Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Tuesday, April 24, 2012,
In :
Gold and Silver
In Chapter 3 of The Ultimate Guide to Storing Gold and Silver Overseas, I wrote: "In the next few years, investors around the world are going to look at the gigantic U.S. government debt and simultaneously decide that there is zero chance it will ever be paid back. Thereafter, interest rates will begin a steady climb higher (see Greece, 2011) to reflect the risk, making it harder and harder for the government to fund itself."
I then wrote Washington might respond by taking the following action... Continue reading ...
About 20 jailed foreign businessmen have gone on hunger strike in Dubai to protest against lengthy sentences for writing checks that bounced, a criminal offence in the United Arab Emirates.
Many of the hunger strikers fell victim to Dubai’s once-thriving real estate market, struggling to meet their payments when boom turned to bust in 2008. Twelve face sentences of more than 20 years because each bounced check can translate into a jail term of up to three years.
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Monday, April 23, 2012,
In :
Economy
This morning on CNBC's Squawk Box, guest host Ron Paul stated that the U.S. dollar had lost 97% of it's value since the Federal Reserve came into existence. In the following segment, one of the CNBC anchors asked guest Stephen Roach if that 97% figure was correct. Roach, who is an economist, retorted by saying, "No, not even close. I would challenge the congressman's numbers. How we
lost 97% of the purchasing power of the dollar, relative to what?"
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Friday, April 13, 2012,
In :
Culture
InterContinental is in the process of using an abandoned quarry in China to build the world's first underground hotel. The 19 story hotel will have 16 stories underground plus an underwater restaurant. As you can see from the pictures, it's going to be a monumental task to pull this off.
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Thursday, April 12, 2012,
In :
Stocks
Thanks to the reckless low-interest rate policies of the Federal Reserve, many retirees are having a very difficult time earning enough money to live on. In a search for yield, many retirees are purchasing fixed income annuities. These annuities offer immediate income in exchange for a single, up-front payment. Today, Vanguard offers a 60-year old woman a $464 monthly payment ($5,568/year) for the rest of her life, in exchange for $100,000. Given a 23 year life expectancy for a 60-year ol... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Sunday, April 8, 2012,
In :
Gold and Silver
Thanks to everyone who purchased my book this weekend! The Ultimate Guide to Storing Gold and Silver Overseas is now a best-seller, it currently ranks as the #10 best selling investment book on Amazon (it was up to #8 but who's counting). A big thanks to Ed Steer for mentioning the book in his newsletter (Ed's daily column is a must-read, check it out).
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Saturday, April 7, 2012,
In :
Economy
Motley Fool has an interesting post up, with 50 statistics that are surprising, disheartening and/or alarming. Here are a few of my favorites:
The S&P 500 is down 3% from 2000. But a version of the index that holds all 500 companies in equal amounts (rather than skewed by market cap) is up nearly 90%.
In November 2009, the nationwide unemployment was around 10%. But dig into demographics, and the rates are incredibly skewed. The unemployment rate for young, uneducated African-American males wa...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Thursday, April 5, 2012,
In :
Politics
As you may have heard, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that anyone who is arrested can be strip searched at the whim of the police. Doesn't matter if it was a non-violent crime, if you are later proven innocent, if you were profiled or if you lack a history of arrests. In the case Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington, the Court made it clear no matter how flimsy the charges or non-violent the crime they're leaving the decision of strip searches up to the police. ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Tuesday, April 3, 2012,
In :
Gold and Silver
COMEX is the futures and options exchange where the price of many
commodities is set, including silver. Since peaking at 138.5 million
ounces in August 2008, the COMEX silver inventory dropped sharply for nearly
three straight years and bottomed this past June at 98 million ounces.
This rapid drop led many silver observers to believe we were on the
precipice of a severe supply crunch in silver that would lead to a
skyrocketing silver price
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Monday, April 2, 2012,
In :
Energy
Anyone renting a car these days will want to make sure they're bringing it back with a full tank of gas. The Hertz rental office in Fountain Hills, AZ is gouging their customers for $9.29/gallon if they don't bring it back full. That is legalized stealing.
