Gold, Silver, Copper, Nickel and the Slow Death of Money

A huge opportunity to hedge against both inflation and deflation is lying out there in the open. There are no transaction costs and right now there’s even a built-in discount. But most people will never realize any of this.

In 1933 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102, which made it illegal for U.S. citizens to hold gold bullion.

Prior to that, the $20 bill was essentially a warehouse receipt for a one-ounce gold coin. Prior to the Federal Reserve Act of 1914, the $20 bill actually told you this.

http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/gold-silver-copper-nickel-and-the-slow-death-of-money/

Oil rises to $104 a barrel amid Middle East tensions

Brent crude rose above $104 a barrel late on Wednesday and remained there on Thursday after Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister, said two Iranian warships planned to sail through the Suez canal en route to Syria.

Aside from fresh Israel-Iran tensions, oil traders are also worried about unrest in Bahrain, where riot police killed protestors, and oil-rich Libya.

They fear the kind of disturbances that toppled the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia could spread to other oil-producing Middle East nations.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/8329359/Oil-rises-to-104-a-barrel-amid-Middle-East-tensions.html#

Rising wholesale prices spur inflation concerns

Steady improvement in the economy may soon come at a price -- faster inflation.

Shoes, clothes, tires, plastics and other products all cost more at the wholesale level last month, putting pressure on businesses to pass the increases along to their customers.

The hikes also give ammunition to critics who fear that the Federal Reserve's bold steps to strengthen the economy have started to feed inflation and need to be reined in. Those critics include some Fed officials.

A widely watched measure of wholesale inflation, the core Producer Price Index, rose 0.5 percent last month, the largest monthly increase since October 2008. The entire index, which includes volatile gas and food prices, rose 0.8 percent.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Rising-wholesale-prices-spur-apf-2005267013.html?x=0

The Food Crisis is a Dollar Crisis

At this week’s hearing on Capitol Hill, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke demonstrated a lack of understanding about what causes inflation. His comments reflected a belief that GDP growth causes inflation.

But true economic growth is production-driven, and adds to the supply of goods and services in the economy. True economic growth is not inflationary. Rather, inflation is driven by runaway government deficits and bloated central bank balance sheets. And right now, we have plenty of both. So we have every reason to expect the CPI, even with all of its window-dressing shenanigans, to soar past 2% in short order.

http://dailyreckoning.com/the-food-crisis-is-a-dollar-crisis/

China sells $34.2bn of US treasury bonds

China sold $34bn (£21.5bn) worth of US government bonds in December, raising fears that ­Beijing is using its financial ­muscle to signal that it has lost confidence in American economic policy.

US treasury figures for the period ending in December 2009 show that, following the sale, China is no longer the largest overseas holder of US treasury bonds. Beijing ended the year sitting on $755.4bn worth of US government debt, compared to Japan's $768.8bn.

Since the sub-prime crisis that began on Main Street USA grew to engulf the global economy, China's leaders have repeatedly expressed concerns about US policy. December's $34bn sell-off made only a tiny dent in Beijing's total holdings of US assets, which amount to well over $1tn when stakes in American companies, as well as treasury bills, are taken into account.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/17/china-sells-us-treasury-bonds

U.S. Economy: Consumer Prices Rise More Than Forecast

The consumer-price index advanced 0.4 percent for a second month, led by the biggest increase in food costs in more than two years, according to figures today from the Labor Department in Washington. Other reports showed manufacturing is bolstering the expansion, and consumer confidence is being buffeted by rising household expenses.

Americans are paying more for air travel and clothing as growing economies in Asia and Latin America boost demand for commodities like oil and cotton. Another report today showing more people than projected filed claims for jobless benefits last week indicates workers don’t have the power to seek bigger pay increases, evidence inflation is unlikely to flare.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-17/consumer-prices-in-u-s-rise-more-than-forecast-on-higher-food-fuel-costs.html

World Bank: Food prices at "dangerous levels"

The World Bank's food price index rose by 15 percent between October and January alone. The increase has been driven by volatile global trading in wheat, corn and soybeans. Global corn futures more than doubled since this summer, from $3.50 to $7 a bushel, in part because of higher demand from developing countries and a growing biofuels industry.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110215/ap_on_bi_ge/us_food_prices

Oil prices fall on economy, supply concerns

Oil prices retreated Tuesday on concerns about growing supplies of crude in the U.S. and weak retail sales numbers that suggested consumers were spending less because of high energy prices.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude fell 66 cents to $84.15 a barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as $85.98 earlier in the session. In London, Brent crude fell 79 cents to $102.29 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9LDBTU02&show_article=1

Precious Metals Get Heavy

Investors have been flocking to precious metals as a safe haven, boosting prices for the likes of gold and platinum.

But that's putting a squeeze on companies that use the metals in industries as varied as construction equipment and film making.

Precious metals tend to keep their value even as inflation and economic uncertainty hurt investments like stocks and bonds. That has fueled a flood of investment in exchange-traded funds, which track benchmark indexes, that are backed by gold and other metals.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/precious-metals-weigh-on-manufacturers-2011-02-15

Obama budget plan shows interest owed on national debt quadrupling in next decade

Interest payments on the national debt will quadruple in the next decade and every man, woman and child in the United States will be paying more than $2,500 a year to cover for the nation's past profligacy, according to figures in President Obama's new budget plan.

Starting in 2014, net interest payments will surpass the amount spent on education, transportation, energy and all other discretionary programs outside defense. In 2018, they will outstrip Medicare spending. Only the amounts spent on defense and Social Security would remain bigger under the president's plan.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/16/AR2011021606897.html?nav=rss_email/components

Ross Perot - ECONOMIC crisis 2008 WOW

Giant Sucking Sound - Ross Perot 1992 Presidential Debate.flv

Economic Collapse - Peter Schiff - We "Probably" Won't Make It To 2012

Roubini’s Next Crisis Is Scary Food for Thought: William Pesek

Forget Egypt for a moment. Skip the water crisis in China. Look past angst on the streets of Bangladesh. If you want to see how extreme the effects of surging food prices are becoming, look to wealthy Japan.

So big are the increases that economists are buzzing about them pushing deflationary Japan toward inflation. Yes, rising costs for commodities such as wheat, corn and coffee might do what trillions of dollars of central-bank liquidity couldn’t.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-13/roubini-s-next-crisis-makes-food-for-thought-commentary-by-william-pesek.html

Major Food Distributor Sysco: “Immediate Volatile Prices, Expected Limited Availability, and Mediocre Quality at Best”

Adding to already rising food prices due to monetary inflation and weather related supply problems around the globe, one of the world’s leading food distribution companies, Sysco Corporation, is advising clients and their customers that the recent freeze across North America has significantly impacted growing operations in Mexico (as well as parts of the U.S.) leading to 80% - 100% crop damage:

http://www.shtfplan.com/commodities/major-food-distributor-sysco-immediate-volatile-prices-expected-limited-availability-and-mediocre-quality-at-best_02132011

Kraft says more price increases ahead

The company reported Thursday that price increases it made to cope with higher ingredient costs are not going to be enough to sustain its profitability and it plans further hikes this year.

As one of the world's largest food companies, Kraft is feeling the pinch from higher costs for wheat, corn, sugar and other commodities.

The company already raised prices on most of its products in Europe and more than half in North America. But it said its input costs rose nearly $500 million during the fourth quarter and its profit margins suffered accordingly.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Kraft-says-more-price-apf-2318617575.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=6&asset=&ccode=

Another blow for families: Fastest rise in prices of staple foods in five years

Bread, pasta, and packets and tins of food increased in cost by 2.7 per cent between December and January to reach an annual rate of 6.3 per cent, according to the British Retail Consortium.

Overall, the annual rate of food inflation jumped from 4 per cent to 4.6 per cent, despite claims of supermarkets to be waging a new year price war. This was the largest monthly increase in two years.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1355055/Food-prices-fastest-rise-5-years-blow-families.html