Courtesy of Jesse’s Cafe Americain  This is a story about the first, albeit selective, potential default in the US by a major clearing exchange in the postwar period. And the cause of it remains a mystery, possibly by intent. In the essay excerpted below, analyst Ted Butler brings out a key aspect of the failure of MF Global that has received far...

By Eric McWhinnie Earlier this month, the Federal Open Market Committeereleased its latest statement regarding the economy.  Although there were some differences in the November statement, the Fed’s view on inflation is consistently different from reality.  As consumers already know, inflation is on the rise.  Protecting themselves by allocating...

On 30 May, in the aftermath of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that Germany would close all of its 18 nuclear power plants between 2015 and 2022, which produce about 28 percent of the country’s electricity. Eight have now been taken offline, and with the winter coming on Berlin is scrambling...

MISH Two days ago, Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf made an attempt at Thinking through the unthinkable. The “unthinkable” was the breakup of the Eurozone. Reflections on the Easily Thinkable For starters, a eurozone breakup is hardly unthinkable given that no currency union in history has ever survived in the absence of a fiscal...

My Gift to You I have arranged for you to receive a complimentary 6-month subscription to Bernie Schaeffer’s Option Advisor online newsletter. Bernie Schaeffer is a well-known options guru and his newsletter, the Option Advisor, has been helping individual investors succeed in the markets since 1981. Want some proof? Take a look at these recent winners....

Presented with little comment – except a reminder that: “every $1 per barrel rise in oil decreases U.S. GDP by $100 billion per year and every 1 cent increase in gasoline decreases U.S. consumer disposable income by about $600 million per year.” Source: Zero Hedge Get your FREE Bullion Weekly Report sponsored by NYSE Chart: Bloomberg

by Karl Denninger A year ago this would have been instantly moved to the Tinfoil area of the forum.  Today, maybe not. Italy’s Senate approved debt- reduction measures in an attempt to shore up investor confidence and pave the way for a new government that may be led by former European Union Competition Commissioner Mario Monti. Who is this...

Great news! This new video gives you the practical, step-by-step instructions on how to execute the trading strategy Andy used to become a millionaire in 5-months this year. Click here for this NEW VIDEO giving you his “Million-Dollar” method. Andy is the full-time engineer I told you about the other day who trades gold & silver part-time. On...

by The Mad Hedge Fund Trader Desperate homeowners counting on a “V” shaped recovery in residential real estate prices to bail them out better first take a close look at global demographic data, which tells us there will be no recovery at least another 15 years. I have been using the US Census Bureau’s population pyramids as long leading indicator...

by Tyler Durden The EURUSD is heading lower once again (back under 1.36), OATs are back near the wides of the day at 161bps, and BTP spreads to Bunds are 15bps off their best levels of the day as the Bundesbank jabs a stick in the spokes of the print-fest that seems to be the meme-du-jour for risk assets. *BUNDESBANK SEES NO SIGNS OF CREDIT CRUNCH...

Mish writes, “As long as the rules of the game are such there is no chance of being fined more than illegal profits are made, banks will ignore rules and go for illegal profits. The SEC has learned nothing from these deals, but the financial sector has…”  I submit that members of the SEC are well aware that there is essentially no real...

By Eric McWhinnie On Monday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) surged $35 to hit a new six week high of $1,791 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) climbed 74 cents higher to nearly $35 per ounce.  Precious metals (NYSEARCA:DBP) continue to receive a boost as countries reveal what they really think about the shiny metals. Get your FREE Gold Bullion Report...

GoldMoney founder James Turk interviews When Money Dies author Adam Fergusson, who discusses the parallels and differences between the Weimar inflation and the situation in the US and Europe today. “I don’t see how any of these [Western] economies can grow their way out of the extraordinary debts that they have.” At the recent Casey/Sprott...

Bruce Krasting The Federal Financing Bank (FFB) has published its September results. The US Treasury owns this bank. Tim Geithner runs it. FFB’s year-end is September, as a result, the folks at the FFB had a busy month. From the report: (Link).   FFB holdings of obligations issued, sold or guaranteed by other Federal agencies totaled $57.6 billion on...

Submitted by Finance Addict via by Tyler Durden Hard Evidence: Bailed-Out Banks Take More Risk Politicians, Treasury Secretaries, etc. would have you believe that “moral hazard” is something we should only worry about in the abstract, in the future, when they’ve moved on to another job. But now a study confirms with hard facts: moral hazard–it...