Deutsche Bank: “Perhaps The Fed And Other Central Banks Are Controlling The Market Too Much These Days”

Related info:

The Elephant In The Room: Deutsche Bank’s $75 TRILLION In Derivatives Is 20 Times Greater Than German GDP


Deutsche Bank: “Perhaps The Fed And Other Central Banks Are Controlling The Market Too Much These Days” (ZeroHedge, May 20, 2014):

Perhaps the Fed and other central banks are controlling the market too much these days with their guidance. In the old days central banks used to like to create an element of surprise to ensure that markets didn’t become complacent. With the crisis fresh in people’s minds, with the stock of debt still huge and with the recovery still so uncertain they feel they cannot risk creating too much uncertainty at the moment. ” – Deutsche Bank

China Signs Non-Dollar Settlement Deal With Russia’s Largest Bank

China Signs Non-Dollar Settlement Deal With Russia’s Largest Bank (ZeroHedge, May 20, 2014):

Slowly – but surely – the USD’s hegemony is being chipped away whether by foreign policy faux pas, crossed red-lines, or economic fragility. However, on Day 1 of Vladimir Putin’s trip to China it is clear that the two nations are as close as ever. VTB – among Russia’s largest banks – has signed a deal with Bank of China to pay each other in domestic currencies, bypassing the need for US Dollars for “investment banking, inter-bank lending, trade finance and capital-markets transactions.” Kirill Dmitriyev the head of Russia’s Direct Investment Fund notes, “together it’ll be possible to discuss investment in various projects much more efficiently and clearly,” as Russia’s pivot to Asia continues to gather steam.

As RT reports, Day 1 for Putin is going well…

Read moreChina Signs Non-Dollar Settlement Deal With Russia’s Largest Bank

Gold Slammed As ‘Panic-Seller’ Dumps $520 Million In Futures

Gold Slammed As ‘Panic-Seller’ Dumps $520 Million In Futures (ZeroHedge, May 20, 2014):

You can’t make this up. An initial dump in gold happened when Europe was getting going late last night but as the US wakes up and markets get active, someone (panic-seller) decided it was an entirely optimal time to sell $520 million notional gold futures – sending the price of the precious metal down $7. Intriguingly, though the notional size was large, the actual move is not as large as we have become used to with the ubiquitous Slamdowns (and it’s a Tuesday). At the same time, USDJPY was ramped… because we must maintain the appearance that stock markets are operating normally despite civil wars, coups, global growth slowdowns, and de-dollarization growing.

20140520_gold_0

 

SMOKING GUN FROM THE FEDERAL RESERVE MURDER OF THE MIDDLE CLASS

R.I.P.-Middle-Class

SMOKING GUN FROM THE FEDERAL RESERVE MURDER OF THE MIDDLE CLASS (The Burning Platform, May 18, 2014):

During the bubblicious years from 2000 through 2014, while Wall Street used control fraud and virtually free money provided by the Fed to siphon off hundreds of billions of ill-gotten profits from the economy, the average middle class family saw their income drop and their debt load soar. This is crony capitalism success at its finest. The oligarchs count on the fact math challenged, iGadget distracted, Facebook focused, public school educated morons will never understand the impact of inflation on their daily lives. The pliant co-conspirators in the dying legacy media regurgitate nominal government reported income figures which show median household income growing by 30% over the last fourteen years. In reality, the real median household income has FALLEN by 7% since 2000 and 7.5% since its 2008 peak. Again, using a true inflation figure would yield declines exceeding 15%.

bens-smoking-gun

Thai Stocks Tumble As Army Censors Media To “Avoid Provoking Unrest”

Thai Stocks Tumble As Army Censors Media To “Avoid Provoking Unrest” (ZeroHedge, May 19, 2014):

Despite proclamations that markets would open ‘normally’, Thai SET50 (stock market) futures are indicated to open -4.2% – its biggest drop since January’s collapse. Thai CDS are modestly wider (+5 to 130bps) but early Bhat weakness has been rescued back by a mysterious bidder (rumored to be the central bank by several traders). The last 2 times martial law was invoked – in an entirely non-coupy-coup-like manner – general market weakness was less than we  have seen so far. Of course, the army has decided that in the interests of avoiding the “provocation of unrest and triggering fear” it will “ban the broadcast and distribution of news.” Nothing like a military-coup, that is not a coup, with total media censorship to encourage capital flows and maintain peace in the nation.

 

U2’s Bono Partners With Monsanto, G8, To Biowreck African Farms With GMO

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–  U2, Bono? Celeb partners with Monsanto, G8, to biowreck African farms with GMOs (Activist Post, May 29, 2012):

At the G8 Summit held two weeks ago at Camp David, President Obama met with private industry and African heads of state to launch the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, a euphemism for monocultured, genetically modified crops and toxic agrochemicals aimed at making poor farmers debt slaves to corporations, while destroying the ecosphere for profit.

And Bono, of the rock group U2, is out shilling for Monsanto on this one.

It’s phase 2 of the Green Revolution. Tanzania, Ghana, and Ethiopia are the first to fall for the deception, with Mozambique, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and other African nations lining up for the “Grow Africa Partnership,” under Obama’s “Global Agricultural Development” plan.

Read moreU2’s Bono Partners With Monsanto, G8, To Biowreck African Farms With GMO

Gazprom To Sign Monumental Gas Deal With China

Gazprom to sign monumental gas deal with China  (RT, May 19, 2014):

Russia and China are due to sign a long-awaited gas contract on Tuesday, in which Beijing could pay up to $456 billion for Russian gas over the next 30 years.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Shanghai on May 20-21, Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) are due to sign a deal for 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas to power China’s growing economy, starting in 2018.

Read moreGazprom To Sign Monumental Gas Deal With China

Wealth Of UK’s 1000 Richest People Increased 15% In Past Year; Equal To 3.5x GDP Of Greece

Wealth Of UK’s 1000 Richest People Increased 15% In Past Year; Equal To 3.5x GDP Of Greece (ZeroHedge, May 19, 2014):

Confirming yet again that the global “recovery” benefits some (very few) more than others (the non-very few), is the latest news out of the UK where the Sunday Times reports that the 1000 richest Britons now hold a cumulative £519 billion in wealth: a number which increased by 15% in the past year as the real disposable incomes of the non-richest declined. Putting this number in context, the “most well-off Britons now own the equivalent of a third of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).” Another way of looking at it: the wealth of 1000 Britons is 3.5x greater than the GDP of Greece.

Read moreWealth Of UK’s 1000 Richest People Increased 15% In Past Year; Equal To 3.5x GDP Of Greece

Exodus From Bitcoin Foundation Following Disney Star’s Appointment As Director

bitcoin-foundation-director-resigns

Exodus from Bitcoin Foundation following Disney star’s appointment as director (RT, May 16, 2014):

Nearly a dozen members of the Bitcoin Foundation, the most influential bitcoin lobby group, have resigned over the election of former Disney child star Brock Pierce as the organization’s new director.

Before becoming a bitcoin entrepreneur and financier, Brock starred in several high-profile children’s movies, including Disney’s ‘The Mighty Ducks’ and ‘D:2 The Mighty Ducks,’ as well as ‘First Kid.’ He then moved away from the Hollywood world and eventually started his own web video business known as Digital Entertainment Network, where employees accused him of pressuring them for sex and providing drugs to minors.

Read moreExodus From Bitcoin Foundation Following Disney Star’s Appointment As Director

Net Worth Of College Grads With Student Debt Is 20% Less Than High School Grads With No Debt

Net Worth Of College Grads With Student Debt Is 20% Less Than High School Grads With No Debt (ZeroHedge, May 18, 2014):

Yesterday we provided a detailed breakdown of the cost aspects of a college education, particularly for young people who have no choice but to fund their education with student debt, a key part of the equation that the San Fran Fed in its particular cost-benefit “analysis” of college education avoided.

There is much information in the post, but one particular aspect of the Pew analysis that the article was based on, bears repeating and highlighting for all those less than “1%” young Americans debating whether a college education is worth the tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans: the median net worth of “young” households, those where the head is younger than 40 years old, is $8,700, or 20% less than not college educated households with no student debt.

Why is this notable? Because as the WSJ reported concurrently, the class of 2014 is the most indebted ever.

Read moreNet Worth Of College Grads With Student Debt Is 20% Less Than High School Grads With No Debt

‘Better Than Ever’: UK’s Richest Own One Third Of Country’s Wealth

A man walks from his Ferrari as a carriage passes during the fourth day of the Royal Ascot horse racing festival at Ascot, southern England, June 21, 2013.
A man walks from his Ferrari as a carriage passes during the fourth day of the Royal Ascot horse racing festival at Ascot, southern England, June 21, 2013.

‘Better than ever’: UK’s richest own one third of country’s wealth (RT, May 18, 2014):

Briton’s wealthiest people own a third of the country’s GDP, with a combined fortune of 874 billion dollars, which is an increase of 15.4 percent on last year’s total, according to an annual survey.

The Sunday Times Rich List shows that the United Kingdom’s richest are richer than ever before, which is in sharp contrast with many ordinary Britons who are struggling after five years of austerity.

“I’ve never seen such a phenomenal rise in personal wealth as the growth in the fortunes of Britain’s 1,000 richest people over the past year,” said Philip Beresford, who has compiled the list since 1989.

“The richest people in Britain have never had it so good,” he told Reuters. “The challenge now for the government and the rich themselves is to see this wealth percolate downwards and outwards, out of London and towards the North and West of the country.”

Read more‘Better Than Ever’: UK’s Richest Own One Third Of Country’s Wealth

Over 3000 Chinese Evacuated (By Boat & Plane) As Vietnam’s Anti-China Riots Escalate; Taiwan Also On ‘High Alert’

Over 3000 Chinese Evacuated (By Boat & Plane) As Vietnam’s Anti-China Riots Escalate; Taiwan Also On “High Alert” (ZeroHedge, May 17, 2014):

China began evacuating hundreds of its nationals from Vietnam (via at least 2 planes and 5 ships) as the anti-China protests have become increasingly deadly following Beijing’s attempt to deploy an oil drill in Vietnamese dispuited waters (detailed here, here, here, and here)…

  • *CHINA SENDING 5 SHIPS TO VIETNAM TO EVACUATE CHINESE: XINHUA
  • *HUNDREDS OF VIETNAMESE SECURITY IN CENTRAL HO CHI MINH CITY
  • *VIETNAM PRIME MINISTER ISSUES DIRECTIVE TO PREVENT PROTESTS
  • *VIETNAM GOVT TAKES ACTION TO PREVENT RIOTS: BINH

Hundreds of police and security forces are in central Ho Chi Minh city and the Chinese consulate is under heavy guard. Tensions across the ASEAN region are growung as Taiwan is on “high alert” but the bloc’s inability to craft a united response to Chinese aggression signals a further decline in its regional clout.

The Vietnamese government has called for an end to the protests…

Read moreOver 3000 Chinese Evacuated (By Boat & Plane) As Vietnam’s Anti-China Riots Escalate; Taiwan Also On ‘High Alert’

Russia Dumping US Treasuries? But Why the Heck in Belgium?

Russia Dumping US Treasuries? But Why the Heck in Belgium? (Testosterone Pit, May 15, 2014):

Belgium is known for its surprises. For example, it got by amazingly well for a couple of years without a national government, and without breaking apart, to the endless chagrin of a lot of people. And it has a great variety of delicious beers, which I amply tested during the three years I was there. But now, that tiny country with a tiny economy is suddenly piling up a mountain of US Treasuries.

In March, according to new data from the US Treasury Department, it added another $40.2 billion to its existing mountain of Treasuries, now at the dizzying height of $381.4 billion, or 79% of GDP!

It put the country in third place, behind the second and third largest economies in the world, export machine China ($1.27 trillion) and former export machine, now money-printer Japan ($1.20 trillion). From August last year, Treasury holdings in Belgium have ballooned by 129%!

US-Treasuries-held-in-Belgium-03-2014

What the heck is going on?

Read moreRussia Dumping US Treasuries? But Why the Heck in Belgium?

Must-See Photos: Where The World’s Unsold Cars Go To Die

Where the World’s Unsold Cars Go To Die (ZeroHedge, May 16, 2014):

In the past several years, one of the topics covered in detail on these pages has been the surge in such gimmicks designed to disguise lack of demand and end customer sales, used extensively by US automotive manufacturers, better known as “channel stuffing”, of which General Motors is particularly guilty and whose inventory at dealer lots just hit a new record high. But did you know that when it comes to flat or declining sales and stagnant end demand, channel stuffing is merely the beginning?

Presenting…

Where the World’s Unsold Cars Go To Die (courtesy of Vincent Lewis’ Unsold Cars)

cars 1

Above is just a few of the thousands upon thousands of unsold cars at Sheerness, United Kingdom.  Please do see this on Google Maps….type in Sheerness, United Kingdom.  Look to the west coast, below River Thames next to River Medway. Left of A249, Brielle Way.

Timestamp: Friday, May 16th, 2014.

There are hundreds of places like this in the world today and they keep on piling up…

THE WORLDS UNSOLD CAR STOCKPILE

Houston…We have a problem!…Nobody is buying brand new cars anymore!  Well they are, but not on the scale they once were.  Millions of brand new unsold cars are just sitting redundant on runways and car parks around the world.  There, they stay, slowly deteriorating without being maintained.

Below is an image of a massive car park at Swindon, United Kingdom, with thousands upon thousands of unsold cars just sitting there with not a buyer in sight. The car manufacturers have to buy more and more land just to park their cars as they perpetually roll off the production line.

cars 2

There is proof that the worlds recession is still biting and wont let go.  All around the world there are huge stockpiles of unsold cars and they are being added to every day.  They have run out of space to park all of these brand new unsold cars and are having to buy acres and acres of land to store them.

NOTE:

The images on this webpage showing all of these unsold cars are just a very small portion of those around the world.  There are literally thousands of these “car parks” rammed full of unsold cars in practically every country on the planet.  Just in case you were wondering, these images have not been Photoshopped, they are the real deal!

Its hard to believe that there are so many unsold cars in the world but its true.  The worse part is that the amount of unsold cars keeps on getting bigger every day.

Read moreMust-See Photos: Where The World’s Unsold Cars Go To Die

Bernanke Shocker: ‘No Rate Normalization During My Lifetime’

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Bernanke Shocker: “No Rate Normalization During My Lifetime” (ZeroHedege, May 16, 2014):

Forget all talk about “dots“, “6 months”, or any other prognostication from the Fed’s new leadership about what will happen in the near and not so near future. For the real answer prepare to shelve out the usual fee of $250,000 for an hour with the Chairsatan, or read Reuters’ account of what others who have done so, have learned. The answer is a stunner.

“At least one guest left a New York restaurant with the impression Bernanke, 60, does not expect the federal funds rate, the Fed’s main benchmark interest rate, to rise back to its long-term average of around 4 percent in Bernanke’s lifetime. “Shocking when he said this,” the guest scribbled in his notes. “Is that really true?” he scribbled at another point, according to the notes reviewed by Reuters.”
To think one could have read Zero Hedge for free for the past 5 years and gotten the same answer (time for a pop quiz: pumping liquidity into a closed system in perpetuity is i) inflationary or ii) deflationary?). But no, one would rather pay Bernanke’s former annual salary in less than an hour to get the answer from the same person who infamously stated that “subprime was contained”, that “there is no housing bubble”, and that he doesn’t buy the premise of house price declines as there has never been a “decline of house prices on a nationwide basis.

Still, one can’t blame Bernanke for providing a service that the market (one market the former chairman didn’t manage to break with his central planning spree, unlike all other markets) demands. Alan Greenspan waited only a week after his departure before addressing a private dinner hosted by Lehman Brothers, the investment bank whose collapse in 2008 sent the financial crisis into high gear.

Bernanke’s private dinners, all of which cost around $250,000 began near the end of March, roughly two months after his retirement.

Read moreBernanke Shocker: ‘No Rate Normalization During My Lifetime’

Moscow Says Massive ‘Holy Grail’ Gas Deal With China Is 98% Ready

Moscow Says Massive “Holy Grail” Gas Deal With China Is 98% Ready (ZeroHedge, May 16, 2014):

We have previously profiled the “holy grail” gas deal between Russia and China on several occasions, and with its announcement scheduled for next week (barring some unmitigated disaster) during Putin’s first visit to China since Xi’s appointment as president last March, it is time to do a status update on where it stands even if according to SCMP, at this point finding the “holy grail” is merely a formality.

The Hong Kong publication reports that China and Russia hope to sign a massive deal for natural gas supply when their leaders meet in a regional summit in Shanghai next week, a senior diplomat has said. Under the deal, Russia will supply 38 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually to China for 30 years. Deputy Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping told reporters yesterday that President Xi Jinping would discuss the deal and other points of co-operation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who will visit Shanghai on Tuesday.

Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky said on Monday that the deal was “98 per cent ready”. Supply would begin no later than the end of 2018.

Putin and Xi

Indicating just how important China now is to Russia, Bloomberg adds that traveling with Putin will be the who-is-who of Russian politics and business:

Read moreMoscow Says Massive ‘Holy Grail’ Gas Deal With China Is 98% Ready

US Unemployment Rate Hits 37.2%

Related Info:

RECOVERY: The Number Of Working Age Americans Without A Job Has Risen By 27 MILLION Since 2000

Another Million People Drop Out Of Labor Force – Now An All Time High 92 Million People Are Out Of The Labor Force

Wall Street Adviser: Actual Unemployment Is 37.2%, ‘Misery Index’ Worst In 40 Years


–  US Unemployment Rate Hits 37.2% (Wealthy Debates, May 14, 2014):

Don’t believe the happy talk coming out of the White House, Federal Reserve and Treasury Department when it comes to the real unemployment rate and the true “Misery Index.” Because, according to an influential Wall Street advisor, the figures are a fraud.

In a memo to clients provided to Secrets, David John Marotta calculates the actual unemployment rate of those not working at a sky-high 37.2 percent, not the 6.7 percent advertised by the Fed, and the Misery Index at over 14, not the 8 claimed by the government.

Read moreUS Unemployment Rate Hits 37.2%

Ukraine’s Richest Man Mobilizes Private ‘Army’ After Assets Threatened

Ukraine’s Richest Man Mobilizes Private ‘Army’ After Assets Threatened (ZeroHedge, May 16, 2014):

Rinat Akhmetov – Ukraine’s richest man with an estimated worth of $11.4 billion – has, as Reuters reports, acquired almost feudal status in the industrial hub of Donetsk in the past 20 years – but the separatist rebellions there have altered the dynamics of power. This is not acceptable to the billionaire and so he has demanded his miners and metalworkers join police on patrol on Mariupol. As pro-Russian rebels declaring independence seized public buildings across the steel and coal belt which is the basis of his colossal fortune, he issued repeated written statements in support of a united Ukraine… but the media-shy 47-year-old, who has a workforce of 300,000 people on his payroll in the Donbass, has to tread carefully around local sensitivities and has avoided specifically condemning the action of the separatists.

Bloomberg summarizes his wealth…

Read moreUkraine’s Richest Man Mobilizes Private ‘Army’ After Assets Threatened

Food Prices Skyrocket: ‘We’re Going To Have A Major Problem Coming Into The Fall’

Related info:

The Beginning Of The End Of Precious Metals Manipulation: The London Silver Fix Is Officially Dead:

The London Silver Market Fixing Limited (the ‘Company’) announces that it will cease to administer the London Silver Fixing with effect from close of business on 14 August 2014.


Report: Food Prices Skyrocket: “We’re Going to Have a Major Problem Coming Into the Fall” (SHFTplan, May 15, 2014):

While government statisticians claim robust growth, recent data points suggest otherwise. Consumers are quickly running out of money, home sales have collapsed and hit their biggest drop in three years, there are more Americans out of the labor force than ever before, and one third of adults under the age of 35 are living with their parents because they can no longer afford to pay their own mortgage.

By all accounts, the reality is that we are now factually in a recession, a point further emphasized by the recent revelation that American companies are experiencing near zero percent earnings growth.

Read moreFood Prices Skyrocket: ‘We’re Going To Have A Major Problem Coming Into The Fall’

European Bonds Tumble Most In 15 Months, Stocks Slammed

European Bonds Tumble Most In 15 Months, Stocks Slammed (ZeroHedge, May 15, 2014):

The one-way street in European peripheral bond yields/spreads… is over. Today saw Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese bond spreads smashed higher by the most in over 15 months. European stock markets all tumbled too with the FTSE-100 down over 3.5% and Portugal down 2.8%. Greece’s retroactive tax idea (quickly denied) drove Greek stocks into the red for the year and slammed the new GGB issue lower. Europe’s credit markets cratered wider and Europe’s VIX burst back over 17.

 

 

Russia Dumps 20% Of Its Treasury Holdings As Mystery ‘Belgium’ Buyer Adds Another Whopping $40 Billion

Putin chess

Russia Dumps 20% Of Its Treasury Holdings As Mystery “Belgium” Buyer Adds Another Whopping $40 Billion (ZeroHedge, May 15, 2014):

Back in mid-March, there was a brief scare after the start of the Ukraine conflict, when Fed custody holdings plunged by a record $104.5 billion (if promptly bouncing back the following week), leading many to believe that Russia may have dumped its Treasurys, or at least change its bond custodian. We noted that we wouldn’t have a definitive answer until the May TIC number came out to know for sure how much Russia had sold, or if indeed, anything. Moments ago the May TIC numbers did come out, and as expected, Russia indeed dumped a record $26 billion, or some 20% of all of its holdings, bringing its post-March total to just over $100 billion – the lowest since the Lehman crisis.

Russia TSY March

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But as shocking as this largely pre-telegraphed dump was, it pales in comparison with what Zero Hedge first observed, is the country that has quietly and quite rapidly become the third largest holder of US paper: Belgium. Or rather, “Belgium” because it is quite clear that it is not the country of Begium who is engaging in this unprecedented buying spree of US paper, but some account acting through Belgian custody.

This is how we explained it last month:

Read moreRussia Dumps 20% Of Its Treasury Holdings As Mystery ‘Belgium’ Buyer Adds Another Whopping $40 Billion

Geithner Confirms Mafia-Linked Berlusconi’s Forced Ouster, But Says US Did Not ‘Have Blood On Our Hands’

Geithner Confirms Mafia-Linked Berlusconi’s Forced Ouster, But Says US Did Not “Have Blood On Our Hands” (ZeroHedge, May 14, 2014):

Silvio Berlusconi – ironically nicknamed “The Teflon Don” – has been found to have done business with the Sicilian Mafia for nearly two decades, according to Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation in Rome. Having attacked the “biased judges” who called his actions “a continuous crime,” Berlusconi wriggled out from under this result since the link to the Cosa Nostra was, as The Independent reports, via his conduit and former senator Marcello Dell’Utri who was sentenced to 7 years for mafia association. While this confirms as fact yet another conspiracy theory, the bigger story was the confirmation of a broad-based bloodless coup to ouster the Italian Prime Minister at the peak of the credit crisis. “At one point that fall, a few European officials approached us with a scheme to try to force Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi out of power,” Tim Geithner writes in his new book, and after telling the President about “this surprising invitation,” they decided not to get involved (publicly): “We can’t have his blood on our hands.”

Conpsiracy “Fact” #1: Berlusconi linked to the Mafia

As The Independent reports,

Silvio Berlusconi – Italy’s former Prime Minister and one of the world’s most recognisable politicians – did business with the mafia for nearly two decades.

Read moreGeithner Confirms Mafia-Linked Berlusconi’s Forced Ouster, But Says US Did Not ‘Have Blood On Our Hands’

Vietnamese Mob Burns Foreign Factories In Anti-China Riots (21 Dead, 90 Injured)

Vietnamese Mob Burns Foreign Factories In Anti-China Riots (21 Dead, 90 Injured) (ZeroHedge, May 14, 2014):

UPDATE 2: Reuters reports  – citing a doctor at Ha Tinh Hopsital – 21 dead (5 Vietnamese, 16 “described as Chinese”)

UPDATE 1: The Standard reports Anti-chinese riot leaves 1 dead, 90 injured in Vietnam

A top Taiwanese diplomat says rioters have stormed a large Taiwanese steel mill in Vietnam, killing at least one Chinese worker and injuring 90 more.

Ambassador to Vietnam Huang Chih-peng said the violence took place late Wednesday and early Thursday at the Formosa steel mill in central Vietnam.

Anti-Chinese sentiment has been running high in Vietnam ever since Beijing deployed an oil rig into disputed waters in the South China Sea on May 1.

Read moreVietnamese Mob Burns Foreign Factories In Anti-China Riots (21 Dead, 90 Injured)

From Rothschild To Koch Industries: Meet The People Who ‘Fix’ The Price Of Gold

Gold fix teaser_0

–  From Rothschild To Koch Industries: Meet The People Who “Fix” The Price Of Gold (ZeroHedge, May 14, 2014):

Earlier today many were stunned when the historic, 117-year old, London Silver Fix announced that in three months it would no longer exist. However, silver is only one half of the world’s two best known precious metals. Which is why we decided to take a long, hard look at that other fix: gold.

The reason for this particular inquiry is because in the aftermath of the rapid and dramatic departure of the world’s largest bank by outstanding notional derivatives, and Europe’s biggest bank by any metric, Deutsche Bank, from the precious metal fix, something felt out of place: almost as if the participants of the “fixing” process which for so many years took place in the office of none other than Rothschild on St. Swithin’s Lane in London, were suddenly scrambling to disappear without a trace.

In conducting our research we hope to not only memorialize just who are these particular individuals who “fix” gold using nothing but publicly available information of course – because after all it is not as if they have anything to hide or fear – but to connect some of the very peculiar dots behind the scenes of what to some, is the original, and most manipulated market in history – that of gold.

Read moreFrom Rothschild To Koch Industries: Meet The People Who ‘Fix’ The Price Of Gold

Here’s Why The Baltic Dry Index Is Collapsing (In 1 Image)

–  Here’s Why The Baltic Dry Index Is Collapsing (In 1 Image) (ZeroHedge, May 14, 2014):

If ever there was a better indication of the mal-investment boom created by an interfering Fed, this is it. As demand for shipping collapses on real slowing in the global economy – markets have “told” shipbuilders to “build it and they will come”here is a ship-shipping ship, shipping shipping ships…

Here's Why The Baltic Dry Index Is Collapsing