By Pepe Escobar Major turbulence seems to be the name of the game in 2016. Yet the current turbulence may be interpreted as the calm before the next, devastating geopolitical/financial storm. Let’s review the current state of play via the dilemmas afflicting the House of Saud, the EU and BRICS members Russia, Brazil and China. … Continue reading
By Peter Koenig On 19 April 2016, China was rolling out its new gold-backed yuan. Russia’s ruble has been fully supported by gold for the last couple of years. Nobody in the western media talks about it. Why would they? – A western reader may start wondering why he is constantly stressed by a US … Continue reading
By Jeffrey P. Snider, Alhambra Investment Partners On April 12, Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria, was in Beijing to negotiate Chinese aid for his ailing country. At home, the government faces an enormous budget deficit largely on the price of oil. The more immediate threat, however, is that Nigeria in large part due to oil prices … Continue reading
By Marc Chandler, Marc to Market Blog Yesterday, China launched its first gold fix. It will offer a fixing twice a day going forward yuan. The Shanghai Gold Exchange established the fix the same way it is done in London and New York, by prices submitted by financial institutions. In China’s case, 18 institutions, including two foreign … Continue reading
The Creation of a single capital market of the BRICS grouping of emerging market nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — is possible in the next five years, Sergei Shvetsov, First Deputy Chairman of Russia’s central bank told Russia’s TASS news agency during his visit to China. “We understand that it is better to use … Continue reading
China, the world’s largest gold consumer, launched on Tuesday a gold benchmark denominated in Yuan and plans to exert a stronger influence in the global market by better controlling the prices. It will also serve to increase the international credibility of its currency. The Shanghai Gold Exchange – the Chinese precious metals operator – has … Continue reading
By Jeffrey P. Snider, Alhambra Investment Partners The focus on China and the Chinese economy is not just related to its size but more so the fact that it is the pivot point for the whole global system. In pure economic terms, as “end demand” from the developed world economies slows, the Chinese economy either absorbs … Continue reading
By Jeffrey P. Snider, Alhambra Investment Partners You can always tell what kind of monthly variation any economic account provides from the commentary by which it is described. And there are, apparently, only two options: upward variations mean stimulus is working; downward variation just means that there will be more stimulus. Even by this crude cipher, … Continue reading
By Jeffrey P. Snider, Alhambra Investment Partners There is great allure in comparing our current economic circumstances to those in 1937, and why wouldn’t there be? The associations are especially striking, starting with the gaping hole left over by each contraction. Each recovery, then and now, was at least moving in the right direction but not … Continue reading
By Jeff Berwick, The Dollar Vigilante You won’t find any mainstream articles on the Jubilee Year’s secret timeline for financial ruin. Hell, you won’t even find alternative media articles on it – except here at TDV. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t aware of what’s going on. In this case, the top money men in the … Continue reading