Mystery trader captures 80pc of London's copper market

The unknown buyer has been building up the dominant position since at least last week, putting a squeeze on the market.

According to the rules of the London Metal Exchange, the trader must lend out copper if it holds between 50pc and 80pc of the total to maintain day-to-day liquidity in the market. The trader is currently lending at a 0.5pc premium to the cash price.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/mining/8178797/Mystery-trader-captures-80pc-of-Londons-copper-market.html

The U.S. Economy: Stand by for more worse news

http://www.opinion-maker.org/2010/11/the-u-s-economy-stand-by-for-more-worse-news/?bcsi_scan_24DE46460B4E2EF0=AgVmUkD3hmJGXpNCdZqZQsqfpPMQAAAAzRyTCw==

More than 8 million drop out of credit card use

An analysis by credit reporting agency TransUnion found that use of general purpose credit cards bearing MasterCard or Visa logos, or issued by Discover or American Express, fell more than 11 percent in the third quarter, compared with the July to September period last year.

About 62 million people now have an active card, compared with 70 million a year ago.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/More-than-8-million-drop-out-apf-2027074900.html?x=0

China’s gold imports surge fivefold

The surge, which comes as Chinese investors look for insurance against rising inflation and currency appreciation, puts Beijing on track to overtake India as the world’s largest consumer of gold and a significant force in global gold prices.

The size of the imports – more than 209 tonnes of gold during the first 10 months of the year, a fivefold increase from an estimate of 45 tonnes last year – was revealed on Thursday. In the past, China has kept the volume secret.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9742847e-fe3e-11df-abac-00144feab49a.html#axzz171Ea6BLb

Fed aid in financial crisis went beyond U.S. banks to industry, foreign firms

The Fed's efforts to prop up the financial sector reached across a broad spectrum of the economy, benefiting stalwarts of American industry including General Electric and Caterpillar and household-name companies such as Verizon, Harley-Davidson and Toyota. The central bank's aid programs also supported U.S. subsidiaries of banks based in East Asia, Europe and Canada while rescuing money-market mutual funds held by millions of Americans.

The biggest users of the Fed lending programs were some of the world's largest banks, including Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Swiss-based UBS and Britain's Barclays, according to more than 21,000 loan records released Wednesday under new financial regulatory legislation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/01/AR2010120106870.html

Why Owning Cash Is More Speculative Than Owning Gold

This sums up the problem. Instead of gold, people commonly think of paper money as the only medium of exchange and as a store of value; cash is after all their unit of account. They see the gold price rising when they should be seeing the value of paper money falling. Because cash is everyone’s unit of account it is wrongly seen as the ultimate risk-free asset. This is also the fund manager’s approach to investment: his/her investment returns are calculated in paper money, so she/he cannot account for a superior class of asset.

http://www.munknee.com/2010/12/why-owning-cash-is-more-speculative-than-owning-gold/

US Ready to Back Bigger EU Stability Fund

"There are a lot of people talking about that. I think the European Commission has talked about that," said the U.S. official, commenting on enlarging the 750 billion euro ($980 billion) EU/IMF European stability fund. "It is up to the Europeans. We will certainly support using the IMF in these circumstances."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/40454469

Fed ID's companies that used crisis aid programs

New documents show that the most loan and other aid for U.S. institutions over time went to Citigroup ($2.2 trillion), followed by Merrill Lynch ($2.1 trillion), Morgan Stanley ($2 trillion), Bear Stearns ($960 billion), Bank of America ($887 billion), Goldman Sachs ($615 billion), JPMorgan Chase ($178 billion) and Wells Fargo ($154 billion).

Foreign banks also benefited from the Fed's aid. They included Swiss bank UBS, which borrowed more than $165 billion, Deutsche Bank ($97 billion) and the Royal Bank of Scotland ($92 billion).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101201/ap_on_bi_ge/us_fed_crisis_lending

European banks took big slice of Fed aid---AMAZING

Foreign banks were among the biggest beneficiaries of the $3,300bn in emergency credit provided by the Federal Reserve during the crisis, according to new data on the extraordinary efforts of the US authorities to save the global financial system.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4dd95e42-fd6d-11df-a049-00144feab49a.html#axzz16wOOtIT9

Fed made $9 trillion in emergency overnight loans

WOW---this is AMAZING!!!

The Federal Reserve made $9 trillion in overnight loans to major banks and Wall Street firms during the financial crisis, according to newly revealed data released Wednesday.

The loans were made through a special loan program set up by the Fed in the wake of the Bear Stearns collapse in March 2008 to keep the nation's bond markets trading normally.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/01/news/economy/fed_reserve_data_release/index.htm?hpt=T2

Spain could be forced to seek a bail-out within months, warns Barclays

The weight of bank debt needing refinancing next year could threaten Spain's solvency and force it to become the next European country to seek a bail-out, according to a report from the investment banking arm of Barclays.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/8163705/Spain-could-be-forced-to-seek-a-bail-out-within-months-warns-Barclays.html

Save The Dollar, Not The Fed

The problem with government is that when it isn't benefiting politicians, bureaucrats and special interests at the expense of everyone else, its handy work is aimed at the symptoms of problems rather than at the problems themselves. This misdirection not only masks the true cause of problems it also exacerbates them, which, as Ronald Reagan said, makes government part of the problem, not the solution. The more problems government attempts to solve, the more new problems it creates for itself to solve, a sort of bureaucratic perpetual motion machine.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/11/24/dollar-inflation-federal-reserve-opinions-contributors-lawrence-hunter.html?boxes=Homepagelighttop

Pension reserve funds to be spent on banks

UP to €15 billion from the National Pensions Reserve Fund, set aside when the Celtic Tiger was still roaring, is likely to be used to recapitalise three of the country’s banks.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/home/pension-reserve-funds-to-be-spent-on-banks-137796.html

Caterpillar issues first note in Chinese currency

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) -- A finance subsidiary of heavy machinery maker Caterpillar Inc. will issue its first-ever medium-term note that is denominated in the Chinese currency, the yuan.

Caterpillar Financial Services Corp. said Wednesday that the issuance was conducted in Hong Kong for institutional investors and totaled 1 billion yuan, or about $150 million. The issuance is at a coupon rate of 2 percent, maturing in December 2012.

Cat Financial said its transaction is one of the first yuan-denominated issuances of this size by a multinational company. The company will use proceeds from the deal to fund Cat Financial as it provides competitive financing options for Caterpillar customers in China through its subsidiary, Caterpillar (China) Financial Leasing Co.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Caterpillar-issues-first-note-apf-3193389494.html?x=0

Silver Shortages Accelerate As Wholesale Supplies Plunge:

Is the Kriger/Keiser "Short Squeeze JPM to Oblivion" plan working? Judging by the wholesale availability of silver (or lack thereof) the answer is a resound yes. In Coin Updates News we read that "as of today, there are no longer any regular wholesale supplies of the 1 ounce through 100 ounce silver rounds and bars available for immediate delivery. It may be possible to locate incidental quantities of some product, but most wholesalers are now promising two to four weeks delivery to allow time for the silver to be fabricated."

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/silver-shortages-accelerate-wholesale-supplies-plunge-kriegerkesier-1-jp-morgan-0

BOB RUBIN: "US In Terribly Dangerous Territory," Bond Market May Be Headed For "Implosion"

Warning of the risk of an "implosion" in the bond market, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin says the soaring federal budget deficit and the Fed's quantitative easing are putting the U.S. in "terribly dangerous territory."

Rubin, who issued a similar warning about the bond market at The FT's "Future of Finance" conference in October, said Congress' vote on raising the deficit ceiling next spring could be the "trigger" for a rout in the Treasury market. Several Republican and Tea Party candidates vowed to not increase the government's debt ceiling unless Democrats agree to sharp cuts in spending that may not be politically tenable.

http://www.businessinsider.com/rubin-bond-market-implosion-2010-11

Why You Should Save Your Nickels – Massive Inflation Ahead

What is inflation you may ask? Rather than explain using complicated economic terms and charts I will show you first hand. Allow us to take a time machine back to the year 1960. A used car costs close to $800, a gallon of gas $0.31, a gallon of milk $0.49, and the cost of a new home was a mere $16,000. Reach into anyone’s pocket at that time and you will find something very different than you would today…Real Money. Quarter’s and dime’s were both made of 90% silver. By today’s current silver prices ($16.50 / oz) a single quarter would be worth about $3.00 and a dime would be about $1.20. Now just imagine if you could return to today’s time with a pocket full of 1960′s quarters and dimes.

http://recessionreadyamerica.com/2009/09/why-you-should-save-your-nickels-massive-inflation-ahead/

Dollar to Become World's `Weakest Currency,' Drop to 75 Yen JPMorgan Says

The dollar may fall below 75 yen next year as it becomes the world’s “weakest currency” due to the Federal Reserve’s monetary-easing program, according to JPMorgan & Chase Co.

The Fed said on Nov. 3 it will buy $75 billion of Treasuries a month through June to cap borrowing costs. The central bank has kept its benchmark rate in a range of zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008. The Bank of Japan on Oct. 5 cut its key rate to a range of zero to 0.1 percent and set up a 5 trillion yen ($59.9 billion) asset-purchase fund.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-18/dollar-to-become-world-s-weakest-currency-drop-to-75-yen-jpmorgan-says.html

Food price index jumps 10.30%

India's food price index rose 10.30%, while the fuel price index climbed 10.57% in the year to Nov. 6, government data on Thursday showed.

In the prior week, annual food and fuel inflation stood at 12.30% and 10.67%, respectively.

The primary articles price index was up 13.30% in the latest week compared with an annual rise of 14.87% a week earlier.

The wholesale price index , the most widely watched gauge of prices in India, rose 8.58% in October from a year earlier compared with 8.62% in September, data on Monday showed.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/food-price-index-jumps-1030-_499955.html

China to subsidize food after price spike

BEIJING – China's government announced food subsidies for poor families Wednesday as it tries to cool a double-digit surge in prices that communist leaders worry might stir unrest.

The Cabinet promised to ease shortages of vegetables and grain that helped push up food prices by more than 10 percent in October. It promised more supplies of diesel to end fuel shortages that have disrupted trucking and industry.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101117/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_inflation