dieuwer

A Central Bank Bidding War for Gold?

IMF sells 10 tonnes of gold to Sri Lanka

www.google.com/hostedn...

Bonds vs. Bond ETFs

I suggest TreasuryDirect

Gold Is Rallying: Now Where Do We Keep It?

Silver practically insures itself. If you stuff 5000 ounces of silver in a secure vault in your own home, a thief will have a hard time moving the ~500 pound metal cube around.

If U.S. Stopped Issuing Treasuries, Would It Go Broke?

Of course there is an exception to the rule that a sovereign which borrows in its own currency can never be forced to default: Europe.
Consider this: Greece can issue government bonds denominated in euros. It is their currency. However, since the ECB is outside the jurisdiction of the Greek government, Greece cannot just print euros to pay off debt in case of impending default.
This is a very dangerous situation that will lead to a) default, or b) break-down of the euro-zone.

On Nov 20 08:44 PM Edward Harrison wrote:

> Exactly! A sovereign which borrows in its own currency can never
> voluntarily be bankrupted. It's different for Spain, which has no
> sovereign currency.
>
> The real issues in a fiat currency regime are inflation, devaluation
> and taxation. All the talk of national bankruptcy assumes a gold
> standard environment.
>
> On Nov 20 02:57 PM Tack wrote:

The U.S. Budget Challenge in International Context

The data for Greece is incorrect.

After implementing a 2% tax on foreign purchases of equities and fixed income to slow down the appreciation of the real, Brazil plans a 1.5% tax on American Depository Receipts to keep investors from flowing out of the local market. It'll be charged to companies when they deposit the shares in the Brazilian banks making the transaction.

This move by the Brazilian government smells like protectionism. Time for the WTO to become involved.
Otherwise, the US should start taxing Brazilian banks with offices in the US.

Brazil's ETF and Economy Are Just Getting Started

I was wondering the same

Japanese Equities: An Elusive Value Trap

As long as there is a willing BOJ, prices of JGBs can stay elevated. In principle, the BOJ could announce that they will buy unlimited quantities of JGBs at par for eternity.
Therefore, it is not the price or yield of JGBs that is important, but the purchasing power of JGBs.

Why Warren Buffett Loves Wells Fargo

Technically, banks do not need private deposits to survive. Banks can borrow money from the FED for free and deposit in their own accounts, or use it to invest/speculate.

On Nov 16 01:55 PM Mark Anthony wrote:

> ...I believe, without a sound monetary system, it is impossible to have a sound banking industry. This is where we are right now. The US dollar is going to collapse to ZERO, all banks will be destroyed in the process. No one is going to leave money in a bank when hyper-inflation hits. Without depositor customers, all banks are out of business.<

Coal, Grain and Imports Make Burlington Northern Another Good Move By Buffett

SEA is not a dry shipper, it's a shipping ETF!

Coal, Grain and Imports Make Burlington Northern Another Good Move By Buffett

Mark, what do you think of SEA?

But since a lot of people now "get it", the opportunity might no longer be there.

Coal, Grain and Imports Make Burlington Northern Another Good Move By Buffett

China just announced the built of a strategic coal reserve. Buffett much be pleased with his "foresight".

Buffett's Burlington Buy Is Really a Bet on China

The bulb is now glowing extremely bright. China is planning a strategic coal reserve! And of course BNI will more than happy to rail the coal from the Midwest to Long Beach and subsequently on a ship to China. Buffett must have had Chinese insider info :)

U.S. mutual fund inflows year-to-date hit $314B in October, compared with the $154B investors yanked in 2008, according to Morningstar's monthly report (.pdf). On the month, funds gained $40B, but equity funds lost $8B - a second straight monthly decline. In fact, U.S. stock funds are off $4.4B YTD, global stock funds are up $16B, while bond funds have taken in $296B.

Pump up the bond bubble! Yay!!!

Marc Faber Is Conflicted About the Price of Gold

You take reports in news outlets about comments Marc Faber supposedly makes at face value. I find that naive, and foolish at best:

1) News outlets could abuse Marc Fabers' name to get the attention of readers, accuracy or no.
2) News outlets could quote Marc Faber correctly, but Marc Faber himself may talk his book when performing on these news outlets.
3) Marc Faber may have changed his mind in the mean time.

Personally, I do take statements Marc Faber supposedly makes in news outlets with a HUGE grain of salt. I do however value his Gloom-Boom-Doom (GBD) reports greatly.
Why? Because that is how Marc Faber makes part of his money. If he would piss-off his GBD subscribers by 'lying' in the GBD report , he would quickly loose his suscriber audience and thus a large part of his income.