Monthly Archives: February 2013

World Gold Council to teach central bankers how to trade gold

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“Central bankers will be taught how to trade gold at a three-day seminar on ‘gold reserves management’ to be held in March at the University of California at Berkeley and co-sponsored by the World Gold Council.  Apparently modern ‘gold reserves management’ involves a lot more than making sure that the metal is safe in a vault, even if whether and how a central bank should account to the public for its gold trading do not seem to be subjects for discussion at the seminar.”

http://www.gata.org/node/12234

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Central banks last year bought most gold since ’64

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“The world’s central banks last year bought 534.6 tons of gold in 2012, the most since 1964, as global gold demand hit a record value level, the World Gold Council said Thursday in a quarterly report. Purchases by central banks for the full year rose 17% compared with 2011, while fourth-quarter purchases of 145 tons marked a 29% rise from the same period a year earlier. In value terms, total gold demand in 2012 was $236.4 billion, an all-time high, the council said”

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/central-banks-last-year-bought-most-gold-since-64-2013-02-14

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The Fed Is Blowing More Bubbles

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“As if any more evidence were needed (see my CB post earlier this week) that the Fed has succeeded, either through ignorance or design, in igniting new asset bubbles throughout the economy, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City just released a survey of bankers that confirms a continuing rise in U.S. farmland prices. The chart below from the report by the Kansas City Fed puts this stunning trend in temporal perspective and reveals that it extends across all farmland, including irrigated cropland and ranchland.”

http://bastiat.mises.org/2013/02/2646/

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“Boomerang Foreclosures” Are Back As Bernanke’s Second Housing Bubble Begins To Pop

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“As the chart below shows, while California foreclosure activity is collapsing, things in other places are starting to indicate that the second housing bubble blown by Bernanke in 5 years, is finally starting to crack.  In other words, ignore the sad and very much artificial reality of California where the real estate market is no longer indicative of what happens in a free market, and instead keep a close eye on those states where all artificial attempts to crush foreclosure starts and completions have been used up, and where reality is about to come back with a bang.”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-14/boomerang-foreclosures-are-back-bernankes-second-housing-bubble-begins-pop

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Americans Are Tapping Their Homes For Cash Again

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“Nearly 11 million borrowers are underwater on their mortgages, owing more than their homes are worth, according to CoreLogic, and yet home equity lines of credit are suddenly on the rise again.  Blackwell pointed to increased consumer confidence, meaning borrowers now feel better about their ability to repay these loans. Both factors fueled a 19 percent jump in originations of home equity lines of credit at the end of last year, according to Equifax. In 2008, as housing was crashing, home equity line originations dropped 55 percent.  With home prices up 8 percent year-over-year in December, homeowners are regaining home equity at a fast clip.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/americans-are-tapping-home-equity-again-2013-2

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Paper Claims SEC Regulation is Biased … In Other News, Sky Is Blue

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“Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staffers who now work in the private sector may have helped derail last year’s effort to reform the $2.6 trillion money market fund industry, a report said. The case study on money market fund lobbying is part of a 60-page report by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). It is one example within a broader review by the non-profit government watchdog that examines in detail how the ‘revolving door’ at the SEC may have impacted policy and enforcement decisions over a 10-year period.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/28687/Paper-Claims-SEC-Regulation-is-Biased–In-Other-News-Sky-Is-Blue

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Housing Industry Hopes Obama Line Will Soften Mortgage Rule

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“U.S. Realtors and mortgage bankers say they hope President Barack Obama’s call for streamlined mortgage rules in his State of the Union speech will help them persuade regulators not to set a strict minimum down payment for home loans.  At issue is the so-called qualified residential mortgage rule, which six banking regulators including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve are aiming to complete this year. The regulators drew protests in 2011 when they released a preliminary draft requiring lenders to keep a stake in mortgages with down payments of less than 20 percent and those issued to [debt-laden] borrowers.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-13/housing-industry-pins-hopes-on-obama-to-soften-down-payment-rule.html

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SEC Head Nominee Mary Jo White’s Latest Conflict of Interest

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“Here’s the big question for Mary Jo White: If she becomes chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, where will her interests lie? With the public that pays her salary? Or with the people handing her the big bucks?  White is the white-collar defense lawyer and former U.S. attorney nominated by President Barack Obama to lead the SEC. Upon leaving New York-based Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, the law firm will give her $42,500 a month in retirement pay for life, or more than $500,000 a year.  This means she has a direct interest in Debevoise’s future profits, and therefore an incentive to help make sure only good things come the firm’s way.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-14/mary-jo-white-s-latest-conflict-of-interest.html

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Jack Lew: The Rookie

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“New York Democrat Chuck Schumer said the Treasury nominee has an ‘uncanny ability to delve into a subject’ and ‘master it.’ Americans can only hope, because you wouldn’t know it based on the little that Mr. Lew claims to have known about what happened during his tenure at Citigroup from 2006-2008.  He was a senior executive at the giant failing bank before and during the financial crisis, but he gave the impression he was there mostly to cash a paycheck.  When Orrin Hatch ticked off the problems that afflicted the two Citi divisions that Mr. Lew oversaw as chief operating officer, the nominee seemed to know less about them than Mr. Hatch.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324616604578302284234282160.html

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Ron Paul: Beware The Consequences of Pre-Emptive War

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“Last year more US troops died by suicide than died in combat in Afghanistan. More than 20 percent of military personnel deployed to combat will develop PTSD. More than 20 percent of active-duty military are on potentially dangerous psychotropic drugs; many are on multiple types. Violent crime among active duty military members increased 31 percent between 2006-2011.  The warning that ‘he who lives by the sword dies by the sword’ goes not only for individuals but for entire societies. It is a warning to all of us. A country or a society that lives with the violence of pre-emptive war in fact self-destructs.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/28679/Ron-Paul-Beware-The-Consequences-of-Pre-Emptive-War

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