APMEX Halts Sales of Precious Metals Until After Trading Opens in Asia
August 7th, 2011Disclosure: I am an apmex.com affiliate.
Update: APMEX Re-Opens
—End Update—
This message appears when attempting to checkout:
*Attention – Due to the uncertainty in the global precious metals markets, we will not be able to accept any additional orders until the global markets re-open in Asia. We expect to be accepting orders around 6:15 pm EST. Sunday August 7th, 2011, following the market open.
APMEX Halted
Hilarious CNN “Don’t Panic” Video
August 7th, 2011CNN.
10 of Today’s Hottest Jobs: Proof That America Is Doomed
August 7th, 2011The largest number of jobs involve dealing with the failing health of old people. People who know about running spam email campaigns and financial scams are also in demand. Truck drivers, app designers for mobile phones, and TwitBook operators too…
There is nothing here about designing or manufacturing any physical goods at all!
The U.S. is $15 trillion in the hole. Look at these in-demand jobs. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this is going to end very badly.
Via: Yahoo / Kiplinger:
Believe it or not, even with the unemployment rate stubbornly high and many industries reluctant to staff up, there are employers out there who still can’t find enough qualified applicants.
Short Notice: Cryptogon Astrologers
August 7th, 2011Please see this. Thanks.
GERMAN GOVERNMENT THINKS ITALY TOO BIG FOR EFSF TO SAVE
August 6th, 2011Via: NASDAQ:
Germany’s government thinks Italy is too big for Europe’s rescue fund to save, Der Spiegel magazine reports in a preview of an article to be published Monday.
The government doubts whether even tripling the size of the rescue fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility, would enable it to save Italy because the country’s financing needs are so enormous, the magazine reports without naming the source of its information.
ECB to Hold Sunday Conference Call on Crisis
August 6th, 2011Via: Reuters:
The European Central Bank will hold a conference call on Sunday to discuss its response to the latest developments in the euro zone’s debt crisis, an ECB source said on Saturday.
G20 Deputies to Hold Crisis Call Saturday
August 6th, 2011Via: Reuters:
Deputy finance ministers from the Group of 20 leading economic powers will hold a conference call on Saturday to discuss the crises in Europe and the United States, a Brazilian finance ministry official said.
The official told Reuters the call was scheduled for 2230 GMT.
“It will be an exchange of information and opinions,” the official said by e-mail without providing further details.
Investors are eager to see signs of a coordinated policy response among major economies, which might prevent the crises from spreading or getting worse.
China: “America Needs To Accept The Painful Fact That The Good Old Days Are Over”; Calls for International Supervision of Issuance of U.S. Dollars and the Creation of a Global Reserve Currency
August 6th, 2011I’d say that capital controls, some kind of IMF SDR (Special Drawing Rights) ‘Global Reserve’ confetti bucks, and a global financial crisis management organization, like the IMF on steroids are possible. At a minimum, states will try unilateral capital controls in an attempt to prevent their currencies from disorderly appreciation vs. the toxic dollar.
Via: Business Insider:
China’s official comment on the S&P downgrade was harsh and condescending. Released through Xinhua (via Reuters) the statement condemned America for its “debt addiction” and “short-sighted” political wrangling.
“The U.S. government has to come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone,” Xinhua wrote.
America’s largest creditor, China said it will accelerate diversification away from US treasuries, and that meanwhile it demands reform: “China, the largest creditor of the world’s sole superpower, has every right now to demand the United States address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China’s dollar assets,” Xinhua said.
The statement also called for a new global currency: “International supervision over the issue of U.S. dollars should be introduced and a new, stable and secured global reserve currency may also be an option to avert a catastrophe caused by any single country,” Xinhua said.
‘More Than 20 Navy SEALS From the Unit that Killed Osama bin Laden’ Die in Helicopter Crash
August 6th, 2011Via: MSNBC:
A NATO helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Saturday killing 31 U.S. special-forces troops, including more than 20 Navy SEALS from the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, and 7 Afghan commandos.
It was the deadliest single combat incident for American troops in 10 years of war, according to an American official.
The operators from SEAL Team Six were flown by a crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regimen, according to U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because families are still being notified of the loss of their loved ones.
One source said the team was thought to include 22 SEALs, three Air Force air controllers, seven Afghan Army troops, a dog and his handler, and a civilian interpreter, plus the helicopter crew.
The sources thought this was the largest single loss of life ever for SEAL Team Six, known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.
Research Credit: AL
S&P Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating for First Time
August 6th, 2011Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
Remember those Wait For The Weekends To Do It days from 2008? *chortle*
I’m not sure how this is going to go. On the one hand, only a fall down dipshit believes that the U.S. actually deserves a AAA rating, or even the new AA+ rating. The U.S. had already been downgraded by other American and foreign ratings organizations. So, to some extent, maybe the effects of this are “baked into the cake” already.
On the other hand, raising money should become more expensive for the U.S. as a result of this. Since the U.S. has so much debt, this might represent a sort of wildcard, de-stabalizing event.
What do you think?
In any event, the thing to watch, going into Monday, will be FOREX. The logical, by the book, reaction to this should mean a lower dollar. Everyone reading this should know about the 70.792 level on the U.S. Dollar Index. If the dollar tanks, we will be watching to see if 72.696 holds; this is the short term support. If it doesn’t, that sets up a try for 70.792.
Via: Washington Post:
Standard & Poor’s announced Friday night that it has downgraded the United States credit rating for the first time, dealing a huge symbolic blow to the world’s economic superpower in what was a sharply worded critique of the American political system.
Lowering the nation’s rating one-notch below AAA, the credit rating company said “political brinkmanship” in the debate over the debt had made the U.S. government’s ability to manage its finances “less stable, less effective and less predictable.” It said the bi-partisan agreement reached this week to find $2.1 trillion in budget savings “fell short” of what was necessary to tame the nation’s debt over time and predicted that leaders would have no luck achieving more savings later on.
