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As a student of market history, I've seen that maxim made true time and again. The cycle swings fear back to greed. The overcautious become the overzealous. And at the top, the story is always the same: Too much credit, too much speculation, the suspension of disbelief, and the spread of the idea that this time is different.
It doesn't matter whether it was the expansion of railroads heading into the crash of 1893 or the excitement over the consolidation of the steel industry in 1901 or the mixing of speculation and banking heading into 1907. Or whether it involves an epic expansion of mortgage credit, IPO activity, or central-bank stimulus. What can't continue forever ultimately won't.
The weaknesses of the human heart and mind means the swings will always exist. Our rudimentary understanding of the forces of economics, which in turn, reflect ultimately reflect the fallacies of people making investing, purchasing, and saving decisions, means policymakers will never defeat the vagaries of the business cycle.
This 2-page commentary was posted on the martketwatch.com Internet site just before lunch EST last Friday...and reader Eric Gould slid it into my in-box on Saturday morning.
When U.S. regulators adopt the Volcker rule on Tuesday...[That's today. - Ed]...they will make good on a promise by politicians to rein in banks' ability to gamble with their own money.
The coordinated action by five separate regulatory agencies is seen sparking a court challenge as Wall Street tries once again to avoid one of the harshest elements of the post-financial crisis crackdown.
The rule, championed by former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, was a last-minute addition to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law and takes aim at a business that had been a big money spinner for banks before the crisis.
The measure bans banks from making bets for their own profits, an activity known as proprietary trading that regulators deemed too risky for banks that enjoy government backstops.
One wonders if that will include the precious metals, dear reader? Despite Deutsche Bank giving up commodity trading last week, it still has its precious metal trading desk, so one has to wonder. We won't have long to wait to find out. This story was posted on The New York Times website early Sunday morning EST...and it's courtesy of Phil Barlett. It's definitely worth reading.
The most curious thing of all about the November jobs report released on Friday was the huge drop in the unemployment rate — and the fact that the Labor Department chose not to disclose that the data going into that figure are under investigation for falsification.
On Nov. 19, I broke the news in my column that the Census Bureau, which collects data that goes into the jobless rate on behalf of Labor, had caught one of its enumerators fabricating interviews in 2010.
The culprit said back then (and to me during an interview) that he was told to do so by Census supervisors who were in the position to instruct others to make similar fabrications.
In fact, a source who I haven't named but who is familiar with the Census data accumulation process has told me that falsifications have been occurring on a regular basis.
Why should anyone be surprised? This short commentary by John was posted on the New York Post website very early on Saturday morning...and it's courtesy of reader Mark Hagen.
Federal authorities have obtained confidential documents that shed new light on JPMorgan Chase's decision to hire the children of China's ruling elite, securing emails that show how the bank linked one prominent hire to "existing and potential business opportunities" from a Chinese government-run company.
The documents, which also include spreadsheets that list the bank's "track record" for converting hires into business deals, offer the most detailed account yet of JPMorgan's "Sons and Daughters" hiring program, which has been at the center of a federal bribery investigation for months. The spreadsheets and emails -- recently submitted by JPMorgan to authorities -- illuminate how the bank created the program to prevent questionable hiring practices but ultimately viewed it as a gateway to doing business with state-owned companies in China, which commonly issue stock with the help of Wall Street banks.
No surprises here, either. This news item appeared on The New York Times website early Saturday afternoon EST...and I found the story [and the headline] in a GATA release.
The world's leading technology companies have united to demand sweeping changes to U.S. surveillance laws, urging an international ban on bulk collection of data to help preserve the public's "trust in the internet".
In their most concerted response yet to disclosures by the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Twitter and AOL have published an open letter to Barack Obama and Congress on Monday, throwing their weight behind radical reforms already proposed by Washington politicians.
"The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favour of the state and away from the rights of the individual – rights that are enshrined in our constitution," urges the letter signed by the eight US-based internet giants. "This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It's time for change."
This longish, but must read article, was posted on theguardian.com Internet site yesterday afternoon GMT.
The head of German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom has called for Europe to do more to protect privacy and combat international spying. Rene Obermann's words come as eight of the world's largest technology companies appealed to President Barack Obama and the US Congress to enact sweeping changes to spying laws and put a stop to mass collection of data.
Obermann, who became chairman of the Deutsche Telekom board in 2006, told German business daily Handelsblatt that politicians in the European Union are not doing enough in response to the spying scandal uncovered by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden earlier this year. The documents from his archive include allegations that the NSA and the British intelligence agency GCHQ hacked into internal connections between data centers belonging to Google and Yahoo, while millions of pieces of data were gathered. It was also revealed that the NSA was keeping track of mobile phones across the world -- and had even eavesdropped on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Obermann pulled no punches in criticizing the data gathering carried out by intelligence agencies in the US and beyond, and said: "I was angered most of all because confidence in two pillars of our society, free communication and privacy, has been shaken to such an extent. I think what is happening is in the long term even dangerous to democracy."
This article was posted on the German website spiegel.de yesterday afternoon Europe time...and I thank Roy Stephens for bringing it to our attention.
As bonds and stocks soar, and Europe's leaders continue to proclaim victory, despite Draghi's downbeat jawboning as EUR surges to growth-crushing levels, it is well known that the employment situation remains abysmal in the real economy.
However, what is worse that the red-flashing-headlines of record youth (and total) unemployment is, as Bloomberg's Niraj Shah notes, 125 million people in the E.U. were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. According to Eurostat, that is 24.8% of the population. Almost half of Bulgarians faced economic hardship and Greece had the highest poverty rate in the euro area at 34.6% (though if Stournaras was to be believed this weekend, their problems are solved).
That's all there is to this short Zero Hedge piece from yesterday morning...but the chart is a must to view. I thank Manitoba reader Ulrike Marx for sending it our way.
They are not sleeping in tents in Independence Square, but Ukraine's ultra-wealthy businessmen, known as the oligarchs, perhaps pose as grave a threat to President Viktor F. Yanukovich as the demonstrators on the streets of this capital city.
"Do you think there is a big difference between people on the street and people with big business?" said the most visible, and the most pro-Western, of the oligarchs, Petro Poroshenko, a shipping, confectionery and agriculture magnate whose television station has been broadcasting round the clock from Independence Square.
"There is no difference in their love of their own country," he said in an interview in the lobby of the Ukraine Hotel, overlooking the square, where the protesters appeared as miniature silent figures, waving flags and milling about bonfires. "At the end of the day, we are all talking about the modernization of the economy and the country."
This 2-page article was posted on The New York Times website on Friday sometime...and it's definitely worth reading, especially if you're a student of the New Great Game. It's the second offering of the day from Roy Stephens.
Public protests thundered into a full-throttle civil uprising in Ukraine on Sunday, as hundreds of thousands of protesters answered President Viktor F. Yanukovich's dismissiveness with their biggest rally so far, demanding that he and his government resign.
At the height of the unrest on Sunday night, a seething crowd toppled and smashed a statue of Lenin, the most prominent monument to the Communist leader in Kiev. The act was heavy with symbolism, underscoring the protesters' rage at Russia over its role in the events that first prompted the protests: Mr. Yanukovich's abrupt refusal to sign sweeping political and free-trade agreements with the European Union.
After an electrifying assembly in Independence Square in the center of Kiev, the main focus of the protests, the huge crowd surged across the capital, erecting barriers to block the streets around the presidential headquarters and pitching huge tents in strategic intersections. They were not challenged by the police, who have largely disengaged since their bloody crackdown on a group of protesters on Nov. 30 sharply increased outrage at the government.
This is another story from The New York Times. This one showed up on their Internet site on Sunday sometime...and it's another contribution from Roy Stephens. It's also a must read for all students of the New Great Game.
The French planned operation in the Central African Republic is a part of the ongoing inner-imperialist rivalry between France and the United States for control of post-colonial Africa, Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of Pan-African News Wire, told RT.
President Hollande has said that France will take immediate military action as sectarian violence escalates in the Central African Republic.
Earlier the U.N. Security Council voted to allow French troops to join an African peacekeeping force.
Fresh clashes between local militias in the capital Bangui have killed about 100 people and wounded scores more.
This story was posted on the Russia Today website during the Moscow lunch hour last Friday...and my thanks go out to South African reader B.V.
The U.S. will airlift African Union forces to the Central African Republic as part of an effort to aid French troops who are in the country to put down rising violence, defense officials said.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel authorized the deployment of the U.S. transport planes and pilots Sunday night, responding to a request for assistance from France. The planes will be used to carry troops from Burundi to the Central African Republic, where France has deployed 1,600 troops to try to quell rising violence.
Fighting has increased in the Central African Republic since March when a rebel group seized power. The rebel leader, Michel Djotodia, named himself president.
Turmoil has escalated in recent days, claiming 400 lives and prompting the French intervention. On Monday, French soldiers began disarming fighters in the Central African Republic.
This Zero Hedge piece was posted on their Internet site early yesterday afternoon EST...and I thank reader 'David in California' for sharing it with us.
The bulldozers started up with a rumble this year in this bucolic corner of southern Japan, unleashing a construction frenzy — and a sinking feeling of déjà vu.
The traffic cones and "under construction" signs alongside Saga's roads and waterways are about the only visible change brought about by "Abenomics," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's much-lauded plan to put Japan back on the path to growth. Residents here say the building boom is a throwback to Japan's troubled 1990s, when far-flung regions across the country tried to build their way back to prosperity.
And they worry that, like previous attempts, growth will not last.
"How long before all this winds down again? That's what everyone's worried about," said Masataka Matsuo, a construction worker reinforcing an irrigation ditch several miles away from the city center.
This very interesting 2-page New York Times essay was something Phil Barlett sent my way early Sunday evening...and it's worth your while if you have the time.
South Korea on Sunday declared an expanded air defence zone that overlaps with one recently announced by China that has sharply increased regional tensions.
Seoul's defence ministry said its new zone, which will take effect on December 15, would cover Ieodo -- a submerged rock reef in waters off its south coast which China calls Suyan.
These two paragraphs are all there is to this AFP story posted on the france24.com Internet site on Sunday evening Europe time...and it's another offering from South African reader B.V.
The US is ramping up pressure to secure a Trans-Pacific Trade Deal with conditions that could undermine the national interests of nations involved. WikiLeaks documents say talks are "paralyzed," with the U.S. refusing to compromise on disputed issues.
Anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks has released two documents revealing the state of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The deal in question includes 12 countries – the United States, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Chile, Singapore, Peru, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei – which represent more than 40 percent of the world's gross domestic product.
The 12 nations are in Singapore this week to discuss the trade agreement. Following a closed-door meeting in Singapore, Japan's trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told press he would like "the United States to show flexibility."
"I've already mentioned the parts we can't budge on, so the issue is what both sides can do based on that," Nishimura said.
"With conditions that could undermine the national interests of nations involved"...The American Empire never sleeps. This must read article was posted on the Russia Today website yesterday morning Moscow time, which was just after midnight in New York.
1. Dr. Marc Faber [#1]: "His Stunning 2014 Predictions". 2. John Embry: "This Will Bring Down the Entire Financial System". 3. Dr. Marc Faber [#2]: "The Super-Rich and Shocking Surprises For 2014". 4. Richard Russell: "U.S. May Destroy the World Monetary System". 5. Bill Fleckenstein: "How the U.S. Can Solve its Massive Problems". 6. Robert Fitzwilson: "Gold, Silver and the Desperation of Western Governments". 7. Eric Sprott: "The End Game is Absolutely Horrifying". 8. Michael Pento: "This is Going to Shock Investors Around the Globe". 9. The first audio interview is with Eric Sprott...and the second audio interview is with Bill Fleckenstein.
[Please direct any questions or comments about what is said in these interviews by either Eric King or his guests, to them, and not to me. Thank you. - Ed]
Norman Rockwell's Saying Grace became the most expensive American painting ever sold at auction last week, fetching $46m (£28m) at Sotheby's in New York.
The following day at Christie's, an anonymous buyer set a record for a painting by Rockwell's contemporary, Edward Hopper, whose Depression-era work, East Wind Over Weehawken, sold for $40.5m.
And yet, as recent sales go, both seem like small fry. Over 48 hours in November, Manhattan's two leading auction houses saw more than $1.1bn spent on 20th-century art, setting new records for the most-expensive work ever sold at auction, the most expensive work by a living artist ever sold at auction and – with $691m splurged in a single evening at Christie's – the highest ever total for a single auction.
You know everything is going off the rails when you read stuff like this. This news item was posted on the independent.co.uk Internet site on Sunday...and I thank reader M.A. for finding it for us.
Gold analysts are bearish for a third week, the longest stretch since February 2010, as prices approach $1,200 an ounce and a stronger U.S. economy improves the chance that the Federal Reserve will reduce fiscal stimulus.
Sixteen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News expect gold to fall next week, 11 are bullish and two neutral. Prices tumbled 26 percent this year, heading for the first annual drop in 13 years and the biggest in more than three decades. Bullion last traded below $1,200 on June 28.
U.S. growth seems to be gathering momentum," said Ole Hansen, the head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen. "Gold has been suffering again lately as taper talk and a friendly risk environment have provided better investment opportunities elsewhere."
This b.s. Bloomberg article about gold and its prospects was posted on their website Friday afternoon Denver time...and reader Ken Hurt sent it our way.
Revenu-Québec is seeking prison sentences and fines totalling $750-million for Kitco Metals Inc. founder Bart Kitner and directors with several other gold trading firms following one of the biggest tax fraud investigations in provincial history.
Quebec's revenue department on Monday said it filed a total of 1,920 charges against Kitco and 11 other companies as well as their directors and an accountant implicated in an alleged fraud scheme linked to gold processing. Some 120 charges were filed against Kitco and another 120 against Mr. Kitner involving total fines of $454.6-million.
"This is an investigation that's lasted several years and the evidence is significant," said Revenu-Québec spokesman Stéphane Dion. "Without a doubt, it's one of the largest investigations we've ever done."
This very interesting Financial Post story, filed from Montreal, found a home on theprovince.com Internet site yesterday...and silver analyst Ted Butler was the first reader through the door with it.
An Indian wedding without gold is an unheard of thing. With the nation moving into wedding season mode, gold importers are making hay across the country, asking for extremely strong premiums from jewellers, who have been rushing to get hold of the precious metal.
"Imports are down to a trickle. There is absolutely no gold available anywhere in the country. Most jewellers have been making do with recycled gold, but given the wedding season that is upon us, many of us are finding it difficult to keep pace with the soaring demand for gold,'' said Manish Kedia, bullion retailer.
While some retailers said they paid up premiums as high as $120 an ounce last week, on December 6, premiums crossed $180 an ounce higher than London prices.
This news item, filed from Mumbai, was posted on the mineweb.com Internet site yesterday...and I thank reader M.A. for bringing it to our attention.
Economist and market analyst Alasdair Macleod today outlines what he sees as China's strategy toward the West, the Middle East, and Asia, a strategy in which gold plays what could become the decisive role.
Macleod writes: "Physical gold is being cornered, leaving Western capital markets operating as little more than casinos backed only by hot air. The dollar will one day be a bit-player in international trade, meaning that enormous quantities are becoming redundant and will have to be sold for something else. After the inevitable upward explosion in the dollar price of gold, we shall be left wondering at what price we will need to offer our goods and services to get some of it back from Asia."
It's posted at his Internet site financeandeconomics.org and it's something I found in a GATA release yesterday. It's an absolute must read...especially for all serious students of the New Great Game.
And after the way equities responded to the Fed's retreat from September tapering, I expect Fed officials will be more hesitant to pamper the markets next time around.
How will the global leveraged speculators game this? Play for further "how crazy do things get" speculative excess at the "core"? Push the melt-up dynamic in U.S equities for all it's worth – squeezing the shorts and hedgers at each and every opportunity? Or does the unfolding "risk off" dynamic continue to expand, as was the case for much of this week? Are we in the early stages of a problematic de-leveraging throughout global fixed income, a predicament exacerbated by the ongoing Bubbles in "core" equities and corporate debt?
As the marginal source of buying and selling pressure in many global markets, the now $2.5 Trillion hedge fund industry will undoubtedly set the tone. If the hedge funds get through year-end, they will then have January to contend with. They surely would like to avoid having to de-risk into a June-like backdrop of heavy mutual fund and ETF outflows. The current backdrop would seem to imply the return of unstable markets for some weeks to come.
Doug's weekly missive over at the prudentbear.com Internet site is a must read for me every week. Here is his latest commentary from yesterday evening.
The nemesis of Wall Street's high-frequency traders operates out of an apartment-sized office above the Bliss Salon -- manicure/pedicure $45 -- on Elm Street in the Chicago suburb of Winnetka.
Staring at four computer monitors, Eric Scott Hunsader, the founder of market-data provider Nanex LLC, looks for hints of illicit trading hidden in psychedelic images of triangles dancing with dots that represent quotes to buy and sell U.S. stocks broken down by the millisecond.
Charts of trading produced by Hunsader's eight-person firm have captivated everyone from regulators to art gallery owners. One stunt involved a computerized piano piece mimicking quotes for an exchange-traded fund. He infuriates some traders, who say Nanex draws unwarranted conclusions and spreads conspiracy theories.
To Hunsader, the images created from market feeds are evidence of high-frequency trading firms exploiting market rules to turn a profit in a lawless environment. Though others in the industry see his reports and charts as propaganda, Nanex's interpretations are helping to drive the public debate about the fundamental fairness of the modern stock market.
This longish but interesting Bloomberg essay was sent to me last Saturday by reader U.D...and it's the sort of piece that had to wait for a spot in a Saturday column. It was posted on their Internet site twelve days ago.
Billions of dollars annually are being used to fund operations conducted by the United States intelligence community, the likes of which allow the government to eavesdrop on emails, listen to world leaders' phone calls and about everything in-between.
One thing that budget hasn't bought, however, is subtlety. The US National Reconnaissance Office launched a top-secret surveillance satellite into space Thursday evening, and the official emblem for the spy agency's latest mission is, well, certainly accurate, to say the least.
The latest spy satellite to be sent into orbit by the NRO can be recognized by its seal: a malevolent octopus with furrowed brows that also happens to be wrapping its tentacles around all corners of the Earth.
This Russian Today story, filed from Moscow early Friday evening, was sent to me by South African reader B.V...and even if you don't read it, you should at least look at the picture so you can see the mindset of the psychopaths running the NRO.
Italian communications have been targeted through the US's Special Collection Service sites in Rome and Milan, according to Italy's l'Espresso. The same service allegedly tapped into German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone.
The new leak, revealed by Glenn Greenwald with l'Espresso, alleges that the National Security Agency subjected Italy's leadership to surveillance, although not specifying which people within the country's "leadership" were monitored, via US diplomatic missions in Rome and Milan. The spying went on from 1988 to at least 2010.
The NSA conducted snooping in Italy via its Special Collection Service, which came under scrutiny after the snooping scandal involving Chancellor Angela Merkel. The report on Friday reveals the service kept whole two sites running in Italy: one in Milan, the country's main economic hub, and one in Rome (staffed with agents). Of all European nations, only Italy and Germany had two SCS sites working simultaneously, according to the leak.
Here's another story from the Russia Today website. This one was posted late Friday afternoon Moscow time...and it's the first offering of the day from Roy Stephens.
Former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden is set to make a pre-recorded video appearance at the European Parliament's civil liberties committee around 18 December.
"The meeting will be live-streamed but the statement will be recorded answers of our questions, which will we send in advance," said German Green MEP Jan Phillip Albrecht on Friday (6 December).
Albrecht noted that a live stream of Snowden himself would risk revealing his location.
The American is currently in Russia where he is said to be working at the country's version of Facebook, VKontakte.
This news item, filed from Brussels, showed up on the euobserver.com Internet site on Friday afternoon Europe time...and it's the second offering in a row from Roy Stephens.
Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have held surprise talks on a "strategic partnership treaty".
Mr Yanukovych flew from China to Sochi in southern Russia for the meeting. He also cancelled a visit to Malta.
Last month he shelved a partnership deal with the EU, triggering angry protests in Ukraine's capital Kiev.
This short article put in an appearance on the bbc.co.uk Internet site late Friday morning GMT...and it's another contribution from reader B.V.
Much has been said about the defeat the European Union suffered with Ukraine's sudden refusal to sign a trade and association agreement. The contrary is true: The EU has had a lucky escape and so have the Ukrainian people.
Ukraine has a dysfunctional economy that faces imminent default. It cannot afford another destabilizing revolution. Rather than make a grand geostrategic choice between East and West, the country needs round-table talks similar to the ones that helped bring about a peaceful end to communism in Poland in 1989. These negotiations should resolve Ukraine's political logjam and reach agreement on reforms to resuscitate the economy.
The to-do list for Ukraine has been known for a long time: a functioning democracy and a market economy with firm and transparent rules. Yet there has been no political will to take the steps required, because doing so would endanger the vested interests of too many of Ukraine's political leaders and business leaders. Short of a miracle, Ukraine will continue muddling its way down.
This opinion piece by Finnish professor Pekka Sutela was posted on the Bloomberg website yesterday morning Denver time. I consider it a must read for all students of the New Great Game. It's the third offering of the day from Roy Stephens, for which I thank him.
When the United Nations Climate Change Conference wrapped up in Warsaw the weekend before last, it did, despite what most observers and disappointed NGO representatives believe, yield a result. It just wasn't officially announced: the termination of the at-least symbolic general agreement that urgent action must be taken to counter global warming. In other words, climate change has been definitively removed from the global policy agenda.
The intense concern over climate change triggered by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports in 2007 and widely popularized by Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth" -- a concern that led even Angela Merkel to make an appearance in the Arctic as the "climate chancellor," decked out in a red all-weather jacket -- actually dissipated a while ago, but no one wanted to say so out loud.
This issue has finally gone away, at least for the moment. It was all b.s. right from the beginning, and I said so. In case you've forgotten, dear reader, I spent seven years in Canada's high arctic with Environment Canada about forty-odd years ago, and I still have good connections inside the service today. This is an issue with which I am intimately familiar, and it's nice to see it given the burial it has long deserved.
I'm not sure whether the whole article is worth reading or not, as I don't really agree with the rest of what the author has to say, but the two paragraphs I cut and paste above made this spiegel.de essay worth posting. This is another contribution from Roy Stephens for which I thank him.
On a dusty parade ground outside Tripoli, young recruits march and bark out slogans for the new Libyan army that Western powers hope can turn the tide on militias threatening to engulf the North African country in anarchy.
Their boots are new and their fatigues pressed, but Libya's army recruits will need more than drills to take on the hardened militiamen, Islamist fighters and political rivalries testing their OPEC nation's stability.
Two years after NATO missiles helped rebels drive out Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is under siege from former rebel fighters who now flex their military muscle to make demands on the state, seize oilfields and squabble over post-war spoils.
U.S.-sponsored regime changes are always messy affairs, and this one is proving no exception. This Reuters story, filed from Tripoli, was posted on their Internet site in the wee hours of Thursday morning EST...and it's a worthwhile read for all students of the New Great Game. It's also another offering from Roy Stephens.
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has joined the US in urging Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign a security agreement with Washington by year's end. Karzai has so far been reluctant to sign the deal, which would grant US troops legal immunity.
Rasmussen said that ratifying the Afghan-US bilateral security agreement was an indispensable condition for NATO's multinational International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to continue its military mission in Afghanistan beyond 2014.
"Let me be very clear: It is a prerequisite for our presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014 that an appropriate legal framework is in place," Rasmussen told reporters at a briefing at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Without the deal "it will not be possible to deploy a train, advise, assist the mission to Afghanistan after 2014," Rasmussen said. NATO previously announced plans to leave up to 12,000 soldiers in Afghanistan on a training mission after 2014.
This is another story from the Russia Today website. This one was posted there very early on Tuesday afternoon Moscow time, and had to wait for a spot in today's column. I thank reader B.V. for sending it our way.
Nearing the tail end of his Asian tour on Friday, Vice President Joe Biden set in stone the United States' stance on a budding conflict there regarding ownership of airspace in the East China Sea.
Amid growing tensions in the region, Mr. Biden said during a stop in Seoul, South Korea this week that the US wholeheartedly rejects China's self-declared right to control airspace above the Diaoyu islands — a small section of the sea off Taiwan's northern coast which has recently attracted international tension due to a row that's erupted between regional powers.
Speaking at Yonsei University on Friday, Biden said, according to Reuters, "I was absolutely clear on behalf of my president: We do not recognize the zone. It will have no effect on American operations. None. Zero."
This news item was also posted on the Russia Today website late yesterday afternoon Moscow time...and it's the final offering of the day from reader B.V.
China is taking the highly unusual step of refusing to participate in a United Nations arbitration process over a territorial conflict with the Philippines, one of five countries challenging Beijing's claims of ownership over the oil-rich South China Sea.
The legal dispute underscores the tough geopolitical approach China is adopting in the Pacific region. It has adopted an aggressive approach toward neighbours over a 2,000-mile stretch that also includes the East China Sea, over which it recently declared the air defence identification zone that has inflamed tensions with Japan and South Korea.
China sent its only aircraft carrier to the disputed waters off the coast of the Philippines for the first time last week, in a move Manila said raised tensions. China's military said the carrier Liaoning will conduct drills in the area, accompanied by two destroyers and two frigates.
This story appeared on theguardian.com Internet site early yesterday evening GMT...and is the final offering of the day from Roy Stephens, for which I thank him.
1. Eric Sprott: "Terrifying Threat to the Financial System". 2. Tom Fitzpatrick: "2 Fantastic Charts Show Why Gold May Quickly Surge $200". 3. Bill Fleckenstein: "Global Meltdown and Why Bitcoin Will Go to Zero". 4. Egon von Greyerz: "The Frightening Problems Facing the U.S. and the World".
[Please direct any questions or comments about what is said in these interviews by either Eric King or his guests, to them, and not to me. Thank you. - Ed]
It wouldn't be a non-farm-payrolls (or for that matter any government report) without the ubiquitous "early" move in precious metals before the report is given to the general public. As Nanex shows, Gold's price moved in a 'correct' downward (taper-on) way on the "good" news that jobs are 'improving' 7 seconds before the report hit...
That's all there is to this short Zero Hedge piece from yesterday morning, but the charts are worth a look. I thank Manitoba reader Ulrike Marx for sharing it with us.
Sprott Money News interviewed Sprott Asset Management CEO Eric Sprott yesterday about the unfunded liabilities that sent Detroit into bankruptcy...and that means that the U.S. government is essentially insolvent, and then interviewed Chris Powell about the comparative advantages of bitcoin and gold. The audio clip is ten minutes long...and is posted on the soundcloud.com Internet site. I found this in a GATA release yesterday evening.
Turkey's gold imports have surged to their highest on record so far this year after a hefty drop in bullion prices, with further progress signposted if restrictions on trade with Iran are formally eased.
Turkey imported 270.7 tonnes of gold in the first 11 months of the year, data from Borsa Istanbul showed, more than double 2012's full-year imports of 120.8 tonnes.
The rise stemmed chiefly from this year's sharp drop in gold prices, which have fallen 26 percent since December 2012 after 12 straight years of gains.
"Turkey, like most of the price-sensitive markets, saw this year's lower price level as an opportunity to replenish stocks and release some of the pent-up demand that has been building as consumers have been priced out of the market," Cameron Alexander, an analyst with Thomson Reuters GFMS, said.
This short story, co-filed from London and Ankara, was posted on thepeninsulaqatar.com Internet site very early yesterday morning in Qatar. My thanks go out to Ulrike Marx for digging up this story on such an obscure website. It's definitely worth your while.
Writing for Chris Martenson's Peak Prosperity Internet site, economist and former banker Alasdair Macleod has produced a masterful history of the geo-politics of gold over the last four decades, much of which involves the policy of price suppression adopted by Western central banks and implemented through the expansion of "paper gold" by their agents, the bullion banks.
Macleod deduces that since their smashing of the gold market in April, Western central banks have been supplying much metal surreptitiously to hold the price down. From import and official reserve data he calculates that the Western central banks have little metal left and that their control of the gold market is nearly at an end.
Macleod's commentary is pretty much a state paper for the gold community and is not to be missed. It is titled "There Is Too Little Gold in the West -- The History of Gold's Flight to the Developing World".
This is another news item I found in a GATA release yesterday...and it's definitely worth reading.
Today, anyone who talks about hyperinflation is treated like the shepherd boy who cried wolf. When the wolf actually does show up, though, belated warnings will do little to keep the flock safe.
The current Federal Reserve strategy is apparently to wait for significant price inflation to show up in the consumer price index before tapering. Yet history tells us that you treat inflation like a sunburn. You don't wait for your skin to turn red to take action. You protect yourself before leaving home. Once inflation really picks up steam, it becomes almost impossible to control as the politics and economics of the situation combine to make the urge to print irresistible.
The hyperinflation of 1790s France illustrates one way in which inflationary monetary policy becomes unmanageable in an environment of economic stagnation and debt, and in the face of special interests who benefit from, and demand, easy money.
Even though it's not about precious metals directly, this short essay falls into the absolute must read category...and it was posted on the mises.org Internet site on Tuesday...and I thank Dr. David Richardson for today's last story.
As we reported earlier, while on the surface the headline revised Q3 GDP number was a stunner coming at 3.6%, the reality is that more than 100% of the growth from the initial estimate came from a revised estimate of how many private Inventories were stockpiled in the quarter. The reality was that of the $230 billion in total increase in SAAR GDP, $146 billion of this, or over 63%, was due to inventory stockpiling.
But where the scramble to accumulate inventory in hopes that it will be sold, profitably, sooner or later to buyers either domestic or foreign, is seen most vividly, is in the data from the past 4 quarters, or the trailing year starting in Q3 2012 and ending with the just released revised Q3 2013 number. The result is that of the $534 billion rise in nominal GDP in the past year, a whopping 56% of this is due to nothing else but inventory hoarding.
The problem with inventory hoarding, however, is that at some point it will have to be "un-hoarded." Which is why I expect many downward revisions to future GDP as this inventory overhang has to be de-stocked.
That's about all there is to this Zero Hedge story from yesterday, but the embedded charts are definitely worth your time...and I thank Manitoba reader Ulrike Marx for today's first news item.
Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew will assert on Thursday that the Obama administration's vast overhaul of the financial system is close to accomplishing its goal of shielding society from the dangers posed by giant banks.
In a broad policy speech intended to signal the administration's views on financial regulations, Mr. Lew will also make it clear that more measures may be needed to strengthen the global system. In comments that will most likely upset foreign governments, he will call on overseas regulators to make their rules tougher.
Earlier this year, I said if we could not with a straight face say we ended 'too big to fail,' we would have to look at other options," he says. "Based on the totality of reforms we are putting in place, I believe we will meet that test, but to be clear, there is no precise point at which you can prove with certainty that we have done enough."
Mr. Lew's comments come as regulators are scheduled to meet next week to finally approve the Volcker Rule, a cornerstone of the overhaul that tries to stop banks from speculatively trading with depositors' money and other funds. In recent months, the Treasury Department has pressed the five agencies that worked on the rule to finish it before the end of the year.
This article was posted on The New York Times website two minutes after midnight on Thursday morning in New York...and I thank Phil Barlett for finding it for us. It's worth reading.
As we have been covering for the past year and a half, most explicitly in "A Record $2 Trillion In Deposits Over Loans - The Fed's Indirect Market Propping Pathway Exposed", when it comes to the pathway of the Fed's excess deposits propping up risk levels, it has nothing to do with reserves sitting on bank balance sheets as assets, and everything to do with excess deposits (of which there are now $2.4 trillion thanks to the Fed) which are used as Initial collateral by banks such as JPM and then funding such derivatives as IG9 in a failed attempt to cover a segment of the corporate bond market. These deposits originate at the Fed as a liability at the commercial banking sector to the excess reserve asset.
That much is clear and undisputed, and was admitted by none other than JPM itself.
Which is why the news overnight from the WSJ that the Volcker Rule (if and when it is implemented) will do away with such "portfolio hedging" trades may have truly major, and potentially very risk adverse, consequences.
The WSJ reports: "In a defeat for Wall Street, the "Volcker rule" won't allow banks to enter trades designed to protect against losses held in a broad portfolio of assets, according to people familiar with the rule. The practice, known as portfolio hedging, has become a focal point of regulators drafting the rule, a controversial plank of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law that seeks to prevent banks from putting their own capital at risk in pursuit of trading profits.
But it won't contain language permitting portfolio hedging, which has been "expunged" from earlier drafts of the rule, according to a person familiar with the matter. Regulators decided to remove portfolio hedging from the rule after J.P. Morgan Chase disclosed billions of dollars in losses from its so-called London whale trades in 2012."
This Zero Hedge piece from yesterday is a bit of heavy reading, but is definitely worth your time if you have it. It's the second offering of the day from Ulrike Marx.
Three Wall Street trade groups sued the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Wednesday to stop tough overseas trading guidelines that they fear could hurt markets and reduce their profits.
The groups accused the CFTC in their lawsuit of circumventing a more rigorous rule making process by issuing its cross-border regulations as "guidance.'
They also said they filed the lawsuit to stop the CFTC from what they described as an "unceasing effort'' to regulate the global swaps market through unpredictable advisory documents instead of formal rules.
This short article, along with an embedded 43 second video clip was posted on the cnbc.com Internet site on Wednesday shortly after the markets closed...and I thank West Virginia reader Elliot Simon for sending it our way.
It wasn't long after three former General Electric Co. executives were convicted of rigging auctions for municipal-bond investment contracts that they received the ultimate sendoff: A 7,400-word torching in Rolling Stone magazine by Matt Taibbi, the writer who branded Goldman Sachs Group Inc. with the nickname "vampire squid."
"Someday, it will go down in history as the first trial of the modern American mafia," Taibbi began his June 2012 opus about Dominick Carollo, Steven Goldberg and Peter Grimm. "Over 10 years in the making, the case allowed federal prosecutors to make public for the first time the astonishing inner workings of the reigning American crime syndicate, which now operates not out of Little Italy and Las Vegas, but out of Wall Street."
Then came a surprise last week, right before Thanksgiving. A federal judge ordered the men released from prison. An appeals court had reversed their convictions the day before, without explanation. An opinion would be issued "in due course," it said. Bloomberg News ran a short story this week. The rest of the news media barely noticed.
This rather short op-ed piece by Jonathan was posted on the Bloomberg website yesterday morning...and is definitely worth skimming. I thank Washington state reader S.A. for sending it along.
"There are going to be consequences to central bank balance sheet expansion all over the world," Kyle Bass tells Steven Drobny in his new book, The New House of Money, adding "It's a beggar-thy-neighbor policy, but everyone is beggaring thy neighbor." The Texan remains concerned at QE's effects on wealth inequality and worries that "at some point this is going to ignite and set cost pressures off." While Gold-in-JPY is his recommended trade for non-clients, his hugely convex trades on Japan's eventual collapse remain as he explains the endgame for his thesis, "won't buy back until JPY is at 350," and fears "the logical conclusion is war."
This commentary by Kyle is embedded in another Zero Hedge story...and this one was filed on their website late yesterday afternoon EST. I thank Ulrike Marx for sending this one our way as well.
The National Security Agency and its allies face a long, painful drip of classified documents relating to their intelligence operations.
The quantity and range of leaks facilitated by Edward Snowden have become clear in recent news stories.
First, The Australian reports that Edward Snowden stole as many as 20,000 Aussie signals intelligence files from the NSA's systems. Australia's attorney general called the disclosures the most damaging in the country's history.
This news item was posted on the businessinsider.com Internet site yesterday morning EST...and I thank Roy Stephens for his first offering of the day.
The Channel is getting ever wider. While George Osborne plans to push Britain's retirement age to 70, Europe's big two are going the other way.
The German coalition deal has pencilled in a cut in the retirement age from 65 to 63, for those who have put in 45 years of contributions. (The overall plan to push the pension age gradually up to 67 remains in place.)
President François Hollande has cut the reversed Nicolas Sarkozy's rise in the retirement age to 62 in France. Workers with 41 years of contributions can now retire at 60.
This Ambrose Evans-Pritchard blog was posted on the telegraph.co.uk Internet site yesterday sometime...and it's the second contribution in a row from Roy Stephens.
France's unemployment rate rose to a 16-year high of 10.9 percent in the three months to September, the INSEE national statistics agency said Thursday, adding to pressure on President Francois Hollande in his battle to tackle France's unemployment.
The jobless rate rose 0.1 percentage points from the previous three months, the new data showed.
The unemployment rate for metropolitan France, which excludes overseas territories and is more closely watched domestically, also rose by 0.1 percentage point in the same period to 10.5 percent.
This story appeared on the france24.com Internet site yesterday sometime...and I thank Roy Stephens for sliding this into my in-box in the wee hours of this morning.
Europe is one shock away from a deflation trap. A surprise anywhere in the world is all that it needs: an upset in China as the credit bubble pops, or a global bond shock as the US Federal Reserve winds down monetary stimulus.
Producer price inflation (PPI) fell to -1.4pc in the eurozone in October. This is how deflation becomes lodged in the price chain.
"Prices are sticky for a while as you approach zero inflation, but once you break through the ice into deflation things can move fast, as we've seen in Greece," said Julian Callow, global strategist at Barclays. "The European Central Bank needs to act before the horse has already bolted."
This longish commentary is also by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard...and it's definitely worth reading. It was posted on The Telegraph website late Wednesday evening GMT...and it's another offering from Roy Stephens.
From Mario Drahgi's perspective, the euro zone has already been split for some time. When the head of the powerful European Central Bank looks at the credit markets within the currency union, he sees two worlds. In one of those worlds, the one in which Germany primarily resides, companies and consumers are able to get credit more cheaply and easily than ever before. In the other, mainly Southern European world, it is extremely difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to get affordable loans. Fears are too high among banks that the debtors will default.
For Draghi and many of his colleagues on the ECB Governing Council, this dichotomy is a nightmare. They want to do everything in their power to make sure that companies in the debt-plagued countries also have access to affordable loans -- and thus can bring new growth to the ailing economies.
The only problem is that all those low interest rates have so far barely been put to use. Lending to companies in the euro zone is still in decline. In October, banks granted 2.1 percent less credit to companies and households than in the same period last year.
In addition to a further cut in interest rates to zero percent, the central bankers are considering new, drastic measures to combat the negative trend. Some of them are likely to be hotly debated when the Governing Council meets this Thursday in Frankfurt.
This must read article was posted on the German website spiegel.de early yesterday afternoon Europe time...and it's courtesy of Roy Stephens once again.
Mario Draghi said the ECB is studying what happened in Japan at the onset of its Lost Decade in the 1990s, insisting that Europe is unlikely to go the same way.
The European Central Bank has cut its inflation forecast for the next two years and promised "powerful artillery" to boost the eurozone economy if necessary, but offered no concrete measures to halt the drift towards deflation.
The euro punched to a five-week high of nearly $1.37 against the dollar and £0.84 against the pound as traders bet that the ECB's governing council is too divided to take decisive action. Yields on 10-year Italian and Spanish bonds jumped seven basis points as credit tightened across the board.
This is another offering from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. This story was posted on the telegraph.co.uk Internet site very late yesterday afternoon GMT...and is the final contribution of the day from Roy Stephens.
Russia voiced outrage Friday at charges in the United States against 49 current and former Russian diplomats and their wives over a $1.5 million fraud, saying it could not understand why the US had gone public with the allegations.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a statement to Russian news agencies that Moscow had many claims against the behaviour of US diplomats in Moscow but had preferred not to bring them into the public sphere.
"We categorically reject the charges against the staff of Russian diplomatic institutions in the United States," he was quoted as saying by the ITAR-TASS news agency, saying it was "illegal" for diplomats to have been watched by the authorities in this way.
This AFP news item was posted on the france24.com Internet site early this morning Paris time...and I thank South African reader B.V. for sending it our way earlier this morning. It's certainly a must read for all students of the New Great Game.
1. Pierre Lassonde: "This Will Trigger Next Leg of the Gold Bull Market". 2. Dr. Stephen Leeb: "China Mining Some Gold for a Staggering $2,500 an Ounce". 3. John Ing: "Shanghai Exchange Has Delivered More Gold Than Fort Knox!".
[Please direct any questions or comments about what is said in these interviews by either Eric King or his guests, to them, and not to me. Thank you. - Ed]
The London Metal Exchange (LME) faces a tough job as it gears up to provide more data about long and short positions, including delivering what many investors crave - information on flows of speculative money that move markets.
The LME, the world's biggest and oldest marketplace for industrial metals, has launched consultations after last month promising to boost transparency at the same time it announced new proposals to cut backlogs at warehouses.
The exchange, owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, is in a two-track process to provide detailed reports on positioning in metals futures as well as more data on warehouse inventories.
This Reuters story found a home over at the mineweb.com Internet site yesterday...and it's another contribution from Ulrike Marx.
Deutsche Bank AG pulled the plug on its global commodities trading business on Thursday, cutting 200 jobs as it becomes the first major bank to exit the once lucrative sector due to toughening regulations and diminished profits.
Germany's largest bank, which was one of the top-five financial players in commodities, said in a statement it will cease trading in energy, agriculture, base metals, coal and iron ore, retaining only precious metals and a limited number of financial derivatives traders.
The cuts are expected to largely fall on its main commodity desks in London and New York.
One has to wonder whether the Dodd-Frank regulations will still allow precious metal trading by the big U.S. banks once its passed next week. It sure wouldn't surprise me if JPMorgan Chase, HSBC USA and Citigroup were allowed to keep trading the monetary metals. We'll find out soon enough, I suppose. I found this Reuters story in a GATA release yesterday.
This 22-minute audio interview with Marc was done by Patrick MonesDeOca...and was posted over at the Equity Management Academy website about ten days ago. I haven't had the time to listen to the whole thing, but the parts I did hear were mostly precious metals related...and is the reason that this interview is posted in the precious metals section of the Critical Reads. I thank reader Ken Hurt for digging it up for us.
Is gold still in a bull market or a bear market? Opinions differ but in reality the answer to both questions could well be yes. It all depends where you start from! Over 12 years gold has risen from $250 to around $1,230 at the time of writing – definitely a bull market then? Over the past two and a bit years gold has fallen from around $1,900 to $1,220. That looks as though it may be a bear market then? Well yes – or is this just a major correction in a secular bull market? To an extent it depends on whether you are a gold bull or a gold bear as to which viewpoint you take.
It was thus interesting to listen to some of the views expressed at the Mines & Money conference in London which has just ended. Speakers were perhaps more biased to the major correction in an ongoing bull market angle and they certainly had some strong historical evidence to support their viewpoints. Whether history will again repeat itself is obviously the major question here, but it does have the uncanny ability to repeat itself and one suspects it will do so yet again with the markets and gold – the only real question being how much further will gold fall before the market turns, and then how far and fast it will rise when it does.
The question of "how far and fast" should be directed to JPMorgan Chase and two other U.S. bullion banks, as they are totally in command of the precious metal pricing structure in the Comex futures market...and until they say so, or are instructed to step aside, this price management scheme will continue unless the physical market dictates otherwise. This commentary by Lawrence was posted on the mineweb.com Internet site yesterday...and once again I thank Ulrike Marx for bringing this article to our attention. It's worth the read.
The world's most valuable jewellery retailer Chow Tai Fook, which counts Cartier and Tiffany & Co as competitors, is on a quest to conquer the hearts of China's future big spenders. Its weapons of choice: Hello Kitty and Winnie the Pooh.
Superman and the Angry Birds team also feature in Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group's range of fashionable, and affordable, pieces which the company hopes will win over the millions of Chinese who live outside major cities but who are reaping the benefits of a rapidly growing economy and who remain enamoured by the gleam of gold.
Chow Tai Fook's fashion jewellery, which costs between HK$200 and HK$2,000 ($26 and $260), is a far cry from the luxury offerings that have traditionally accounted for over 80 percent of sales, and which on average cost about 10 times as much.
But the shift to expand mass-market retail is already paying off. Chow Tai Fook saw its net profit rise by a forecast-beating 92.3 percent in the six months ended September, with same-store sales growing 33.2 percent.
Between the time I read this Reuters story yesterday afternoon...and then got around to posting in today's column at 3:02 a.m. EST this morning, the original link had become inactive. I did a Google search of the headline, and it's obviously had a "Page 1 rewrite" in the interim. That's what you're seeing here, and I have no idea what changes were made between the two stories. I thank Ulrike Marx for her final contribution to today's column.
It has been a difficult year for silver investors with the metal falling by 36% year-to-date. While the Federal Reserve balance sheet continues to expand, 'taper' discussions by the Federal Open Market Committee have weighed heavily on the price performance of all the precious metals this year. By our calculations, over the last five years silver has a beta to the gold price of 1.5. This implies that price changes in gold are magnified in silver. Combine this with an 80% correlation in the price action between gold and silver over the same time frame and it's easy to see that where the price of gold goes, the price of silver goes faster. As we break down the fundamentals for silver, market developments this year give rise to a curious conundrum – how can the case for silver be stronger while the price continues to languish?
Sprott's David Franklin, the author of this report, concludes his comments with this sentence..."The most curious part of this fundamental case for silver is why the price isn't higher." David knows perfectly well why, as does everyone at Sprott, and that's because JPMorgan et al are sitting on the price. This commentary was posted on the sprottglobal.com Internet site yesterday...and it's definitely worth reading.
Interviewed by GATA consultant Koos Jansen, Anglo Far-East Bullion Co.'s Alex Stanczyk discusses his recent trip to a Swiss gold refinery whose managing director told of an unprecedented shortage of metal as China consumes it all.
The interview is headlined "Alex Stanczyk: Physical Supply Has Never Been Tighter" and it's posted on the Swiss Internet site ingoldwetrust.ch...and it's an absolute must read and today's most important story. I found it posted on the gata.org Internet site early yesterday morning.
"Eventually, the whole world is going to collapse," Jim Rogers chides a disquieted CBC anchor as he explains the reality that, "we in the West have staggering debts. The United States is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world," adding that "this is going to end badly."
However, the co-founder of Soros' Quantum fund is convinced that the commodity super-cycle is far from over, but driven by supply constraints (and cost increases) as opposed to demand from higher growth. The following interview provides more color on his commodity view as he re-iterates his bullish stance on Ag (with sugar a focus) and Natural Gas (some harsh natural realities coming), warning "don't get too excited about fracking," when he talks energy products.
Rogers, in his inimitable way, sums up the state of euphoria that many markets find themselves in thus, "we are all floating around on a sea of artificial liquidity right now. This is not going to last."
The 7:23 minute CBC News video clip is embedded at the end of this Zero Hedge article...and my thanks go out to Manitoba reader Ulrike Marx for today's first story.
Anyone in a public-sector job looking forward to retiring in comfort should look carefully at what is going on in Detroit and Springfield, Ill. Sherlock Holmes would call it the case of the missing pension money.
News leaking out this week from the Motor City tells how the enormous gap between the pensions workers earned and the money set aside to pay for them will be closed. By stealing from the workers.
Courts, legislatures, and corporations are all working in concert not to pay the full benefits owed. For decades, political and business leaders failed to set aside the right amount of money each payday to cover the pensions workers earned and, in some cases, covered up the mismanagement of pension fund investments.
This short Newsweek essay was posted on their website sometime yesterday...and I thank Washington state reader S.A. for sending it our way.
Protecting investors and ensuring proper corporate governance are the essence of the mission of the Securities and Exchange Commission. But you wouldn't know that from the recent actions of the agency and its chairwoman, Mary Jo White.
Last week, the S.E.C. unwisely removed from its regulatory agenda a plan to consider a rule to require public companies to disclose their political spending — even though the case for disclosure is undeniable. Basic investor protection requires that shareholders know how corporate executives are spending shareholder money. Good corporate governance requires that companies are transparent about their use of corporate resources. Shareholders know this and have demanded disclosure.
Even before 2010, when the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United opened the floodgates for corporate political spending, shareholder proposals requesting information on such spending were growing. Since the ruling, those requests have increased along with the political spending. Trade associations and politically active tax-exempt groups are not required to disclose their donors, but there is mounting evidence that much of the money they spend is from companies that want to influence elections in secret, without fear of alienating shareholders, customers or legislators they target for defeat.
This short editorial was posted on The New York Times website on Tuesday...and thanks go out to Phil Barlett for sharing it with us.
At least 130 people were injured and one killed following mass looting and vandalism by gangs of youths, who took over several parts of Cordoba City in Argentina. The lawlessness was a result of the police going on strike over low pay.
A young man around 20 years old has died from a gunshot wound to his chest, imneuquen.com.ar reports. More than 50 people who took part in the looting have been detained. Twelve of the 130 who were wounded sustained their injuries from firearms.
After the news of the strike broke Tuesday, looters quickly appeared in the streets, going primarily for the supermarkets and small stores, which rapidly shut their doors. Targets included clothing stores, sporting goods, toy stores, bike shops, and branches of cell phone companies. Local media termed the city 'virtually paralyzed'.
This news item was posted on the Russia Today website early yesterday afternoon Moscow time, which was 6 a.m. in New York. It's the first contribution of the day from Roy Stephens.
Demonstrating a new resolve to punish bank misconduct, the European Union fined a group of global financial institutions a combined €1.7 billion (US$2.3 billion) on Wednesday to settle charges that they colluded to fix benchmark interest rates.
The settlement was the largest combined penalty ever levied by the European competition authorities and is the first time that American banks have been fined in a set of interest rate scandals that have also drawn scrutiny from regulators in Britain and United States. Those regulators still have their own investigations underway.
"By European standards, it's a large fine," said Nicolas Véron, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a research organization in Brussels. "It signals that the time when only the U.S. can impose big fines is probably over."
This New York Times news item was posted on their Internet site early yesterday morning EST...and I found it embedded in a GATA release.
Subprime mortgages, currency tricks, interest rate fixing: Wherever supervisory authorities have probed crooked deals of the past, Deutsche Bank comes up. Now Germany's biggest bank has had to pay its first big fine. It won't be the last.
The statement had already been prepared: "We are attaching the highest institutional importance to ensuring that this type of misconduct does not happen again," the chief executives of Deutsche Bank, Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen, said in a statement shortly before midday on Wednesday. Minutes earlier, the European Commission in Brussels had slapped record fines totaling €1.7 billion ($2.3 billion) on six international banks. Deutsche Bank's share was the biggest by far at €725 million.
It's the first major fine Deutsche Bank has has to pay for its past sins, and it's unlikely to be the last. The bank is embroiled in many lawsuits around the world, most of them related to the time before the 2008 financial crisis.
Several US authorities are targeting the perpetrators of the financial crisis -- banks that bundled and sold the controversial mortgage-backed securities from home loans. JP Morgan Chase alone has to pay $13 billion. Deutsche Bank faces possible claims running into billions of dollars.
It certainly sounds like Deutsche Bank is the German equivalent of JPMorgan Chase. This story was posted on the German website spiegel.de early yesterday evening Europe time...and it's worth reading. It's the second offering of the day from Roy Stephens.
The top editor of the British newspaper The Guardian told Parliament on Tuesday that since it obtained documents on government surveillance from a former National Security Agency contractor, Edward J. Snowden, it has met with government agencies in Britain and the United States more than 100 times and has been subjected to measures "designed to intimidate."
The testimony by the editor, Alan Rusbridger, gave a public airing to the debate over how to balance press freedom against national security concerns, an issue that became more acute once The Guardian began publishing material leaked by Mr. Snowden in June.
The American and British governments have said the disclosures, which detail how the National Security Agency and its equivalent in Britain, Government Communication Headquarters, gather vast amounts of data, damage national security and help hostile governments. Journalists and transparency advocates have countered that the leak spurred a vital debate on privacy and the role of spy agencies in the Internet age.
This news item from The New York Times on Tuesday is definitely worth reading...and is another contribution from Roy Stephens.
One day after he spoke with leaders in embattled neighbor Japan, Vice President Joe Biden met with officials in China on Wednesday amid an escalating argument between Asian nations that has attracted the attention of the United States.
A meeting between Biden and China's President Xi Jinping scheduled for only 45 minutes this week turned into a two hour ordeal and ended with the US senator-turned-second-in-command offering brief remarks but answering no questions before a press scrum in Beijing.
When Biden finally emerged from his marathon meeting with President Xi on Wednesday, he appeared "solemn" and "weary-sounding," according to the New York Times' Mark Lander, and the Associated Press equated the meeting between men as an "awkward kickoff" for the vice president's tour of China.
Instead of directly acknowledging the disagreement between China and Japan during the press conference that followed his meeting, Biden said both nations need to make use of "crisis management mechanisms and effective channels of communication" and spoke of a "new model of major country cooperation" that rests on trust.
This article appeared on the Russia Today website late yesterday afternoon Moscow time...and I thank Roy Stephens once again for sending it our way.
Japan's salaries extended the longest tumble since 2010, increasing pressure on household finances as inflation begins to take root.
Regular wages excluding overtime and bonuses fell 0.4 percent in October from a year earlier, a 17th straight monthly decline, according to labor ministry data released today. Total cash earnings rose 0.1 percent.
The slide in wages threatens living standards as consumers face the prospect of sustained inflation on top of a sales-tax increase in April next year. As a weaker yen helps boost company profits, the focus is turning to salary talks early next year that may determine the success of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to reflate the world's third-largest economy.
This Bloomberg story, filed from Tokyo, was posted on their website just before midnight on Monday evening Denver time. I found it embedded in yesterday's edition of the King Report.
Australia will dive further 'Down Under' into debt, as lawmakers reached a deal to do away with a limit. The government can now borrow as much as it wants, and will avoid a shutdown when it reaches the AU$300 billion debt limit on December 12.
In the first nine months of 2013, Australia's economy expanded slower than forecast, growing only 0.6 percent from the first six months. Growth in 2012 was 2.3 percent, below the anticipated 2.5 percent benchmark set out by economists.
The forecast is gloomy, as unemployment isn't expected to drop until 2015, a budget deficit over $30 billion is expected for the 2013 fiscal year, and free trade talks with neighbors are breaking down over spy revelations.
This is a Russia Today story that was posted on their Internet site early yesterday afternoon Moscow time, which was very early in the morning in New York. It's the last contribution of the day from Roy Stephens.
1. Investors Intelligence Report: "Stock Market Bears Plunge to Lowest Level in Over 25 Years". 2. Ronald-Peter Stoferle: "This is Why the Price of Gold is Going Ballistic Today". 3. Pierre Lassonde: "This Can Radically Change the Gold Price Overnight". 4. Ron Rosen: "History is About to Repeat...and it Will Shock the World". 5. The audio interview is with Grant Williams.
[Please direct any questions or comments about what is said in these interviews by either Eric King or his guests, to them, and not to me. Thank you. - Ed]
Nick Giambruno: Jim, can you give us a summary of the health of the petrodollar in the past, what it looks like now, and what you think it will look like going forward? What is the significance of all this for the dollar's role as the world's premier reserve currency, the international monetary system in general, and the nominal price of gold?
Jim Rickards: The term "petrodollar" is shorthand for an understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States that the US will guarantee the security of the House of Saud in return for the Saudis agreeing to price oil in dollars, to manage the dollar price of oil, and to redeposit those dollars in the banking system where they can be used to support international lending by major banks.
This lending, in turn, supports purchases of US and Western manufactured goods and agricultural exports by developing economies. From this deal, the US got cheap energy, exports, banking profits, and the ability to operate a fiat currency system. The Saudis got rich and survived. This system has existed implicitly since 1945 and explicitly since 1974 when it was negotiated by Henry Kissinger on behalf of the Nixon administration.
Now the petrodollar system is collapsing for two reasons. The US has abused its privileged reserve currency position by printing trillions of dollars in an effort to create inflation. More recently, President Obama has taken steps to anoint Iran as the regional hegemon of the Middle East, and to ease the way, in stages, toward Iran's possession of nuclear weapons capability. This is viewed as a stab-in-the-back by the Saudis and the Israelis and will lead quickly to Saudi Arabia obtaining nuclear weapons from Pakistan.
This first rate interview with Jim was posted on the internationalman.com Internet site yesterday...and it's your first absolute must read commentary of the day...especially if you're a serious student of the New Great Game.
Fat chance, you might say. And you would probably be right. For 11 consecutive years the yellow one was worth more (a lot more in some years) on December 31 than it had been the previous January. On January 1 this year trading closed at $US1,678/oz. To get back to that over four weeks would require a market miracle.
While you can still find analysts who believe the gold price will stage a meaningful recovery, there might be quite a different story to tell. Perhaps we should stop being too fixated on price (a suggestion that will fall on deaf ears with every punter reading this) and look instead at demand for physical metal (and leave aside the $US250 billion -- $274.4 billion -- in daily trading of various gold instruments).
This commentary was posted in the clear over at the gata.org Internet site yesterday...and it's worth reading.
Media reports claim the U.S. Mint is sharply limiting American Silver Eagle coin orders for the remainder of this year in order to conserve coin blanks for next year's 2014 Silver Eagle bullion coin program.
Meanwhile, year-to-date sales of American Eagle gold bullion coins at the end of November totaled 800,500 gold ounces, surpassing last year's total sales of 753,000 ounces.
Despite sales this year, which have already shattered all-time records, November American Silver Eagle bullion coins sales actually declined by 787,000 coins from October sales. U.S. Mint figures show 2.3 million Silver Eagle bullion coins were sold in November, down from 3,087,000 coins in October and 3,159,500 coins sold in November 2012.
This short story was posted on the mineweb.com Internet site on Tuesday...and I thank reader M.A. for sending it along.
The Royal Canadian Mint's Silver Maple Leaf will be getting a new look in 2014. A new finish formed of complex radial lines and a micro-engraved laser mark will become permanent additions to the Mint's flagship silver bullion coin.
The traditional bullion finish on previous Silver Maple Leaf coins will be replaced with radial lines which emanate from the center of the coin. These lines have been precisely machined within microns on the master tooling to ensure consistent die production and coin striking. The specific width and pitch of the lines create a light diffracting pattern which is unique the "next generation" Silver Maple Leaf and unmatched by other bullion products.
A micro-engraved security mark has also been added to the reverse of the coin. A textured maple leaf incorporates the numeral "14" to denote the coin's year of issue and represents the cutting edge in bullion coin security. This technology was also added to the Mint's Gold Maple Leaf bullion coins starting in 2013, as well as its $1 and $2 circulation coins starting in 2012.
It's about time the silver maple leaf got a face lift, as it was starting to look tired. This very short story contains some neat photos, and is a quick read. It was posted on the coinupdate.com Internet site yesterday...and my thanks go out to West Virginia reader Elliot Simon for finding it for us. By the way, the 25-year anniversary silver maple leafs arrived in our store on Monday...and they are quite smashing! I suggest you pick up some before they disappear.
Reporting from the Mines and Money conference in London, Mineweb's Lawrence Williams quotes the Tocqueville Gold Fund's John Hathaway as attributing gold's recent price decline to the liquidation of paper gold that has been caused by the scramble for real metal.
Hathaway is quoted as predicting an "implosion of credit structures" related to gold, and as asserting that any U.S. gold reserve remaining at Fort Knox is "encumbered by so many lending agreements to banks and their clients that having it there physically is meaningless."
Williams' report is headlined "Paper Implosion Bullish for Gold, Says Tocqueville's John Hathaway" and it was posted on the mineweb.com Internet site yesterday. It falls into the must read category...and I found it embedded in a GATA release, and I thank Chris Powell for wordsmithing "all of the above".
December's "Things That Make You Go Hmmm..." letter by Grant Williams of Vulpes Investment Management in Singapore compares the current mechanisms used by central banks and bullion banks to suppress the gold price with the mechanisms used by the London Gold Pool of the 1960s, which, Williams observed, worked fine every day for a long time until suddenly it didn't.
Williams draws heavily on the long Bloomberg News report from a week ago that raised suspicion about the daily gold price "fixing" undertaken by bullion banks in London, a report called to your attention by GATA.
Williams writes: "The last time an effort was made to manipulate the price of gold lower than the market wanted it to be, it ended in a quick 25 percent spike in the price, followed over the next decade by the manifestation of those market forces in no uncertain terms and ending in a blow-off top some 2,332 percent higher than the price at which gold had been held for two decades.
This is your second absolute must read commentary of the day...and top up your coffee before you start, as it's a bit of a read. It's embedded in a GATA release from yesterday...and it includes an excellent preamble by Chris Powell. There's also a Zero Hedge spin on this story. It's linked here...and is courtesy of Ulrike Marx.


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"Satanic" in the company of these films is something best kept loose. While some entries featured the devil in all his nastiness, others merely featured the antichrist or a possession "by" the antichrist. Still taking it one layer deeper, maybe [...]
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Book Review: Cain's Blood - Author Geoffrey Girard
December 7th, 2013
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December 5th, 2013
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Interview: Deron Miller (Caesar & Otto's Deadly Xmas, CKY, and World Under Blood)
November 17th, 2013
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The City of Greater Sudbury is preparing for the potential of heavy rainfall this weekend and would like to pass on some tips to residents to keep themselves and their property safe.
Citizens are reminded there are things they can do to reduce the potential of basement flooding:
Improve your drainage system:
- Remove debris from your eaves troughs regularly.
- Make sure your downspouts include extensions that take runoff water at least six feet or 1.8 metres away from your basement walls and neighbouring properties. Another alternative is to position a rain barrel with a mosquito resistant covering under your downspout.
- Ensure the ground around your house slopes away from your foundation for a distance of at least six feet or 1.8 metres. The land around older homes can settle, bringing water toward the foundation rather than away from it.
- A sump pit drainage system — which includes a sump pit set into your basement floor, a sump pump and a drainage pipe — can be used to collect water from the weeping tiles that surround your basement walls and push the water away from your house via the drainage pipe. Make sure the drainage pipe takes the water to a place where it can be easily absorbed, a lawn or garden, for example.
- Clean the sump pit each year after freeze up and check the sump pump for debris at least once a year, preferably before the rainy season. A battery powered back-up sump pump can ensure your system continues to operate in the event of a power outage.
Overland flooding can occur when rainfall or snowmelt exceeds the capacity of underground pipes, or when a rainstorm exceeds the capacity of overland flow routes — streets, ditches, swales and parks designed to carry flood water away from urban areas. Flood water can enter homes through windows, doors, vents and other openings. Most insurance policies do not cover damages caused by overland flooding but there are some proactive steps property owners can take to minimize their risk.
-Identify and seal flood entry points
- Inspect and correct your lot grading
- Check storm sewer grates for debris
- Maintain drainage systems
Citizens are reminded that 9-1-1 should only be dialed to report a crime in progress or a life-threatening emergency situation. Reports of flooding should be directed to the City of Greater Sudbury call centre at 3-1-1. For more information on how to prepare for heavy rainfall, visit our website at www.greatersudbury.ca search: flood management


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By M. MASSIANI ,PARts
" The working class has been the victim of an unjust economic regime long enough. . . Delivered
from Nazi dictatorship, we should deliver the working class from capitalistic slavery. Such is the will of God and of the Church."
This defence of the rights of the workers was made recently by Mgr. Theas, Bishop of Montaubon. in replying to the official welcome of the Prefect of Tarn-et-Garonne at a ceremony on the steps of the Cathedral when the Prelate returned to his See after being freed from the Compiegne concentration camp by the arrival of Allied forces.
,, In pronouncing certain strong words during the German occupation," Bishop Theas said, " I was merely ful filling a duty of Christian and French fidelity. Holy Scripture condemns those in authority (watchmen) who arc like ' dumb dogs, not able to bark.' I did not want to be a ' dumb dog.' In the face of danger I barked. That was my duty. My silence would have been treason."
Expressing his joy at the liberation of France, the Bishop stated that " a German victory would lead to the extinction of the Christian idea* in Eutope." He asked all those present to pray for all who are still in prisons and concentration camps, and added that he forgave those who had persecuted him and is praying for his enemies and for world peace " with all my heart."
NEED FOR PROFOUND REFORMS The Bishop of Montaubon took occasion to stress the need for profound social reforms that must follow the concluding of a peace; " Under the pressure of incoercible forces, the modern world calls for revolution. This revolution has to happen, but it can succeed only if the Church enters into the mdlee as a bearer of the message of the Gospel.
"As an apostle of Christ I bring you certain orders from Christ which are particularly pertinent to the new
times. The time has come to give first place to social, family and religious
values. The working class has been
the victims of an unjust .economic regime long enough. The working class has right on its side. How well
I understand that to-day! A recent experience has taught me what it means to be hungry, to be badly housed and poorly clothed, and to have one's human dignity offended. I know what it means to be ordered about and
to be without liberty. Delivered from Nazi dictatorship, we should deliver the working class from -capitalistic slavery. Such is the will of God and of the Church."
But in this new order, Bishop Theas added, religious values must be re stored: " The city we want to build must rest on God, else it will crumble. Recognition of the rights of God is essential to the temporal order. Right here to-day it must be said, and I hope that the atheists and agnostics in this audience who know the esteem, respect and affection I have for all of them, I hope they will be able in comprehend this fundamental affirmation of our Christian Creed."
Speaking to Ids clergy that evening, Bishop Theas said: " Since my arrest I have not once ceased to live with true happiness in my soul. Next to my baptism and ordination, I consider my arrest as the greatest grace that has come into my life."
He spent the following day visiting all prisoners and detained persons in Montaubon without exception.
(The Bishop of Montaubon's words are the subject of a leading article on page 4.)
On a recent occasion in Rome, a group of Polish officers asked for and obtained perroission to substitute for the regular Pontifical palafrenieri tchaVbeareis), to carry the Pope back to his private apartment on the gestatorial chair following a general audience. Commenting, Osservatore Romano commended the filial love and paternal affection.


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Shoot all of my good intentions got squashed recently. I was going to post photos, then I got sick, then I got better. Then I got a sinus infection, got better, then I went on vacation, on Wednesday I am getting my Tonsils out. Busy month of June, and July will be no better.
Ah well, such as life.
Photos to follow tomorrow and a surprise! While recuperating from surgery I am going to be getting a tutorial posted on the Moda Bake Shop blog. Stay tuned, it is cute and easy, and it's a quilt from one Layer Cake pack- border, blocks and all-my LA quilter has already made one- so it got tested already! Arcadia is the fabric line by Moda-- love it! Later photos!


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Quincy Aldermen Mike Farha, R-4, and Steve Duesterhaus, D-2, were at odds this week over an issue at Quincy Regional Airport.
Their disagreement came at the end of Monday's City Council meeting when Farha made a motion to direct the city's legal department to strike certain language from the city's lease agreement with the fixed-based operator related to the collection of "fuel flowage fees."
"The intent of this resolution would be to end the collection of fuel flowage fees," Farha said, referring to the 7-cents-per-gallon tax paid by airport patrons who buy fuel from the fixed-based operator, Curtis Aviation.
This got Duesterhaus riled. He made the following comment in response to Farha's motion:
"The Aeronautics Committee has repeatedly declined to take action as the alderman proposes. He proposes opening an excess of $30,000 hole in the budget without proposing any means to fill that hole. And we already subsidize that operation very heavily. Those proceeds are used to reduce that operating deficit to maintain the facilities that we own out there — the fueling facilities being one — and I would dare say this is not a burden on the people that use that fuel. So I really don't know what this proposal stems from, but I would encourage members (aldermen) to make a choice right here and decline to direct the corporation counsel to draft this language."
Farha responded to Duesterhaus' comments by asserting that the fuel flowage fee is simply a tax and "is not our money." He said it belongs to those who pay the tax, which is an investment into the airport.
"It's their money," he said. "I'm not asking to increase anything, to change anything, other than return the investment that those people have made in the airport."
Farha said he would be "happy to propose a variety of cuts at any point in time" to make up for the lost revenue. But he feels more incentives are needed to spark additional activity at the airport.
"Ten years ago we had 12,000 enplanements on the commercial side. We had a lot of activity on the business side. Today at that airport we have less than 1,200 enplanements, and we don't have the same level of activity," Farha said. "Cutting the tax, cutting the fee, has been shown over and over and over to increase activity. That's all I want to do."
Mayor John Spring called for a voice vote on Farha's motion. From the audience, it sounded like an equal numbers of "ayes" and "nays" were verbalized. Spring declared: "In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it."
The resolution will appear on the agenda for Monday's meeting, which will be held at the Quincy Public Library annex, 514 York.
Speaking of the agenda, the original agenda came out at noon Friday as usual. Then according to a new procedure that Spring put in place this week, City Clerk Jenny Hayden waited two hours to see if anyone from the public would ask to speak to the council on any of the listed agenda items.
No one did.
However, one person who had come forward earlier in the week to ask for the opportunity to speak subsequently came forward Friday and asked to have his name withdrawn.


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Happy Family Little Lamb Restaurant
36-35 Main St., Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 358-6667
The restaurant variously called HAPPY FAMILY and more morbidly, LITTLE FAT LAMB, is the only Chinese restaurant in town to specialize in sheep. Chief among dishes are the lamb dumplings, but also delicious is the lamb stew flavored with cilantro, and the lamb shish kebab, rubbed with cumin and bargain priced at 10 for $10.
The Village Voice
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HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is the core of designing websites. Part three of this introduction covers the use of forms for collecting information from the visitor, and how to display tabular data in tables.
The first part of this tutorial dealt with the difference between HTML and CSS, a simple HTML page, and Paragraphs/Line Breaks/Headings. The second section discussed Hyperlinks, Pictures and Lists and the final section will now cover the use of forms for collecting information from the visitor, and how to display tabular data in tables.
Tables are the perfect way to show data which needs to be tabulated. Please please don't use tables for layout out your content on the page – that's what CSS and style sheets are for! Here is an example of a basic table:
Heading 1 | Heading 2 | Heading 3 |
Data 1 | Data 2 | Data 3 |
This would result in a table which looked like the following:
Heading 1 | Heading 2 | Heading 3 |
Data 1 | Data 2 | Data 3 |
It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it does get the job done. You can alter the look and feel using CSS.
So now you know how to show content on a page using HTML, what happens when you want to get some information from a visitor to your website? The technique used to do this is appropriately called a form. Once you have collected the information, you need to decide what to do with it. You can either add it to a database (a bit beyond the scope of this article), or email it. HTML can't deal with emails or databases, but a different language called PHP or ASP can. Providing your web host supports PHP, you just need to follow our example below to email the contents of a form to yourself. Firstly, this is the HTML code to put on your page:
This will result in a form which looks similar to the following:
So you're able to collect the data. Now to explain how to email it. To do this, you need to make a file called submit.php
and put it in the same folder as your HTML file. It's quite complicated to go into exactly how this works, but if you copy and paste the following code it should work fine:
All you need to do is change email@example.com to your actual email address. You'll be receiving form submissions from your website in no time!
That rounds up our Introduction to HTML, and you should have a basic grasp of how to start creating a website. We'd recommend looking at our CSS Basics now, to grasp how to get your website looking great. Also, check out our Introduction to Web Standards to see how they can help your designing.


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The Southern California Shakespeare Festival brings "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to the Studio Theatre at Cal Poly Pomona as an Equity Guest Artist production opening Saturday, September 7, 2013.
"Dream" is set around the time that Theseus, duke of Athens, is about to wed Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. A local maiden, Hermia, is in love with Lysander, but her father Egeus is trying to force her to marry Demetrius, who is in turn loved by Helena. Meanwhile, Oberon, king of the fairies (in this context, magical nocturnal folk who dwell in the forest) seeks to discipline his petulant queen, Titania, and engages the services of Puck, a magical sprite, to cast a spell on her. Employing herbs imbued with mystical powers, Puck causes Titania to become enamored of Bottom, a local craftsman whose head has been supplanted with that of a jackass, complete with donkey ears. Puck employs another magical charm that inadvertently causes Lysnder to abandon his true love Hermia and to pursue Helena.
Director Sam Robinson says, "The approach is traditional with the setting being in Ancient Greece, touches of the classic culture of India and the ever-playful magical fairy world. Shakespeare was a master of weaving the present day into his plays, so we will incorporate both Elizabethan England and current modern day references.
"His productions included only male actors, so there was a lot of build in humor with regard to the opposite sex playing the roles. We are honoring Shakespeare by having cast some of the main male roles with female performers including; Oberon, King of the Fairies and Demetrius and Lysander who are both vying for Hermia's affection. It is the mission of the Southern California Shakespeare Festival to support casting that is open to all, with an emphasis on being gender blind."
Whether past midsummer or not, this play is a favorite of audiences because there's love and romance, comedy and laughter, magical creatures and mystical spells, some just plain silliness, and even an actor who transmuted into a jackass by faerie mischief.
The cast includes (in alphabetical order): Luis Arrendondo, Vanessa Babida, Job Barnett, Catherine Campbell, Annie Dennis, William Dinwiddie, Adriana Flores, Amy Hatfield, Andrea Lopez, Valerie Lopez, Andy Nguo, Tiana Parker, Dylan Parra, Marissa Pitts, Ruben Serrano, Lena Solano, Paula Solano and Alicia Joy Volinkski. Dennis, Pitts and Paula Solano are Equity Guest Artists.
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" opens 8 p.m. Saturday, September 7 and performs 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through September 29. There will be a gala reception following opening night and an 8 p.m. Friday, September 27 performance. Admission is $15, $12 Cal Poly Pomona students, faculty and staff. Call 909-869-3800 or visit http://classcsupomona.tix.com.
Studio Theatre is located at 3801 W. Temple Avenue, Building 25 in Pomona. This is on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona.
Send questions, comments and suggestions to email@example.com.


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