Month: October 2017

As the mainstream contonues to embrace cryptocurrencies – much to the chagrin of Jamie Dimon et al. in the establishment – CME Group is "responding to client interest" and launching a Bitcoin Futures contract in Q4.

CME Group says new contract will be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR) which serves as a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin.

Full CME Statement:

CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced it intends to launch bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of 2017, pending all relevant regulatory review periods.

The new contract will be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR) which serves as a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin.  Bitcoin futures will be listed on and subject to the rules of CME.

"Given increasing client interest in the evolving cryptocurrency markets, we have decided to introduce a bitcoin futures contract," said Terry Duffy, CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. 

 

"As the world's largest regulated FX marketplace, CME Group is the natural home for this new vehicle that will provide investors with transparency, price discovery and risk transfer capabilities."

Since November 2016, CME Group and Crypto Facilities Ltd. have calculated and published the BRR, which aggregates the trade flow of major bitcoin spot exchanges during a calculation window into the U.S. Dollar price of one bitcoin as of 4:00 p.m. London time. The BRR is designed around the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks. Bitstamp, GDAX, itBit and Kraken are the constituent exchanges that currently contribute the pricing data for calculating the BRR.

"We are excited to work with CME Group on this product and see the BRR used as the settlement mechanism of this important product," said Dr.Timo Schlaefer, CEO of Crypto Facilities.

 

"The BRR has proven to reliably and transparently reflect global bitcoin-dollar trading and has become the price reference of choice for financial institutions, trading firms and data providers worldwide."

CME Group and Crypto Facilities Ltd. also publish the CME CF Bitcoin Real Time Index (BRTI) to provide price transparency to the spot bitcoin market.  The BRTI combines global demand to buy and sell bitcoin into a consolidated order book and reflects the fair, instantaneous U.S. dollar price of bitcoin in a spot price. The BRTI is published in real time and is suitable for marking portfolios, executing intra-day bitcoin transactions and risk management.

Cryptocurrency market capitalization has grown in recent years to $172 billion, with bitcoin representing more than 54 percent of that total, or $94 billion.  The bitcoin spot market has also grown to trade roughly $1.5 billion in notional value each day.

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As CoinTelegraph noted previously, mainstream exchange embrace of Bitcoin could lead to less volatility and further acceptance and new opportunities.

 

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Via Dana Lyons' Tumblr,

On an equal-weight basis, the Nasdaq 100 just dropped to a relative all-time low.

There are many ways to measure the level of participation, i.e., the number of stocks that are taking part, in a stock market rally. One way is to look at the market’s “internals”, e.g., advances vs. declines, new highs vs. new lows, etc. As an indication of good quality participation, we like to see a high number of each of the former vs. each of the latter. Another way of measuring participation is by looking at indices on an equally-weighted basis instead of a cap-weighted basis. In the latter, an index may remain propped up by a relatively few number of stocks, if they are among the largest and most heavily weighted in the index. When that is the case, the market may be susceptible to weakness since it is being supported by just a relatively small number of issues. It could be argued that that is an apt description of the soaring Nasdaq market rally at present.

Why do we say that? As displayed in today’s Chart Of The Day, the equally-weighted Nasdaq 100 is now badly lagging the cap-weighted version. In fact, the relative performance of the First Trust Nasdaq 100 Equal Weight ETF (QQEW) just hit an all-time low when compared with the cap-weighted QQQ ETF.

Now admittedly, the inception of the QQEW was in 2006, so an “all-time” low is really just an 11-year low. Even still, that equates to more than a decade of data containing all variations of market environments. Furthermore, as the chart shows, the relative ratio hit proximate lows in 2008, 2012 and 2015-2017. Thus, the recent break to all-time lows does capture our attention.

But how threatening is this development? Is it really just a reflection of the overwhelming strength on the part of the Nasdaq’s mega-cap “generals”, like Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL)? Or is it a genuine warning of deteriorating participation among the “troops”?

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If you’re interested in the “all-access” version of our charts and research, please check out our new site, The Lyons Share. Considering what we believe will be a very difficult investment climate for perhaps years to come, there has never been a better time to reap the benefits of our risk-managed approach. Thanks for reading!

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A couple of days ago we noted the efforts of “wacky and totally unhinged Tom Steyer” (Trump’s description, not ours) to impeach President Trump.  The effort revolved around the launch of a $10 million campaign, which included a commercial during the World Series, to gather petition signatures calling for impeachment.  Here’s a brief summary of the petition:

This is not a time for “patience” — Donald Trump is not fit for office. It is evident that there is zero reason to believe “he can be a good president.”

 

Whether by the nature of Mr. Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin and Russia, his willingness to exploit the office of the Presidency for his personal gain and treat the government like a family enterprise, his conduct during Charlottesville, his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accords, or his seeming determination to take the nation to war, he has violated the Constitution, the office of the Presidency, and the trust of the public. He is a clear and present danger to the United States of America.

 

Given Trump’s total lack of fitness for office, the question of impeachment becomes a very real issue should we succeed in our midterm goal. That makes it imperative for every Governor of every state, and every mayor of every city, to acknowledge where they stand. This question affects the lives of every single American. They deserve to hear whether or not our party is willing to do what is necessary to protect them and their families. This is not an academic exercise. The very stability of the Republic is at stake.

You get the idea….

Not surprisingly, Steyer’s efforts quickly earned him the honor of a Trump tweet and a new moniker: “Wacky and totally unhinged Tom Steyer.”

Wacky & totally unhinged Tom Steyer, who has been fighting me and my Make America Great Again agenda from beginning, never wins elections!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2017

Now, according to Axios, Steyer has managed to gather a total of just over 1 million signatures on his petition in just a matter of 10 days…

Billionaire political activist Tom Steyer, who called for President Trump’s impeachment Oct. 20, with an ad that quickly went viral and was even noticed by the president, said he’s collected 1,119,720 signatures on his impeachment petition.

 

Our thought bubble: Impeachment proceedings are incredibly difficult to carry out, as we’ve written before. But more than a million names in ten days highlights the opposition to a president with a sub-40% approval rating.

…which should come as a surprise to precisely no one as there are still millions of disaffected Democrats all around the country who would sign almost any petition that brought with it the potential, however small, to disrupt the Presidency.

Of course, despite the hopes of Maxine Waters who we’re almost certain counts herself as one of the 1 million signatures, market odds still suggest that the notion of a Trump impeachment is fairly minimal…

…yet somehow we suspect these low odds won’t serve as a deterrent to determined dems.

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US national home prices are up 6.07% YoY in August – the fastest rate since June 2014.

 

Seattle (up 13.2 percent), Las Vegas (up 8.6 percent), and San Diego (up 7.8 percent) were the top three cities in terms of year-over-year price appreciation; all cities showed gains of at least 3 percent.

After seasonal adjustment, San Diego had the biggest month-over-month increase at 1 percent, while Atlanta was the only city to show a decline, at 0.2 percent.

Pushing home prices to a new record high…

“Home-price increases appear to be unstoppable,” David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said in a statement.

At the same time, “measures of affordability are beginning to slide, indicating that the pool of buyers is shrinking,” and the Fed’s interest-rate hikes are likely to push mortgage rates higher over time, “removing a key factor supporting rising home prices,” he said.

In fact, US homes have never been more unaffordable…

 

As all cities home prices are rising faster than earnings…

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Iran has started work on two $10 billion nuclear reactors in the Bushehr nuclear power plant, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Monday citing Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Work on the two reactors “will commence next week,” the state television website quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi as saying.

Salehi said that Russia will begin construction on the two nuclear reactors, with work set to begin a year after Tehran signed a contract with Moscow to build the two reactors at the existing Russian-built Bushehr power plant in southern Iran. A series of agreements signed between the two countries last year foresees eventually increasing the total number of Russian-built reactors in the country to nine.

The start of construction follows a historic deal between Iran and world powers in July that ends a decade-long standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program. According to the deal, Iran agreed to dramatically scale back its nuclear program, making it much more difficult for it to develop nuclear weapons. The accord does not however limit Iran’s development of civilian nuclear sites. Construction of the two reactors will be bankrolled by Iran, Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom, said last year.

Iran plans to build 20 more nuclear plants in the future, including four in Bushehr, to decrease its dependence on oil and gas. Russia had backed Iran during two years of nuclear negotiations with six world powers.

The two countries recently allied to prop up Syrian President Bashar Assad against opposition and jihadist groups, mainly the Islamic State organization. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin eased restrictions on the country’s companies working on Iranian enrichment sites, enabling Russian firms to help modify centrifuges at the Fordo enrichment site and help Tehran redesign its Arak heavy water reactor.

Under the terms of the July deal, Tehran agreed to slash by two-thirds the number of centrifuges, machines that can “enrich” or purify uranium to make it suitable for peaceful uses but also for a nuclear weapon. Russian companies, as well as those from other nations, are eyeing business opportunities after sanctions on Iran are lifted, expected in the next two months, as the nuclear deal reaches its “implementation” stage.

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White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders delivered the administration’s official response to yesterday’s developments in Special Counsel Bob Mueller’s probe into collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during a press conference yesterday, but just in case anybody has any doubts about the Trump administration’s attitude toward the indictments (not to mention Papadopoulos’s guilty plea), Chief of Staff John Kelly took to Fox News last night to echo his boss’s comments on the matter.

During an appearance on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle,” the retired Marine general reminded viewers that everybody is innocent until proven guilty. Kelly said Paul Manafort and Rick Gates’s alleged crimes, which were purportedly carried out between 2006 and 2015, happened long before they joined the Trump campaign. In a 12-count indictment unsealed yesterday, Manafort – a former Trump campaign executive – and Gates – Manafort’s longtime deputy – have been accused of a bevy of offenses, including tax fraud, money laundering, failing to disclose their foreign lobbying work, and conspiring against the US.

He also suggested that the administration has no plans to fire Mueller, as was reported yesterday, and also doesn't plan on taking steps to defund the investigation, like Steve Bannon reportedly suggested.

“All of the activities as I understand it that they were indicted for was long before they ever met Donald Trump or had any associated with the campaign. I think the reaction of the administration is let the legal justice system work, everyone is innocent until proven guilty and we’ll see where this goes.”

The indictment does not point to any of  Manafort’s work for Trump’s campaign, which took place between March of 2016 until his ouster in August.

Asked by Ingraham about morale in the West Wing, Kelly said members of the ‘”vast majority” of the White House staff are law-abiding citizens just trying to serve their country.  

“I think the staff is very comfortable we’re simply serving the nation. The vast majority of the staff would have nothing to do with this kind of thing.”

In addition to the indictments, court records unsealed yesterday revealed that George Papadopoulos, nominally a foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, pleaded guilty to charges of lying to FBI agents in the investigation.

Delivering a Kremlin-approved statement Tuesday morning, Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia wasn’t implicated in the first round of indictments, the Associated Press reported.

“So far Russia doesn’t figure in any way in these charges which have been made,” Peskov said, adding that he hopes they do not feed the anti-Russia “hysteria.”

Peskov adds that accusations of Russian meddling in the election remain “unfounded,” and “we are observing (the situation) with interest.”

Shortly after Manafort and Gates turned themselves in to the FBI on Monday, Trump emphatically tweeted that there was no evidence of collusion, adding that the alleged crimes took place long before the two men joined his campaign.

Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren't Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2017

….Also, there is NO COLLUSION!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2017

The president lashed out at "fake news" coverage of the indictments in three more tweets published Tuesday morning…

The Fake News is working overtime. As Paul Manaforts lawyer said, there was "no collusion" and events mentioned took place long before he…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

 

….came to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

 

I hope people will start to focus on our Massive Tax Cuts for Business (jobs) and the Middle Class (in addition to Democrat corruption)!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

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Stumbling UK Economy Shows Importance of Gold

– UK economy outlook bleak amid Brexit, debt woes and rising inflation
– Confidence in UK housing market at five-year low
– UK high street sales crash at fastest rate since 2009
– Number registering as insolvent in England and Wales hit a five-year high in Q3
– UK public finance hole of almost £20bn in the public finances set to grow to £36bn by 2021-22
– Protect your savings with gold in the face of increased financial woes in UK

This week markets will be watching the UK with baited breath as the Monetary Policy Committee meets this Thursday to discuss a potential rate rise.

Expectations of a rise have increased to 80% in the last week. If the Bank of England does raise rates it will be for the first time in a decade. It is unlikely to be a dramatic increase though, probably a rise of 25 basis points to reverse the emergency rate cut which followed the Brexit vote.

Should the UK decide to raise rates this will likely boost confidence somewhat in the economy. However any increase in positivity regarding the UK will be short lived once markets realise it will take more than a small rate rise to get the country out of the huge red hole it is currently digging its way into.

Brexit is being blamed for the majority of the UK’s woes at present, however this is merely a politician’s scapegoat. Confidence in the UK housing market has slipped to its lowest level in five years, family spending power has declined in five out of the last six months, the hole in public finances is likely to increase over 100% from the initial forecast by 2020, personal insolvencies are at a five year high and inflation has hit 3%.

These plus many more financial and economic problems have long been brewing. Problems with money naturally lead to social problems which end up exacerbating themselves further as individuals find continue to struggle on a daily basis.

Sadly the UK is in a real state of limbo thanks to Brexit, how the government will manage to solve the other significant issues such as rising debt levels (public and private), inflation and a slowing economy whilst managing EU negotiations is a feat yet to be witnessed.

We have been approaching a juncture for some time where we must decide as individual savers, investors, pensioners and future pensioners what the best way to prepare for the future is. Do we stand back and believe that the government has our best interests at heart or do we prepare for their failure? Their inability to support the value of the pound, protect interest rates, avoid bank bail-ins and solve the debt crisis are all situations that could see our own savings put at real risk.

Falling confidence both in and inside the UK 

Despite expectations of a rate rise, sterling stumbled in October thanks to weak economic data and more negative headlines regarding Brexit.

What’s the one thing governments like to say positively about a weak currency? That it’s good for exports…but not in the UK it’s not.

As we explained earlier this month, a much revered boost to UK exports following the Brexit vote was most likely down to our gold market. Now that the Chinese have calmed down on their gold shopping spree we are seeing what state the rest of the export market is really in.

The Guardian explains:

The trade deficit in goods hit a record high, as the gap between what the UK bought and sold widened in August to £14.2bn. That was much bigger than expected, and up from £12.8bn in July. Imports surged by 4.2% during the month, while exports only rose by 0.7%. The overall trade deficit, including services, widened to £5.6bn in August from £4.2bn in July.

…and from within things aren’t much better

Currency and export markets are not the only ones having a problem with the UK. There are nervous feelings much closer to home – in people’s own homes and on the high street.

A Halifax bank survey found one in five British adults surveyed expect house prices to fall over the next 12 months. This is the weakest reading for consumer expectations since October 2012.

This negativity regarding the housing market is thanks to concerns over the economy, weak wage growth and concerns over rising inflation. For years the UK government has rallied around the UK housing market, convincing citizens that owning a home was a right of passage. It seems the jig is up.

Most new buyers are losing faith in the housing market as not only is the cost of borrowing set to raise but raising the funds for a deposit is near impossible. In the three months to August there was negative wage growth, bringing the total number of months of negative growth to six for 2017, alone.

In all regions of the UK incomes have failed to rise by more than the current inflation rate of 3%. This is not only placing pressure on the housing market but also on consumer spending.

A ‘steep drop’ in retail sales was reported in the CBI survey this month, alongside orders placed with suppliers dropping at their fastest rate since the spring of 2009.

But people still need to eat, clothe themselves, keep a roof over their families’ heads and this is where the government has gone so badly wrong. By fuelling an era of cheap credit, stealthflation, zero-hour contracts and low wage growth families and individuals no longer know how to survive on their wage packets.

The annual rate of growth of consumer credit climbed is currently at 9.9%, having been as high as 10% in the summer.

According to Bank of England data, another £641m was put onto plastic in the month of September, the sharpest increase in debt since May 2016. The total credit card debt stock reached £69.4bn, the highest on record.

Unsurprisingly, this isn’t sustainable. The number of people registering as insolvent in England and Wales hit a five-year high in the third quarter

The number of those registering as insolvent is only set to get worse should interest rates rise. A hike would push up the cost of both secured and unsecured borrowing.

As Gillian Guy, the chief executive of Citizens Advice, told the Independent:

“The rise and rise of consumer debt is a cause for alarm at a time when large numbers of people are already in financial difficulty.”

Broken government = broken economy

Of course, very little of the ‘on the ground’ problems such as wage growth and consumer debt levels are making the headlines.

The headlines are the same as they have been for the last 18 months or so: BREXIT DISASTER.

Is it a disaster? Who knows, but what we do know is that it is costing a huge amount of money with even more expected to be paid out in the coming years. This is all money that the UK simply does not have.

It was only a fortnight ago that we found out Britain’s stock of wealth had fallen from a surplus of of £469 billion to a net deficit of £22 billion. This is down to a massive write-down of the UK’s assets and a drop in foreign direct investment (again, a lack of confidence in the UK).

Meanwhile the gap between government spending and tax receipts is also expected to ‘outperform’ expectations. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) expects it to reach £36bn by 2021-22, more than twice the initial official forecast of £17bn.

On the issue the IFS said:

“It is hard to see how the chancellor can both maintain the credibility of his fiscal targets and respond effectively to the growing demands for spending”

Quite. The outlook is not good. Productivity is expected to decline in the UK as the majority of jobs being created are low-skilled, low-wage jobs created for those in need. How this helps the UK tax receipts? It doesn’t.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said the UK government will need to significantly lower its estimates for the economic output per hour worked in Britain. In a massive miscalculation admission it states that it views the 0.2% rate of productivity growth over the past five years as a better guide for 2017 than its forecast of 1.6% in March.

EU, it holds the first charge

Not only does the UK government not have the income to sort out its deficit or increase spending but the EU is coming after us for more money.

No one quite knows just yet what the ‘divorce bill’ will be, but more worryingly it looks like we can’t get back the money we placed in a  bank we own 16% of.

According to Alexander Stubb (vice president of the European Investment Bank) the UK may have to wait 30 years to get its £3bn back from the EU’s bank after Brexit and could be on the hook for £30billion if “things go sour”.

As bad as this sounds, can we at least enjoy the hint of irony in this situation. A UK government that has done very little to support customers from the tyranny of British banks, supported bail-outs and pushed for bail-ins is now facing its own problems getting back its money from a bank.

UK savers need to start learning from the mistakes of their leaders.

Conclusion: prepare for the long-term

The 2008/09 financial crisis was not the first economic disaster to hit the United Kingdom. Consider the Wall Street crash on 1929. It very quickly affected this small island nation, causing the economy to shrink by more than 5% and unemployment to spiral to 17%. All in just three years.

Today we find ourselves on arguably scarier ground. Despite lower unemployment, it is an increasingly unproductive labour force with which we find ourselves. It’s nine years ago that the last financial crisis started and the economy has rebounded by less than 10% – a far slower pace than after the Great Depression.

The difference? In the 20th century the government put in place policies that worked for the long-term health of the economy. Today, governments are not looking at anything other than day-to-day results. They no longer prepare for the long-term health of the economy.

They are looking at Brexit and how to boost confidence in the UK. They have no idea how to do anymore, Brexit has got their knickers in a twist. This is unlikely to help struggling savers and consumers in the meantime.

Very often plans that result in positive outcomes a few years down the line aren’t good for an election just a couple of years away. This means that we live in a five-year cycle of economic policies, budgets and grand plans.

Unfortunately this leaves savers and investors fending for themselves when it comes to planning their long-term finances. This is made more complex by the increasingly uncertain times in which politicians and central bankers are inevitably navigating us towards.

With this in mind we need to take our finances into our own hands. As we explained last week, we must prepare. Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.

Investors should protect themselves from the financial risks of the UK government by diversifying their savings and owning physical gold -not paper or digital gold.

Physical gold that is allocated and segregated cannot fall victim to bail-ins when the government is short of cash or inflation when the central ban needs to print more money.

Physical gold in your portfolio reduces the level of counterparty risk your savings are exposed to and ensures some level of sovereignty and financial safety and freedom when it comes to your wealth.

These financial risks including bail-ins are a threat to all savers in the western world.

News and Commentary

Small Caps Routed as U.S. Stocks Fall, Bonds Rise (Bloomberg.com)

Gold price rises 3.2% in Q3 (MiningWeekly.com)

Gold notches a gain for a second day as strong dollar pauses its climb (MarketWatch.com)

Gold steadies ahead of bumper week for central bank news (Reuters.com)

Trump likely to pick Jerome Powell as next Fed chair: source (Reuters.com)

Credit: Wall Street Journal

This Could Be Huge: Gold Bar Certified By Royal Canadian Mint Exposed As Fake (ZeroHedge.com)

Why Are Markets Rising Everywhere? Investors Can’t Stop Buying Every Dip (WSJ.com)

The US government quietly added $200+ billion to the debt this month alone. (SovereignMan.com)

Are ICOs Replacing IPOs? (USFunds.com)

The economy is failing. We need to think radically about how to fix it (TheGuardian.com)

Gold Prices (LBMA AM)

31 Oct: USD 1,274.40, GBP 964.21 & EUR 1,095.60 per ounce
30 Oct: USD 1,272.75, GBP 966.91 & EUR 1,093.80 per ounce
27 Oct: USD 1,267.80, GBP 968.35 & EUR 1,090.18 per ounce
26 Oct: USD 1,278.00, GBP 968.34 & EUR 1,082.34 per ounce
25 Oct: USD 1,273.00, GBP 964.81 & EUR 1,081.67 per ounce
24 Oct: USD 1,278.30, GBP 970.36 & EUR 1,087.32 per ounce

Silver Prices (LBMA)

31 Oct: USD 16.82, GBP 12.72 & EUR 14.45 per ounce
30 Oct: USD 16.74, GBP 12.69 & EUR 14.39 per ounce
27 Oct: USD 16.72, GBP 12.76 & EUR 14.38 per ounce
26 Oct: USD 16.97, GBP 12.84 & EUR 14.37 per ounce
25 Oct: USD 16.89, GBP 12.75 & EUR 14.34 per ounce
24 Oct: USD 17.04, GBP 12.92 & EUR 14.49 per ounce

Recent Market Updates

– Wozniak and Thiel Fuel Bitcoin-Gold Debate: Gold Comes Out On Top
– Russia Buys 34 Tonnes Of Gold In September
– Gold Will Be Safe Haven Again In Looming EU Crisis
– Gold Is Valuable Due to “Extreme Rarity” – Must See CNN Video
– Gold Is Better Store of Value Than Bitcoin – Goldman Sachs
– Next Wall Street Crash Looms? Lessons On Anniversary Of 1987 Crash
– Key Charts: Gold is Cheap and US Recession May Be Closer Than Think
– Gold Up 74% Since Last Market Peak 10 Years Ago
– How Gold Bullion Protects From Conflict And War
– Silver Bullion Prices Set to Soar
– Brexit UK Vulnerable As Gold Bar Exports Distort UK Trade Figures
– Puerto Rico Without Electricity, Wifi, ATMs Shows Importance of Cash, Gold and Silver
– U.S. Mint Gold Coin Sales and VIX Point To Increased Market Volatility and Higher Gold

Important Guides

For your perusal, below are our most popular guides in 2017:

Essential Guide To Storing Gold In Switzerland

Essential Guide To Storing Gold In Singapore

Essential Guide to Tax Free Gold Sovereigns (UK)

Please share our research with family, friends and colleagues who you think would benefit from being informed by it.

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North Korean nuclear scientists apparently ignored warnings from a group of Chinese scientists who briefed them back in September that the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site was slowly imploding following the country’s sixth nuclear test, which involved a 100-kiloton hydrogen bomb roughly seven times more powerful than the atomic bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

Because, as Japanese TV station Asahi TV reported Tuesday, more than 200 North Koreans were killed earlier this month when several tunnels in the underground complex collapsed, killing more a crew of laborers and a crew of rescue workers sent to save them.

As we’ve reported, scientists in the US, China and South Korea have warned that further tests at the site could blow the top off the mountain, causing it to collapse. Meanwhile, it would send a plume of radioactive particles into the atmosphere that could deleteriously impact population centers in Northern China and across the region.

Scientists detected a series of small earthquakes under Punggye-ri after the country’s Sept. 3 nuclear test. The seismic activity, combined with satellite images of landslides and depressions forming on the mountain’s surface, led a group of American scientists to declare that Punggye-ri was suffering from “tired mountain syndrome” – a condition previously observed at Soviet nuclear test sites. South Korea’s weather agency chief Nam Jae-Cheol told a meeting of the lawmakers Monday that any future nuclear test at the site could cause a collapse. One of the Korea Meteorological Administration researchers, Lee Won-Jin, presented an analysis of satellite images indicating landslides occurred near the facility following the September test.

The small-scale quakes at the facility, built south of the Mantapsan mountain, suggest it may not be stable enough to conduct any further tests. However, the construction of new underground tunnels in the complex would suggest the North – unwilling or unable to build an entirely new facility in a different location – has instead opted to move its tests to another area of the mountain.

“If North Korea were to attempt to continue testing under this mountain (such as in the area more to the eastern side), then we would expect to see new tunneling in the future near the North Portal, still under Mt. Mantap,” researchers Frank Pabian and Jack Liu wrote in a report published earlier this month.

Of course, the condition of the test site would be irrelevant if the North decides to follow through with a threat to conduct “an unprecedented scale hydrogen bomb” test over the Pacific. North Korean officials have insisted in recent weeks that these threats are serious. Perhaps the Kim regime has been so preoccupied assessing the damage at Pyungge-ri, where five of the North’s six nuclear tests held since 2006 have taken place, that it has been forced to put any future tests on hold.  

Fearing a collapse, China has stepped up its radiation monitoring on the border. Meanwhile, a researcher studying the radioactive risk from the North Korean nuclear program at Peking University said China could no longer tolerate another land-based explosion.

“China cannot sit and wait until the site implodes. Our instruments can detect nuclear fallout when it arrives, but it will be too late by then. There will be public panic and anger at the government for not taking action,” the researcher said.

“Maybe the North Koreans themselves have realized that the site cannot take another blow. If they still want to do it, they have to do it somewhere else.”
 

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It’s strange how the Muller probe of “Russian collusion” mutated: half a year into the special prosecutor’s investigation whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin to defeat Hillary Clinton (who may have colluded with Moscow herself over the infamous Uranium One deal, a prove is pending), there was not a single mention of Russia or Putin, and instead two former Trump aides were busted for money laundering and tax evasion, as well as receiving funds from Russia’s arch nemesis, Ukraine, also known for being the biggest foreign donor to the Clinton foundation.

 

This irony wasn’t lost on Russia, and on Tuesday the Kremlin commented on Monday’s news, stressing that the indictment handed down in the special counsel’s investigation did not include accusations against Russia for meddling in the U.S. presidential election. Quoted by Reuters, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a call with reporters that Russia has always said that it did not interfere in the election.

“Russia does not feature in the charges that were leveled in any way. Other countries and other people feature (in the charges),” Peskov said, according to the news service adding that “Moscow never felt itself guilty so as to feel exonerated now,” when asked whether the Kremlin interpreted the indictment as proof that its denials about meddling in the U.S. presidential election had been confirmed.

Peskov said the investigation was an internal matter for the United States which Russia was not involved in, but was following with interest from afar.

Peskov also commented on details of a case against George Papadopoulos who pleaded guilty in early October to lying to the FBI. Papadopoulos told investigators about his efforts to set up a meeting between the Trump campaign and the Russian leadership during which he said he met a London-based professor boasting of contacts with Russian officials and a Russian woman whom he described as a relative of President Vladimir Putin. The case against Papadopoulos also mentions his contacts with someone with links to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

When asked what the Kremlin made of the details about someone linked to the Russian Foreign Ministry being cited in the Papadopoulos case, Peskov said the accusation was totally unsubstantiated.

“It’s an absolutely laughable allegation,” Peskov told reporters.

The indictments against Manafort and Gates come amid a months-long ongoing investigation by Robert Mueller into Russia’s attempts to interfere in the presidential election and any potential ties between Trump campaign staff members and the Kremlin.

On Tuesday morning, Donald Trump once again slammed the “witch hunt” and the “fake news”, tweeting that “The Fake News is working overtime. As Paul Manaforts lawyer said, there was “no collusion” and events mentioned took place long before he came to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!“

via http://ift.tt/2zTMpk4 Tyler Durden

President Trump's frustration is showing through once again as special counsel Mueller's indictments from yesterday have created whirlwind of media speculation – despite the nothingburger – while 'facts' and uncomfortable narratives related to Hillary and the democrats (take your pick – Uranium One or Fusion GPS) go unmonitored…

The Fake News is working overtime. As Paul Manaforts lawyer said, there was "no collusion" and events mentioned took place long before he…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

….came to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

Trump's perspective fits right in with The Wall Street Journal's Editorial Board, who reminded readers the charges have nothing at all to do with Trump, or Russia collusion…

Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for tax fraud on Monday, and the main charge against Donald Trump is poor judgment for hiring the notorious Beltway operator.

Notably it seems WSJ is very much in the 'defend Trump' camp – actually reporting real news in this case, as opposed to the sensationalism occurring elsewhere.

I hope people will start to focus on our Massive Tax Cuts for Business (jobs) and the Middle Class (in addition to Democrat corruption)!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

Of course, desperate for some headlines, Preet Bharara chimed in…

Keep up the tweeting. Seriously, keep it up. https://t.co/I0Yjdd8whR

— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) October 31, 2017

via http://ift.tt/2zm7Hea Tyler Durden