Newsroom
The GoldBugg Report – July 02, 2008
July 2, 2008
- BMO forecasts gold, precious metals in general to move higher this year.
- Silver: part industrial imperative and part investment essential.
-Precious metals are just that; precious. There is only so much gold and silver, and that is why these metals are such a reliable store of value. Real inflation of our currency was not possible until gold was disconnected from the dollar. A currency not tied to a solid commodity such as gold is doomed to fail. History tells us that. And as high as gold and silver have climbed so far this decade, they are destined to go far higher. Inflation guarantees that. James Macfarlane
-Buffett Says He’s Concerned About U.S. Inflation, Stagnation.
-Barclays warns of disaster as Fed loses all credibility
GOLD
-Peter Spina, of GoldSeek.com, believes gold is a tightly coiling spring. With oil “now solidly above $100, gold should easily be above the four-figures mark,” Spina said. “The longer the oil price stays above the $100 level, the more appealing gold will become and the investment buying will support the gold price during this traditionally weak seasonal period.”
Overall, “Pressures are building within the gold and silver complex, this may be another pop higher followed by consolidation, but I expect one of these rallies to gain traction and ignite the next leg higher in the gold price,” Spina wrote. “It could be well underway by summer’s end.” Kitco Daily Resource
-”In the medium to long term, the combination of strong international safe-haven demand and decreasing production and supply of gold in most major producers, and particularly in South Africa, will likely result in gold going significantly higher in the coming months,” said Mark O’Byrne, a director at Gold and Silver Investments Ltd.
Strong fundamentals for gold include “a deteriorating global economy and concerns regarding global stagflation and this was added to by the very poor South African gold production figures this morning,” said O’Byrne.
South African gold output in April fell more than 10% in volume terms, compared with a year earlier, he said in emailed comments. “South African production of gold was over 1,000 tonnes per annum in 1970 and has been steadily declining to nearly 250 tonnes per annum today,” according to O’Byrne.
“South African gold production has fallen sharply after state-owned power utility Eskom struggled to provide sufficient power to mines,” he said. That followed a near collapse in the electricity grid in January, which led to a five-day countrywide mine shutdown, he said.
“Eskom have admitted that the power and electricity problems are a major challenge and may take years to rectify which would likely result in further falls in gold production in South Africa,” said O’Byrne. Gold.ie
-BMO forecasts gold, precious metals in general to move higher this year. BMO Capital Markets Bart Melek suggests that rising food and energy inflation and the equity market are “adding luster for gold.” Read more here-http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page67?oid=55351&sn;=Detail
-Gold/Silver Market Updates from Clive Maund. Read more with charts here-http://www.321gold.com/editorials/maund/maund062308.html
-Australia gold output falls 7 pct over past 12 mos. Read more here-http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=584638
-U.S. government sued over seizure of Liberty Dollars. The federal government’s attempt to stop a group of gold-standard activists from minting an alternative to the greenback is about to face its first legal test. Read more here-http://www.gata.org/node/6383
SILVER
-Bob Quartermain: Sterling Outlook for Silver. Mitsui has looked at replacing platinum or palladium, which they use in their catalytic converters, with silver because silver is a great catalyst. So far they’re looking at only diesel applications, primarily for farm equipment. That’s a very small and specific market. But as we all know, once you develop a new use for a commodity, technological advances often follow, which can then lead to wider applications.
Mitsui has talked about this initial small market, but using silver in catalytic converters creates a new inroad, and as we know, with higher oil prices and third world economies rapidly developing, there will be more vehicles on the road. If silver is another option for a better environment I think that is positive. Read more here-http://seekingalpha.com/article/82226-bob-quartermain-sterling-outlook-for-silver?source=feed
-Silver Two Sides of the Story. Silver does have a split personality: it is part industrial imperative and part investment essential. Here are some of the electrical uses for silver. Read more here-http://www.silver-investor.com/davidmorgancommentary/articles/6-20-08_ibtimes17_Silver-TwoSidesoftheStory.html
Superconductor Pioneers Honored With Nobel Prize
World’s Smallest Light Source Comes From Silver
New Class of Silver Compounds May Advance Superconductivity
Silver Iodide Turned to Glass – Holds Promise for New Batteries and Displays
Lasers and Silver Atoms Hold Promise for Switching Future Optical Network
China Joins the Superconductor 100-Plus Meter Club
Silver to Star in New Superconductor Plant
Silver-Sheathed Motors For Ship Propulsion
New Technique Makes Silver Tougher
Silver Clusters Become the New Computer Memory
Electric Power and Silver Share a Long History
Silver-Sheathed HTS Coils to Power First 1,000-Horsepower Motor
Hi-T Superconductor Electricity Storage Device Unit Can Prevent Power Outages
Silver-Coated Wire Device Stores Electricity
Department of Energy Announces National Superconductivity Program
Tiny Silver-Coated Spheres Play Big Roles
Silver Boosts Efficiency of Electric Motors
Silver Provides Spark Plugs with Revolutionary Performance
-Ted Butler silver commentary. Read more here-http://news.silverseek.com/TedButler/1214325521.php
-Silver Delivery “Delays”. Read more here-http://news.silverseek.com/SilverSeek/1214312789.php
-SLV Silver ETF. Read more here-http://www.321gold.com/editorials/hamilton/hamilton062108.html
-Austrian Mint Releases World’s Largest Silver. After the Royal Canadian Mint released the new world record largest gold coin in 2007, it seemed logical that eventually we’d see a record shattering silver coin as well. Last week, perception was proven true when the Austrian Mint announced the production of the new world’s largest silver, the Europe Taller 2008. The Mint chose this year’s European Championship of Football as the forum to release the design, which will soon go on display at the Mint Museum in the city of Hall in Tirol, Austria.
Weighing in at 20.08 kg (aprox. 44 lbs.), with a diameter of 36 cm (14 inches), the Europe Taller puts a world record bullion coin a bit more in line with collectors budgets. The obverse of the coin mimics the design of a 500-year-old coin featuring the image of Kaiser Maximilian I, who crowned himself Emperor in 1508. The coin was issued as propaganda and heralded the ruler as the “King of all the lands in Europe.” The inscription included the word “Europe” on a coin for the first time.
The reverse of the coin centers around famous Europeans from throughout history, beginning with Martin Luther, and continuing through time to feature composer Antonio Vivaldi, inventor James Watt and Nobel Peace prize winner Bertha von Suttner. In addition to the Europe Taller, the Mint will also issue smaller versions of the coin, weighing in at 120 grams of fine silver with a diameter of 6cm. These coins have been minted specially for sale in 2008. Full story here-http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId;=4786
PLATINUM-PALLADIUM
-CPM says millions of ounces of platinum, palladium held by investors. CPM Group says that the flood of money into the world has stimulated a large, seemingly sustainable increase for investment demand in commodities, especially PGMs. Read more here-http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page35?oid=55330&sn;=Detail
-Platinum, palladium supplies set to decline: report. Surplus in the metals’ supplies likely to shrink as auto industry demand rises. Strong demand for platinum and palladium in the auto industry likely will help shrink supply surpluses for the metals this year, sending prices even higher, according to an annual industry report issued Tuesday. Read more here-
-PGM Prices to Remain Strong Moving Into 2009. Read more here-http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=43885
-Palladium branding campaign heats up. Read more here-http://www.nationaljewelernetwork.com/njn/content_display/fashion/e3i58d6cda1cb00deaff5fba1bcda61a338
-Mining explosive prices detonate. Soaring natural gas prices and premiums being paid for agricultural-grade ammonium nitrate are hitting explosive prices for a mining industry already beleaguered by cost increases. Read more here-http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page67?oid=55175&sn;=Detail
DEFINITIONS-QUOTES-QUICK HITS
-Bullion. Gold and silver that is officially recognized as high quality (at least 99.5% pure), and is in the form of bars rather than coins. Traditionally, bullion has been a good hedge against inflation. Investopedia.com
-Ingot. Gold in bar form. Gold held in the vaults of banks and brokerages are usually in the form of ingot. Investopedia.com
-Faster Inflation May Unleash ‘Financial Tsunami.’ Full story here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=a8j2MuFdqA3s&refer;=worldwide
-Barclays warns of disaster as Fed loses all credibility – http://www.gata.org/node/6392
-Buffett Says He’s Concerned About U.S. Inflation, Stagnation. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says he’s concerned about ‘’stagflation,” or slowing in the U.S. economy while inflation accelerates. “We’re right in the middle of it right now,” said Buffett, chairman of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., in an interview on Bloomberg Television today.
I think the ‘flation’ part will heat up and I think the ’stag’ part will get worse, but we’ll come out of it, just like we came out of it before. But it’s not going to be tomorrow, it’s not going to be next month, and may not even be next year.” Bloomberg
-Global inflation fears deepened as Chinese steelmakers agreed to a record increase in annual iron ore prices in a move likely to boost the cost of cars, machinery, and other products. Chinese millers agreed to pay Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto up to 96.5 per cent more for their ore supplies this year, the largest-ever annual increase and well above the 9.5 per cent increase paid last year. Read more here-http://www.gata.org/node/6388
-Things will get worse, warns Bank of England governor Mervyn King. Families will see their standard of living stagnate this year while the value of their homes will fall further, the Bank of England Governor has warned.
The coming months represent the biggest challenge for the economy for two decades, Mervyn King said, adding that some households will find them “particularly difficult.” In his most sombre message yet, Mr. King said families were being squeezed hard by higher electricity and food prices on the one hand and slowly-increasing wages on the other. Read more here-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/06/18/cnbank118.xml
-Financial Firms May Make Deeper Cuts, Eliminate 175,000 Jobs. The world’s biggest financial firms may lose as many as 175,000 jobs by this time next year as Citigroup Inc. and other banks shed workers amid slowing revenue and billions in writedowns, executive recruiters say.
Financial companies have announced plans to trim more than 83,000 jobs since last July, according to figures compiled by Bloomberg. As more employees are fired, workforce reductions may exceed those from the market slump of 2000 to 2003 when technology-related shares collapsed, recruiters said.
”The worst is yet to come,” Russ Gerson, head of New York- based recruiting firm Gerson Group, said yesterday in an interview. ”We are going to have a major contraction. This is affecting all areas of the investment banking universe and it’s affecting all areas globally.” Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=a9D9UjMULF4o&refer;=home
-Everything seemingly is spinning out of control. Midwestern levees are bursting. Polar bears are adrift. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Home values are abysmal. Air fares, college tuition and health care border on unaffordable. Wars without end rage in Iraq, Afghanistan and against terrorism. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll says a barrel-scraping 17 percent of people surveyed believe the country is moving in the right direction.
That is the lowest reading since the survey began in 2003. An ABC News-Washington Post survey put that figure at 14 percent, tying the low in more than three decades of taking soundings on the national mood. Read more here-http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080621/ap_on_re_us/out_of_control&printer;=1;_ylt=AptWf_4kzlWNSjXeV6PmE5lH2ocA
Peter Schiff-Read interview here-http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/your-money/2008/05/30/permabear-peter-schiffs-worst-case-scenario_print.htm
I think the stock market is headed lower. Gold is going to be $1,200 to $1,500 by the end of the year. That puts the Dow at a less-than-10-to-1 price ratio to gold. Right now, it’s about 13 to 1. That’s another 30 percent drop in the real value of stocks by the end of the year if you price them in gold. The Dow was worth 43 ounces of gold in 2000. It’ll get to 10 by the end of the year and continue to fall from there.
Oil prices had a pretty big run and might not make more headway by the end of the year. But we could see $150 to $200 next year. I don’t think oil will hit $250 because there will be enough destruction of demand in the United States to keep it from doubling. The big problem for us is if the Chinese substantially allow their currency to rise. It could increase at least fivefold against the dollar over the span of a year or two. That reduces the price of oil by 80 percent for 1.3 billion Chinese. Consumption would go through the roof, and that will drive prices through the roof for us.
At a minimum, the dollar will lose another 40 to 50 percent of its value. I’m confident that by next year we’ll see more aggressive movements to abandon the dollar by the [Persian] Gulf region and by the Asian bloc. That’s where the stuff really hits the fan.
-Israel ‘will attack Iran’ before new US president sworn in, John Bolton predicts. Read more here-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/2182070/Israel-%27will-attack-Iran%27-before-new-US-president-sworn-in,-John-Bolton-predicts.html
-Oil prices won’t come down: OPEC president.Oil prices “will not come down,” OPEC president Chakib Khelil said Tuesday, assuring that the oil cartel has already done what it can on the matter. “OPEC has already done what OPEC can do and prices will not come down,” Khelil told journalists as he arrived for a meeting with EU energy officials in Brussels. AFP
-Soros, the Man Who Cries Wolf, Now Is Warning of a ‘Superbubble’. Read more here-http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121400427331093457.html?mod=2_1569_topbox
-Millionaires roster grows to 10.1M members globally in 2007, average member’s wealth tops $4M. Read more here-http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080624/world_wealth.html?.v=1&printer;=1
RARE COLOURED DIAMONDS
-First publicly listed diamond fund to launch. The first publicly listed fund investing in rare white and coloured diamonds is close to launching on the London Stock Exchange, fund and market sources said on Tuesday. The closed-end fund will invest in the high-quality segment of the physical polished diamond market, according to a prospectus for the initial public share offer, expected to take place on June 24, obtained by Reuters.
Fund-raising will close on Wednesday and one industry source said institutional investors had raised nearly $100 million (50 million pounds). “Catalysts for growth in investment demand are in place for large high-quality diamonds, underpinned by the rising number of high net-worth individuals, especially in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Russian Federation,” said the prospectus for investment company Diamond Circle Capital plc. The prospectus said a steadily declining mineral reserve base, compounded by limited exploration success, suggested tight supplies would continue, which industry analysts say could mean long-term growth for the fund.
“It is the first listed polished diamond fund,” said Jamie Strauss, managing director, UK equity products, of BMO Capital Markets (Bank of Montreal), who closely tracks diamond markets. “It will be invested in white and colored diamonds. It will become one of the world’s finest diamond collections.” Read more here-http://www.reuters.com/article/investmentTrustsNews/idUSNOA83295920080618
-Pink Diamonds for Portia de Rossi. Ellen DeGeneres, 50-year-old Emmy Award-winning talk show host, has presented her 35-year-old girlfriend Portia de Rossi with a Neil Lane engagement ring with pink diamonds. Pinks diamonds are both extremely rare and very valuable due to the fact that there is only one main source for these stones in the world.
Israelidiamond.co.il
-James Bond Rolex surprises at auction. Notable lots sold included a $131,450 platinum and yellow-diamond ring and $107,550 for a “James Bond” Submariner Rolex Watch.
It was expected to bring in between $500-$1,000. Read more here-http://jewelryblogger.com/2008/06/19/james-bond-rolex-surprises-at-auction.aspx
-The U.S. Marshals Service had set it sights at raising $2 million by auctioning off diamond jewellery seized in a 2007 embezzlement case. Much to the U.S. Marshals Service’s surprise, a Graff 11.88-carat platinum diamond ring sold for $1.7 million, making it the highest-selling piece of jewellery in Marshals Service history. By the end of the bidding, the 22-piece collection fetched more than $2.6 million. The jewelry was forfeited after former KeyBank executive David Verhotz pleaded guilty to embezzling $41 million in January 2007.
All of the auction’s proceeds will go to the payment of restitution. A U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson said the collection sold for almost more than it would have cost to buy new. Prior to the auction, the Marshals Service valued the 11.88-carat diamond ring at $875,000. The next-highest-selling item, a pair of Harry Winston diamond earrings, turned out to be a bargain: Valued at $950,000, the earrings sold for $577,650. Another Graff ring, priced at $88,875, fetched $111,226. Israelidiamond.co.il
-Monet Lilies Push London Auction to Record 144.4 Million Pounds. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid;=aRlaMOBMS0bw&refer;=home
COMMODITIES-FOOD
-Speculation Is Good, London Metals Chief Executive Says Amid Record Prices. Exchange Says Efforts to Curb Speculation ‘Foolish’. Governments would be ”foolish” to limit participation in commodity markets and curb speculation because prices are based on supply and demand, London Metal Exchange Chief Executive Officer Martin Abbott said.
Rising demand from emerging markets and a lack of investment by suppliers have created a ‘’structural change” in commodity markets, fueling higher prices, Abbott said yesterday in an interview in New York. Increasing regulation to limit speculative interest won’t lower prices and may hamper the market’s role in price discovery, he said. Read more here-
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid;=a_lDHpkarNuQ&refer;=home
-U.S. Congress seeks ban on pension funds commodities investment. One congressional proposals suggests pensions with assets of $500 million or more be barred from commodities, while others call for a blanket ban on institutional funds, including pensions, from the sector. Read more here-http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page504?oid=55350&sn;=Detail
-Marc Faber Favors Commodities as Inflation Quickens. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=a5f.hQArQbQg&refer;=home
-Security fears over food and fuel crisis. Read more here-http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/29cff8ec-3ef4-11dd-8fd9-0000779fd2ac.html
-Troubles grow in global food crisis. Read more here-http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080622/NEWS07/806220573
-Food relief line grows long, tense. Frustration rises, officials caught off-guard as thousands turn out for flood assistance. Read more here-http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=764962
-Record corn prices mean more expensive meat, dairy. Read more here-http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/record-corn-prices-mean-more-expensive/n20080622160709990014
-Russians tighten belts under soaring food prices. Read more here-http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/22/2282033.htm?section=world
-Shortages, Prices Hit California Food Banks as Schools Recess. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid;=ayjMVLk5GvVU&refer;=home
OIL
-Saudis: Don’t blame us for oil prices. At King Abdullah’s emergency meeting on oil prices, everyone agreed that the price of oil was a problem. But no one agreed on how to fix it. Read more here-http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/23/news/economy/gimbel_saudi.fortune/index.htm
-Saudi Arabia to produce more oil. World’s largest oil producer says it will increase daily oil production to 9.7 million barrels from 9 million in July. Read more here-
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/22/news/international/Saudi_summit/index.htm or http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid;=agZ1gqbuhxpo&refer;=africa
-World energy use seen surging. Energy consumption expected to jump 50% by 2030; greenhouse gases will see similar rise. Oil prices seen ranging from $113 to $186 a barrel. Read more here-http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/25/news/economy/eia_outlook/index.htm?postversion=2008062510
-Possibly of $500 oil in the years to come. Watch video here of Dr. Robert Hirsch-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGHpWOSsDZk&eurl;=http://www.theoildrum.com/
-World Economy Would Collapse If Oil Hit $200, Deutsche Says. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid;=am42p9xBTXh4&refer;=canada
-World crude production has peaked: Pickens. Full story here-http://uk.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUKN1734058420080617
-OPEC President Chakib Khelil said future oil prices will be determined by the evolution of the U.S. dollar and the geopolitical situation. Read more here-http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid;=6776368&action;=article
-Pemex Says Output Fell 10% in May on Cantarell Drop. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072&sid;=aywKv8j5iQxo&refer;=energy
-Saudi to Start Khursaniyah in August, Khurais in 2009. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072&sid;=ah7rs46YNHf8&refer;=energy
-Oil speculation: The great debate. Energy analyst Daniel Yergin tells Congress that trading plays a role in crude’s overheated run up but not the only one. Read more here-
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/25/news/economy/jec_oil/index.htm?postversion=2008062511
-America’s untapped oil. Lawmakers lay into big oil for leaving million of acres untouched while at the same time asking to drill in Alaska and off the coasts. Read more here-
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/23/news/economy/oil_drilling/index.htm?postversion=2008062316
GASOLINE
-China announced that it would increase both diesel and gasoline prices. With oil prices continuing to trade at historically high levels, it is not all that surprising to find that gasoline prices are following suit. Over the past four months, the average US price per gallon of unleaded has risen over one dollar per gallon. When adjusted for inflation, gasoline prices are at record highs and 18% above its old inflation-adjusted peak of 1981. Also, as illustrated by today’s chart, gasoline prices have spiked above a trend channel (see red line) that has been in existence since the beginning of the century.
-Gas could fall to $2 if Congress acts, analysts say. Limiting speculation would push prices to fundamental level, lawmakers told. Read more here-http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gas-could-fall-2-if/story.aspx?guid={2673C102-68E0-41D9-9C9A-10EE2E723948}&dist;=TNMostRead
-Gasoline Demand Falls 2.7% Amid Record Prices, MasterCard Says. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=atfoBCPxxwME&refer;=worldwide
-Refiner Insiders Buy Most Stock Since 2000 on Oil Bet. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid;=aFZBg9H3zsbQ&refer;=home
-Life on the fringes of U.S. suburbia becomes untenable with rising gas costs. Read more here-http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/24/business/exurbs.php
-Fuel Costs May Force Some Kids To Walk. Read more here-http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/22/AR2008062202193_pf.html
FUTURE TRENDS
-The Trends Tell Us Our Immediate Future. Here is a list of what we can likely expect as the future moves into present time now through 2012. Read more here-http://www.321gold.com/editorials/macfarlane/macfarlane062308.html
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Inflation up
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Long term interest rates up
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Gold and silver up
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Energy prices up
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Unemployment up
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Volatility way up
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Food prices up
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Personal and municipal bankruptcies up
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US dollar down
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Real estate down
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Equity markets down
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Personal freedom down
What To Do? All we can do is hope for the best and plan for the worse. As a point of reference I will share with you the best advice I have run across.
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Lighten up on equity investments (securities)
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Buy gold and silver
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Buy food
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Become a farmer
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Stock up on the basics
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Keep some cash on hand
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Take some security precautions
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Buy a super-high gas mileage vehicle like a motorized bicycle
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Conduct a “disaster preparedness test”
U.S. RECESSION
-Economy on brink of recession, Greenspan says. Read more here-http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSJAT00371420080624?feedType=RSS&feedName;=businessNews&rpc;=23&sp;=true
-Economists should listen to consumers. Experts have a half-glass full outlook for the economy while average Americans are far more pessimistic. Here’s why the consumer is probably right. Read more here-http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/24/news/economy/confidence_recession/index.htm?postversion=2008062415
-Economy has some states tangled in ‘dire’ financial snares. Read more here-http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2008-06-19-statemoney_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
-Store Closings: Symptoms of A Depressed Economy. Read the list of company closures here-http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977364401
-American Express Says Late Card Payments Increasing. American Express Co., the biggest U.S. credit-card company by purchases and cash advances, said customers are falling further behind on their debt, signalling the economy is worsening. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=aMUrOw6EhfR0&refer;=home
-L.A. seeing more people living out of their cars. Having lost her job and her three-bedroom house, Darlene Knoll has joined the legions of downwardly mobile who are four wheels away from homelessness. Read more here-http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=D91FV1E80&show;_article=1
-Hawaii suffers a tourism blow. High fuel prices have forced up airfare, pushing a Hawaiian vacation out of reach for many cash-strapped Americans. Read more here-
INFLATION-STAGFLATION
-Inflation is ‘exploding,’ Buffett tells CNBC. Inflation is “exploding” and the Federal Reserve should stress that fighting rising prices is a primary goal, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett told CNBC on Wednesday. The Fed should be concerned about both inflation and economic growth, a tough thing to do, he explained. But inflation should be the Fed’s main concern right now, Buffett added. “Inflation is really picking up,” he said.
“Whether it’s steel or oil we see it every place. It’s exploding.” The Fed has to be very careful not to signal that inflation is a secondary concern and something that can be dealt with later, Buffett explained. Read more here-http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/inflation-exploding-buffett-tells-cnbc/story.aspx?guid={2A3FC12D-F48F-4E99-9EB0-CEBB49FDECAA}&dist;=hplatest
-The spectre of inflation returned to haunt the global economy on Tuesday as companies ranging from Dow Chemical of the United States to South Korea’s Posco unveiled sharp price rises to combat the soaring cost of energy and raw materials. Read more here-http://www.gata.org/node/6389
-Confronting Inflation, on Separate Continents. Read more here-http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/business/worldbusiness/24rates.html?adxnnl=1&ref;=worldbusiness&adxnnlx;=1214338579-vxZcnzaDlUeL7erI8zpflw&pagewanted;=print
-Inflation expectations a slippery lever for ECB. Read more here-http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7603338
-Inflation risk overtakes credit crisis as focus of central bankers. Read more here-http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/22/business/econ23.php
-India’s key inflation rate soared to a 13-year high of 11 percent for the first week of June, the government said Friday, lifted by a sharp increase in fuel prices. Read more here-http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/InflationFromAsiaTheNextCrisis.aspx
-The Return of Inflation? Read more here-http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062301830.html
-Thirty years on, inflation makes global comeback. Inflation, the curse of the 1970s, is staging a comeback, led by sky-high oil prices. This time, the menace is more genuinely global than three decades ago, and this time much of it is “Made in China.” Read more here-http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSL2044793420080623
-Bernanke’s Inflation Cure Wanes as Import Costs Rise. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid;=aa8yym0Dfc00&refer;=home
-World Economy Has Entered Stagflation, Fidelity Says. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=aVYWmLa2R6OQ&refer;=home
INTEREST RATES
-Fed Keeps Rate at 2%, Ending Most Aggressive Easing Since 1980s. The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate at 2 percent, ending the most aggressive series of rate cuts in two decades, as higher energy costs threaten to boost inflation. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=abQ3cIKi7qEQ&refer;=home
-Indian Central Bank Lifts Rates, Boosts Reserve Limit. Read more here-
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=aMLXq2j1gPkQ&refer;=home
-Bank of Israel Raises Benchmark Rate for Second Time to 3.75%. The Bank of Israel raised its benchmark lending rate for the second time in as many months as the inflation rate reached a 5 1/2 year high and the economy expanded faster than the bank had forecast. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=auvwK7MTy8GQ&refer;=home
-Mexico Central Bank Raises Rates, Ignoring Calderon’s Remarks. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid;=a3gmwaFcmCK4&refer;=home
-Investors Call ECB’s Bluff, Bet on Rate Increases. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=aPJGqJr2KpzY&refer;=home
CREDIT CRISIS
-Hedge Fund Managers in Monaco Say Credit Crisis to Worsen. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid;=a5IgwR.6DR0s&refer;=home
-Greenspan Says Market ‘Crisis’ May Extend Into 2009. Read more here-
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid;=adfgMmwZ1EuE
-New Crisis Threatens Healthy Banks. Read more here-http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/21/AR2008062101566.html
-Bond insurers trying to unwind contracts: report. Companies in talks with banks about ‘commuting’ $125 billion in guarantees. Read more here-
-Brokers threatened by run on shadow bank system. Regulators eye $10 trillion market that boomed outside traditional banking. Read more here-
-Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund has revealed that its January investments in Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. totaled $5 billion. In a statement on its Web site Tuesday, the Kuwait Investment Authority said it agreed to invest $3 billion in Citigroup’s $12.5 billion offering and $2 billion in Merrill Lynch’s $6.6 billion offering. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=aI6n0rZXY0eg&refer;=home
-Countrywide Sued by California, Illinois, Over Mortgage Loans. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=aEsd2SRYtj7A&refer;=home
U.S. DOLLAR-SOUTH AMERICAN CURRENCY
-Asian Clearing Union to give euro equality with dollar. Central bank chiefs of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) have agreed to introduce the euro alongside the U.S. dollar for settlement of payments among the member countries beginning January 2009. Read more here-http://www.gata.org/node/6387
-Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recently revealed that the South American countries are planning for a common currency as part of the integration of the individual countries into the Union of South American Nations. This integration is patterned after the formation of the European Union, and parallels the plan for the North American Union. Read more here-
http://www.naturalnews.com/023480.html
STOCK MARKET
-15-Year Bear Market. Money manager David Tice says the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may tumble 40 percent during the next 12-24 months as the credit crisis undermines the economy, bankrupts households and companies and whacks profits. The drop would be worse than the 37 percent plunge in the index from 2000 through 2002. Tice predicts U.S. equities will enter a bear market that may exceed the 15-year slump from 1965 to 1980.
Moreover, he says if the Fed and Wall Street don’t break their addiction to easy credit, the economy will eventually crash in a depression a condition marked by reduced purchasing power, unemployment and corporate failures. The U.S. can’t continue to inflate bubbles in stocks, real estate and other assets without crippling the financial system, Tice says. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid;=a8qiQmY7BEPc&refer;=home
-Worse-Than-Average Recession to Drag Stocks Lower, Merrill Says. Full story here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=ab3XB1BO8kb8&refer;=home
-Analysts Backtrack on Banking Stocks After Saying Worst Is Over. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid;=afj3WAy4EYOA&refer;=home
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE
-U.S. consumer confidence tumbles to 16-year low. Conference Board’s measure is the fifth lowest ever as consumers fret jobs and the business outlook. Read more here-
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/24/news/economy/consumer_confidence/index.htm
-German, Italian Consumer Confidence Fade on Rising Prices. Read more here-
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid;=agm_sPMX8U2M&refer;=europe
-South Korean Consumer Confidence at Lowest Since 2000. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=a02y74Rey.QA&refer;=home
REAL ESTATE
-Four years of gains in home prices wiped out. Home prices post record 15.3% drop. Prices in 20 cities fall for 21st month in a row. One sign of hope: Pace of decline eased in many areas. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=aa8XB1YgGRoE&refer;=home
-New-Home Sales in the U.S. Fell 2.5 Percent in May. Sales of new U.S. houses fell 2.5 percent in May, signaling the real estate slump will keep weighing on the economy. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=a81SQWNpL1ys&refer;=home
-Shaky job market threatens housing recovery. Read more here-http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/housing-slump-shaping-up-worst/story.aspx?guid={2932BBD7-4139-4A56-9155-DA6941690F44}&dist;=TNMostRead
-US housing market weakness long-term survey. Full story here-http://www.forbes.com/reuters/feeds/reuters/2008/06/20/2008-06-20T134509Z_01_N20429990_RTRIDST_0_USA-ECONOMY-HOUSING-SURVEY.html
-Australian Housing crisis a ‘chronic disease’. Read more here-http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23905700-25658,00.html
-$10M Calgary penthouse breaks price record. Read more here-http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/06/24/astoria-condos.html
-Russian mogul pays Donald Trump $100 million for Florida mansion. Read more here-http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/06/21/2008-06-21_russian_mogul_pays_donald_trump_100_mill.html
-Dubai’s $30m penthouse sale trumps record. Dubai government developer Nakheel hopes to sell a penthouse in Donald Trump’s towers on Dubai’s first artificial island for more than $30m, which would smash the emirate’s record for its most expensive apartment. Read more here-http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9b67b19e-414b-11dd-9661-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
-World’s First ‘Building In Motion’ Set For Dubai. Italian Architect Poised To Build 80-Story Tower With Revolving Floors Powered By Wind Turbines. Plan In Place To Put Up Similar Buildings In Moscow, NYC. Read more here-http://wcbstv.com/national/dubai.david.fisher.2.756027.html
FORECLOSURES
-A four-day foreclosure auction that begins Wednesday will include more than 300 Atlanta-area dwellings. Lenders struck out trying to sell the properties the conventional way, so now they’re looking to investors and bargain-hunting families to make their problems go away. Read more here-http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2008/06/24/housing_auction.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
GEOPOLITICAL NEWS
-Iran Could Make Nuke In 6 Months. Read more here-http://wcbstv.com/national/israel.iran.attack.2.755478.html
-Iran Calls Israeli Threats to Nuclear Work ‘Hollow’. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid;=aFxW3Btp5WOo
-Iran says Israel not capable of threatening it. Read more here-http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSDAH32979820080623?feedType=RSS&feedName;=topNews&rpc;=22&sp;=true
-Israel shows abilities for Iran strike. A large Israeli military exercise this month may have been aimed at showing Jerusalem’s abilities to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. In a substantial show of force, Israel sent warplanes and other aircraft on a major exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean, Pentagon officials said Friday. Israel’s military refused to confirm or deny that the maneuvers were practice for a strike in Iran. Read more here- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080620/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_israel_iran&printer;=1;_ylt=AhBivbbc6TwGaCGp0bG5vuyWwvIE
-Israel Military Exercise May Be Warning to Iran, U.S. A wide-ranging Israeli military exercise in the eastern Mediterranean was likely aimed at warning both Iran and the U.S. about the possibility of a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, a U.S. analyst said. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid;=arvI5tfzEI0c
-Israel’s Drill May Curb Iran Nuclear Effort, U.S. Official Says. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=aj5jLlSBbx5E&refer;=home
-Iran Would Respond to Attack With ‘Heavy Blow’. Iran would respond to an Israeli attack on nuclear facilities with a ”heavy blow,” a senior cleric said, following a New York Times report that Israel carried out an exercise that could prepare it for such a strike. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid;=ah_hLOIClIA8&refer;=home
-EU Widens Iran Sanctions, Shuts Bank Melli’s European Offices. The European Union stiffened its sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program, shutting down the EU offices of Bank Melli Iran and denying travel visas to more Iranian officials. Read more here-http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid;=ajNkm9xRhzoE
-Russia’s Lavrov warns against attack on Iran. Read more here-http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080620/ap_on_re_eu/russia_iran&printer;=1;_ylt=Al9Ae2ZIrSYy9LPWMe4UBl9bbBAF
-Leadership Void Seen in Pakistan. Read more here-http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/world/asia/24pstan.html?_r=2&oref;=slogin&partner;=rssnyt&emc;=rss&pagewanted;=print&oref;=slogin
-Saudi arrests 700 over ‘oil attack’ plots. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia has arrested 701 Islamists in the past six months on suspicion of plotting attacks on oil industry installations, the interior ministry announced on Wednesday. Read more here-http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080625133954.jtgj6zkd&show;_article=1
© 2012, Worldwide Precious Metals Canada Ltd.
www.wwpmc.com
The GoldBugg Report – July 02, 2008
Posted by Worldwide Precious Metals on Wednesday, July 2, 2008
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