The latest numbers released by China’s statistics bureau fueled widespread concerns about the outlook of the global economy, as the Asian superpower reported its slowest growth rate since 1990. The figures showed a 6.6% growth for 2018, confirming the view that the growth engine of the world economy is running out of steam. Deep-seeded vulnerabilities, …
Category: Finance
Crypto-crash: An optimistic post-mortem – Part II
Blatant security deficits and rampant fraud Over the last year, news of crypto hacks and heists became so prevalent that the new breaches were hardly worthy of reporting anymore. Among the headliners, however, was the Coincheck case, the Japanese exchange that lost over $530 million worth of the NEM cryptocurrency, as was Zaif, another exchange …
Crypto-crash: An optimistic post-mortem – Part I
2018 was an Annus Horribilis for the entire crypto industry. Believers and crypto enthusiasts, swept up by the rally of 2017, found themselves on the wrong side of a crashing market. On the right side where the early critics, who were once accused of cynicism and a lack of imagination for calling the crypto market a …
Money: How its past predicts its future – The denationalization of money!
What is money, where does it come from and more importantly where does it go? At first glance, it might appear inexplicable and bizarre that our governments and our rulers have managed to keep their stronghold over the monetary system for 2000 years, especially when one thinks about the countless ways in which they abused …
Italy: The brewing storm
Over the last couple of years, the main challenge to EU cohesion has been Brexit, with the media sharply focused on the negotiations and all relevant developments. Since the release of the draft withdrawal agreement, largely perceived as a victory for the EU, those who support the European project and believe in a strong leadership …
Venezuela: when fiat money reaches its intrinsic value
Over the last years, Venezuela has become a modern poster child for the failure of socialism and with good reason. It offers an abundance of lessons and stern warnings for many western nations, but it also provides a very insightful and relevant reminder for individual investors too. Economic, social and human costs Within the space …
The many traps of paper gold
As the historic bull market is approaching its end, with volatility increasing and investor anxiety climbing, interest in gold is sure to be soon renewed. After stock markets revert to an uncertain, bearish stage, a seismic shift towards safety and capital preservation is bound to take place. Nervous investors looking for shelter in a time-tested …
BIG PICTURE: PAPER MONEY VS. GOLD
“A trillion is hard to truly take in and understand; $80 trillion in debt is something already so far beyond our grasp, that it might as well be $100, $200, or $300 and it would almost make no conceptual difference. A good way to correct this dissonance is just think about the fact that 1 …
Former JP Morgan trader pleads guilty to manipulating US metals markets for years
“New York-based J.P. Morgan declined to comment on the case through a spokesman. It was reported earlier by the Financial Times.” An ex-J.P. Morgan Chase trader has admitted to manipulating the U.S. markets of an array of precious metals for about seven years — and he has implicated his supervisors at the bank. John Edmonds, …
Impact Is Imminent: Getting Into Gold, Getting Out of the Euro (and Dollar)
by Patrick Henningsen – this article was originally published on 21st Century Wire. It’s been a decade since the financial crash of 2008 which we now know was orchestrated by Wall Street and a compromised US Treasury Dept. Many believe that the very practice which triggered the collapse back then – the inflation of the …