COMEX would default. That such a
situation is possible indicates the total failure of federal financial
regulation.
What the Federal Reserve has done in order to maintain its short-run
policy of protecting the “banks too big too fail” is to make the
inevitable reckoning more costly for the US economy.
Another irony is the benefactors of the banksters sale of the gold
leeched from the gold ETFs. Asia is the beneficiary, especially India
and China. The “get out of gold line” of the US financial press enables
China to unload its excess supply of dollars, accumulated from the
offshored US economy, into the gold market at a suppressed price of
gold.
Kranzler points out that not only does the Fed’s manipulation permit
Asia to offload US dollars for gold at low prices, but the obvious lack
of confidence in the dollar that the manipulation demonstrates has
caused wealthy European families to demand delivery of their gold
holdings at bullion banks (the bullion banks are essentially the “banks
too big to fail”). Kranzler notes that since January 1, more than 400
tons of gold have been drained from COMEX and gold ETF holdings in order
to satisfy world demand for physical possession of bullion.
Again we see that institutions of the US government are acting 100%
against the interests of US citizens. Just who does the US government
represent?
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Petrol price 'rigged for a decade'
Motorists may have paid thousands of pounds too much for their petrol over the last decade, after two of Britain’s biggest companies were raided on suspicion of manipulating oil prices.
European investigators said the alleged price-rigging could have had a 'huge impact' on the cost of oil
MPs and energy experts have raised fears motorists have been “taken for a very
expensive ride”, after officials searched the offices of BP and Shell for
evidence of price-rigging.
The companies are suspected of distorting the oil price since 2002, meaning
drivers have potentially been ripped off for more than 10 years.
Over that time, petrol prices have risen dramatically by more than 80 per cent
to around 135p per litre.
European investigators, who raided the London offices of BP and Shell, said
the alleged price-rigging could have had a “huge impact” on the cost of oil,
including the price of fuel for consumers.
The investigation into market-fixing already has echoes of the Libor scandal,
which saw the banks falsely report key interest rates used to calculate
mortgages. It cost several British banks hundreds of millions of pounds in
fines.
Robert Halfon, the MP for Harlow who has long campaigned for an investigation
into the oil market, said high prices have been “crushing families across
Britain”.
He called for UK authorities to launch an urgent inquiry and for oil companies to “come clean and show some responsibility for what is happening to the international price”.
The raids were part of an investigation across the continent by the European Commission’s competition authorities. Offices owned by Platts, a price-reporting agency, and Statoil, a Norwegian oil company, were also raided.
European officials said several companies may have colluded in manipulating the price of both oil and green “biofuels”.
This could have happened if the oil companies provided false information to Platts, the main reporting agency that collects and reports prices to the wider market.
“Any such behaviour, if established, may amount to violations of European antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices and abuses of a dominant market position,” the European Commission said.
“Even small distortions of assessed prices may have a huge impact on the prices of crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels purchases and sales, potentially harming final consumers.”
It said the raids were a “preliminary step to investigate suspected anticompetitive practices” and “does not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behaviour nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself”.
The inquiry comes after The Telegraph revealed growing concerns about the reliability of oil prices last year.
A study for G20 finance ministers, including George Osborne, said traders from banks oil companies and hedge funds have an “incentive” to distort the market and are likely to try to report wrong prices.
Scott O’Malia, a top official at the US Commodities Futures Commission, has also previously drawn attention to the “striking similarity” between the potential for manipulating oil and Libor. The price reporting agencies strongly deny any similarities between their methods and the way Libor was calculated.
The information published by Platts and other reporting agencies is used widely by companies as a guide for pricing their oil-related products, including petrol.
Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers’ Association, tonight said any manipulation of the benchmark oil price over a decade could have cost motorists “thousands of pounds each”.
He said the PRA has repeatedly warned the regulators that the oil price appears to have been manipulated.
An 8p rise in the price of petrol last winter cannot be explained by basic supply and demand, unusual geopolitical events or other factors, he said.
Like Libor – the interest rate measure that banks were found to have rigged – the market is unregulated and relies on the honesty of the firms to submit accurate data about all their trades.
Lord Oakeshott, a senior Liberal Democrat and former Treasury spokesman, urged the UK authorities to take a closer look at the oil market.
“Rigging oil prices would be as serious as rigging Libor,” he said. “The price of energy ripples right through our economy and really matters to every business and families.
“All credit to the European Commission for taking action if they have evidence of collusion-but why have we had to wait for Brussels to find out if British oil giants are ripping off British consumers?
"I will be putting down parliamentary questions asking who has UK regulatory responsibility for ensuring fair and open competition in the oil market and what action they have taken in the past 5 years to investigate and enforce it.”
The oil companies confirmed their offices have been raided.
A spokesman for BP said the company is “cooperating fully with the investigation and unable to comment further at this time.”
A Shell spokesman also confirmed its companies are “currently assisting the European Commission in an enquiry into trading activities”.
“We are fully cooperating with the investigation. For legal reasons we cannot make any further comment at this stage”.
Platts, the price-reporting agency, said the European Commission has “undertaken a review at its premises in London” and confirmed it is “cooperating fully”.
He called for UK authorities to launch an urgent inquiry and for oil companies to “come clean and show some responsibility for what is happening to the international price”.
The raids were part of an investigation across the continent by the European Commission’s competition authorities. Offices owned by Platts, a price-reporting agency, and Statoil, a Norwegian oil company, were also raided.
European officials said several companies may have colluded in manipulating the price of both oil and green “biofuels”.
This could have happened if the oil companies provided false information to Platts, the main reporting agency that collects and reports prices to the wider market.
“Any such behaviour, if established, may amount to violations of European antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices and abuses of a dominant market position,” the European Commission said.
“Even small distortions of assessed prices may have a huge impact on the prices of crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels purchases and sales, potentially harming final consumers.”
It said the raids were a “preliminary step to investigate suspected anticompetitive practices” and “does not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behaviour nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself”.
The inquiry comes after The Telegraph revealed growing concerns about the reliability of oil prices last year.
A study for G20 finance ministers, including George Osborne, said traders from banks oil companies and hedge funds have an “incentive” to distort the market and are likely to try to report wrong prices.
Scott O’Malia, a top official at the US Commodities Futures Commission, has also previously drawn attention to the “striking similarity” between the potential for manipulating oil and Libor. The price reporting agencies strongly deny any similarities between their methods and the way Libor was calculated.
The information published by Platts and other reporting agencies is used widely by companies as a guide for pricing their oil-related products, including petrol.
Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers’ Association, tonight said any manipulation of the benchmark oil price over a decade could have cost motorists “thousands of pounds each”.
He said the PRA has repeatedly warned the regulators that the oil price appears to have been manipulated.
An 8p rise in the price of petrol last winter cannot be explained by basic supply and demand, unusual geopolitical events or other factors, he said.
Like Libor – the interest rate measure that banks were found to have rigged – the market is unregulated and relies on the honesty of the firms to submit accurate data about all their trades.
Lord Oakeshott, a senior Liberal Democrat and former Treasury spokesman, urged the UK authorities to take a closer look at the oil market.
“Rigging oil prices would be as serious as rigging Libor,” he said. “The price of energy ripples right through our economy and really matters to every business and families.
“All credit to the European Commission for taking action if they have evidence of collusion-but why have we had to wait for Brussels to find out if British oil giants are ripping off British consumers?
"I will be putting down parliamentary questions asking who has UK regulatory responsibility for ensuring fair and open competition in the oil market and what action they have taken in the past 5 years to investigate and enforce it.”
The oil companies confirmed their offices have been raided.
A spokesman for BP said the company is “cooperating fully with the investigation and unable to comment further at this time.”
A Shell spokesman also confirmed its companies are “currently assisting the European Commission in an enquiry into trading activities”.
“We are fully cooperating with the investigation. For legal reasons we cannot make any further comment at this stage”.
Platts, the price-reporting agency, said the European Commission has “undertaken a review at its premises in London” and confirmed it is “cooperating fully”.
Insurers predict 100% to 400% Obamacare rate explosion
Internal cost estimates from 17 of the nation's largest insurance companies
indicate that health insurance premiums will grow an average of 100
percent under Obamacare, and that some will soar more than 400 percent,
crushing the administration's goal of affordability.
New regulations, policies, taxes, fees and mandates are the reason for the unexpected "rate shock," according to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which released a report Monday based on internal documents provided by the insurance companies. The 17 companies include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Kaiser Foundation.
The report found that individuals will face "premium increases of nearly 100 percent on average, with potential highs eclipsing 400 percent. Meanwhile, small businesses can expect average premium increases in the small group market of up to 50 percent, with potential highs over 100 percent."
One company said that new participants in the individual market could see a premium increase of 413 percent when new requirements on age rating and required benefits are taken into account, said the report. "The average yearly cost for a new customer in the individual market grows from $1,896 to $3,708 -- a $1,812 cost increase," it added.
The key reasons for the surge in premiums include providing wider services than people are now paying for and adding less healthy people to the rolls of insured, said the report.
It concluded: "Despite promises that the law will lower costs, [Obamacare] will in fact cause the premiums of many Americans to spike substantially. The broken promises are numerous, and the empirical data reveal that many Americans, from recent college graduates to older adults, will not be able to afford the law's higher costs."
New regulations, policies, taxes, fees and mandates are the reason for the unexpected "rate shock," according to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which released a report Monday based on internal documents provided by the insurance companies. The 17 companies include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Kaiser Foundation.
The report found that individuals will face "premium increases of nearly 100 percent on average, with potential highs eclipsing 400 percent. Meanwhile, small businesses can expect average premium increases in the small group market of up to 50 percent, with potential highs over 100 percent."
One company said that new participants in the individual market could see a premium increase of 413 percent when new requirements on age rating and required benefits are taken into account, said the report. "The average yearly cost for a new customer in the individual market grows from $1,896 to $3,708 -- a $1,812 cost increase," it added.
The key reasons for the surge in premiums include providing wider services than people are now paying for and adding less healthy people to the rolls of insured, said the report.
It concluded: "Despite promises that the law will lower costs, [Obamacare] will in fact cause the premiums of many Americans to spike substantially. The broken promises are numerous, and the empirical data reveal that many Americans, from recent college graduates to older adults, will not be able to afford the law's higher costs."
South Africa Imports $1 Billion of Unwrought Gold to Meet Global Demand
by GoldCore
Today’s AM fix was USD 1,412.25, EUR 1,094.51 and GBP 926.67 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,436.50, EUR 1,103.47 and GBP 938.15 per ounce.
Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)
Gold dropped $6.00 or -0.42% yesterday to $1,425.40/oz and silver finished – 1.02%.
On Tuesday 14th May, workers at Lonmin PLC, the world’s No. 3 platinum producer in South Africa began a wildcat strike. This caused immediate disruption of all mine production and led to concerns that South Africa was yet again to endure violence and disruption in its mining industry.
Both mining production and output in South Africa has suffered since 34 workers were shot dead by police on August 16th last year.
The disruption to the South African mining industry has led to a shortage in raw materials for the refining and minting of gold bars and coins.
An interesting report by David Yanofsky at QUARTZ sheds some light on the implications of this shortage.
Yanofsky found that South Africa’s $402 million trade surplus with the United States in January had turned into a $689 million deficit by March with the $1.1 billion swing due to unusual shipments of unwrought gold from the US to South Africa in February and March.
Unwrought gold is impure gold created from scrap which needs further processing, mainly refining, before it can be used for manufacture of other articles.
South Africa is still an important gold exporter even though the output from its mines has been falling for over two decades. In a recent list of top producing countries, South Africa had fallen from first to fifth place behind Russia, USA, Australia and the world’s no 1, China.
Opinion is divided on the final destination of the gold but one potential candidate is the South African Mint. The South African Mint produces the most popular gold coin in circulation, the Krugerrand, with over 50 million minted to date.
South Africa has been caught in the middle with its own domestic issues on the one hand, and on the other, the recent surge in demand for gold coins following the COMEX related fall in gold’s price on April 15th.
The global demand for coins and bars that followed the fall in gold’s price caught even the most astute industry observer by surprise and there is no sign of the demand abating.
A point we keep making about gold is the absolute scarcity of the precious metal and Yanofsky makes an interesting observation that the $982 million worth of unwrought gold purchased by Sough Arica would take up no more space than a washing machine.
Today’s AM fix was USD 1,412.25, EUR 1,094.51 and GBP 926.67 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,436.50, EUR 1,103.47 and GBP 938.15 per ounce.
Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)
Gold dropped $6.00 or -0.42% yesterday to $1,425.40/oz and silver finished – 1.02%.
On Tuesday 14th May, workers at Lonmin PLC, the world’s No. 3 platinum producer in South Africa began a wildcat strike. This caused immediate disruption of all mine production and led to concerns that South Africa was yet again to endure violence and disruption in its mining industry.
Both mining production and output in South Africa has suffered since 34 workers were shot dead by police on August 16th last year.
The disruption to the South African mining industry has led to a shortage in raw materials for the refining and minting of gold bars and coins.
An interesting report by David Yanofsky at QUARTZ sheds some light on the implications of this shortage.
Yanofsky found that South Africa’s $402 million trade surplus with the United States in January had turned into a $689 million deficit by March with the $1.1 billion swing due to unusual shipments of unwrought gold from the US to South Africa in February and March.
Unwrought gold is impure gold created from scrap which needs further processing, mainly refining, before it can be used for manufacture of other articles.
South Africa is still an important gold exporter even though the output from its mines has been falling for over two decades. In a recent list of top producing countries, South Africa had fallen from first to fifth place behind Russia, USA, Australia and the world’s no 1, China.
Opinion is divided on the final destination of the gold but one potential candidate is the South African Mint. The South African Mint produces the most popular gold coin in circulation, the Krugerrand, with over 50 million minted to date.
South Africa has been caught in the middle with its own domestic issues on the one hand, and on the other, the recent surge in demand for gold coins following the COMEX related fall in gold’s price on April 15th.
The global demand for coins and bars that followed the fall in gold’s price caught even the most astute industry observer by surprise and there is no sign of the demand abating.
A point we keep making about gold is the absolute scarcity of the precious metal and Yanofsky makes an interesting observation that the $982 million worth of unwrought gold purchased by Sough Arica would take up no more space than a washing machine.
Financial Privacy Under Fire: DHS Freezes Bitcoin Money Transfers
Financial privacy free of government intrusion and interference is dead.
In what seems to be the government’s latest attack on private transactions between individuals, the Department of Homeland Security has shut down funds transfers operated by mobile processing platform Dwolla, which is responsible for managing transfers for the BitCoin digital currency exchange.
Details are still sparse, but a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirms that an investigation is in progress and Dwolla is no longer able to accept currency transfers for its customers.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed it has initiated legal action that prompted the Dwolla payment service to stop processing bitcoin transactions.
Nicole Navas, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed the legal action to CNET this afternoon.
Dwolla, a Des Moines, Iowa-based startup, which raised $16.5 million in funding two weeks ago, notified users about the move earlier Tuesday. It blamed the decision on “recent court orders” limiting its ability to send money through Mt. Gox, the largest bitcoin exchange.
“In order not to compromise this ongoing investigation being conducted by ICE Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore, we cannot comment beyond the information in the warrant, which was filed in the District of Maryland earlier today,” Navas told CNET.
Dwolla has refused to elaborate, saying through its support account on Twitter only that “we received a court order” and inquirers should follow up with the affected parties.
…
Homeland Security declined to elaborate on the warrant or court proceedings.
The court order has yet to be made available for public scrutiny, but sources close to the Bitcoin Ecosystem have suggested that this may be the first of many coming government investigations into the cryptographic digital currency which makes it possible for money transfers to be made without intrusion, verification or a paper trail:
There are certainly more questions than answers at this stage. We are prompted to wonder whether this is this the first of a series of governmental assaults on the exchanges? That’s what they’d target if they want to put the kibosh on bitcoin. Or, is this a case where DHS is investigating some individual or organization who may have used bitcoins, via Dwolla, for some potentially nefarious or terroristic reasons?
Members of the PandoDaily team have spoken to sources close to the bitcoin ecosystem and have been hearing that it’s likely the former.
In what seems to be the government’s latest attack on private transactions between individuals, the Department of Homeland Security has shut down funds transfers operated by mobile processing platform Dwolla, which is responsible for managing transfers for the BitCoin digital currency exchange.
Details are still sparse, but a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirms that an investigation is in progress and Dwolla is no longer able to accept currency transfers for its customers.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed it has initiated legal action that prompted the Dwolla payment service to stop processing bitcoin transactions.
Nicole Navas, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed the legal action to CNET this afternoon.
Dwolla, a Des Moines, Iowa-based startup, which raised $16.5 million in funding two weeks ago, notified users about the move earlier Tuesday. It blamed the decision on “recent court orders” limiting its ability to send money through Mt. Gox, the largest bitcoin exchange.
“In order not to compromise this ongoing investigation being conducted by ICE Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore, we cannot comment beyond the information in the warrant, which was filed in the District of Maryland earlier today,” Navas told CNET.
Dwolla has refused to elaborate, saying through its support account on Twitter only that “we received a court order” and inquirers should follow up with the affected parties.
…
Homeland Security declined to elaborate on the warrant or court proceedings.
The court order has yet to be made available for public scrutiny, but sources close to the Bitcoin Ecosystem have suggested that this may be the first of many coming government investigations into the cryptographic digital currency which makes it possible for money transfers to be made without intrusion, verification or a paper trail:
There are certainly more questions than answers at this stage. We are prompted to wonder whether this is this the first of a series of governmental assaults on the exchanges? That’s what they’d target if they want to put the kibosh on bitcoin. Or, is this a case where DHS is investigating some individual or organization who may have used bitcoins, via Dwolla, for some potentially nefarious or terroristic reasons?
Members of the PandoDaily team have spoken to sources close to the bitcoin ecosystem and have been hearing that it’s likely the former.
The Road to Confiscation: Connecticut Joins Illinois with Gold & Silver Registration Bill
In 2012, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Precious Metal Purchasing Act. SB3341 states
that a person who is in the business of purchasing precious metal shall obtain a proof of ownership, create a record of the sale, and verify the identity of the seller. Provides that a person who is in the business of purchasing precious metal shall not pay for the precious metal in cash and shall record the method of payment. (Emphasis added.)
In a CNBC video, Rick Santelli ties the floundering legislation to FDR’s 1933 Executive Order 6102 confiscating gold and setting the stage for Richard Nixon severing the connection between gold and the dollar in 1971.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
US wholesale prices fall 0.7 pct., most in 3 years
US wholesale prices fall 0.7 pct. in April, most in 3 years, driven lower by cheaper gas, food
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sharp drops in fuel and food costs reduced a measure of wholesale prices last month by the most since February 2010, indicating inflation has slowed.The Labor Department says the producer price index, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer, fell a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent in April from March. It was the second straight decline.
Gas prices dropped 6 percent. The price of home heating oil fell by the most in almost four years. Food prices declined 0.8 percent.
Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices ticked up 0.1 percent in April.
Overall wholesale prices have
increased just 0.6 percent over the past 12 months. That's the smallest
yearly gain since July. During the same period, core prices have risen
1.7 percent.
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