Global Witness Quits Group on ‘Blood Diamonds’ - NYTimes.com:
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Investor. Any references to securities are not recommendations or solicitations to buy or sell anything. I may have positions in securities mentioned.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
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Watch: CurrencyShares Canadian Dollar Trust (FXC)
by STOYAN BOJINOV on DECEMBER 6, 2011 | ETFs Mentioned:FXC
Investors came back in a buying mood after the weekend, although domestic equity indexes lost momentum after it was reported thatStandard & Poor’s would put all 17 Euro zone member nations under credit review. Nonetheless, optimism continues to build on Wall Street as the Nasdaq gained 1.10% on the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged behind, turning in a solid 0.65% gain. “There are growing hopes on both sides of the Atlantic that policy makers will play a more constructive role in helping the economy and markets after a year in which they generally did more harm than good,” wrote David Kelly, chief market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds. Gold prices started off the week on a fairly weak note, losing ground throughout the trading day and settling near $1,725 an ounce.
The Bank of Canada is slated to announce its decision regarding interest rates before the opening bell on Wall Street today, which makes the Rydex CurrencyShares Canadian Dollar Trust (FXC) our ETF to watch for the day. Analysts are expecting for the rate to remain unchanged at 1%, although volatility in the currency markets may develop depending on how investors digest the economic commentary released by the bank after the interest rate decision itself [see ETF Insider: Volatility Is Still Lurking].
Chart Analysis
The Canadian dollar has faced serious headwinds in the currency markets as ongoing Euro zone debt woes have weighted down on investors’ confidence given the cloud of uncertainty looming over the global economic recovery. When considering the chart below, it appears that FXC recently topped at $105.59 a share on 7/27/2011, then proceeded to bottom out at $93.29 a share on 10/4/2011. FXC has considerable support around the $94 mark seeing as how it held support near this level twice, once on 10/4/2011 and more recently on 11/23/2011 [see Warning: Use Caution When Investing In Currency ETFs Of Commodity Dependent Nations].
http://etfdb.com/2011/tuesdays-etf-chart-to-watch-currencyshares-canadian-dollar-trust-fxc-3/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+etfdb+%28ETF+Database%29
Establishing a long position in FXC is quite lucrative at current levels given the potential for upside, although, downside risks remain seeing as how FXC is trading below its 200-day moving average (yellow line)
Outlook
If the Bank of Canada issues a bullish economic outlook following the interest rate decision, investors may find themselves in a buying frenzy for the Canadian dollar in the currency markets [see Easy-As-ABC ETFdb Portfolio
]. Likewise, FXC could work its way higher towards $100 a share, in which case we would advise short-term traders to lock-in profits seeing as how this is a significant level of resistance which FXC failed to summit recently in late October. On the other hand, if Euro zone debt woes continue to weigh down on Canada’s economic outlook, FXC may very well encounter selling pressures. In terms of downside, this ETF could re-test support at the $96 level, while the next level of support comes in at $94 a share. As always, investors of all experience levels are advised to use stop-loss orders and practice disciplined profit taking techniques.[For more ETF analysis, make sure to sign up for our free ETF newsletter or try a free seven day trial to ETFdb Pro]
Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Wal-Mart is Larger than Norway: Exposing the Myth of Capital Competition | NationofChange
Wal-Mart is Larger than Norway: Exposing the Myth of Capital Competition | NationofChange:
" Any epoch of capitalism allegedly premised on competition is visible only from the rearview mirror. It is a leftist truism that in the process of competition, capitalism destroys competition. Competition, therefore, is transformed into its opposite: monopoly. Capitalism no longer survives by enlarging competition, but rather through its reduction."
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Jobs Not Austerity
An estimated two million other public sector workers staged a one-day general strike across Britain Wednesday (11/30).
That strike – the largest labor action in Britain in 30 years – closed 62 percent of the public schools in England, Scotland and Wales in addition to shuttering many government offices (local and national) including courts plus disrupting government services, such as forcing the postponements of some
...over 25,000 public workers staged a rally and march that was one of over 1,000 protest actions by workers across Britain on November 30th.
That strike – the largest labor action in Britain in 30 years – closed 62 percent of the public schools in England, Scotland and Wales in addition to shuttering many government offices (local and national) including courts plus disrupting government services, such as forcing the postponements of some
...over 25,000 public workers staged a rally and march that was one of over 1,000 protest actions by workers across Britain on November 30th.
The flash point of the strike is the British government’s demands that public sector workers make higher contributions to their pensions and work longer before retirement.
Yet, the wider context of the strike is the set of austerity measures Britain’s conservative leaders say are required to reduce massive national budget deficits.
Deficit reduction actions, many contend, are unfairly targeting the middle and lower classes by forcing them to pay for the economic woes created by the upper class that is largely escaping the slash-and-burn pain of tax increases and service cuts.
Those participating in the general strike challenge claims pushed by conservative government officials and media coverage that public sector workers enjoy plush pensions particularly when compared to private sector workers.
Yet, the wider context of the strike is the set of austerity measures Britain’s conservative leaders say are required to reduce massive national budget deficits.
Deficit reduction actions, many contend, are unfairly targeting the middle and lower classes by forcing them to pay for the economic woes created by the upper class that is largely escaping the slash-and-burn pain of tax increases and service cuts.
Those participating in the general strike challenge claims pushed by conservative government officials and media coverage that public sector workers enjoy plush pensions particularly when compared to private sector workers.
The average pension for a worker in the National Health Service – Britain’s largest public sector employer – is $12,500 annually in U.S. dollars…hardly sufficient for a lavish life style, especially with the costs of food, energy and seemingly everything else soaring.
According to Britain’s Trade Union Congress, a key organizer of the general strike, public sector pensions average between $7,859-to-$14,147 annually in U.S. dollars.
Many workers argue that government official’s the pitting of public sector pensions against pensions for lower-waged workers in the private sector is both deceptive effort devised to maliciously divide workers.
Watson said there should be “parity” between public and private sector pensions but divide-and-rule tactics are a part of “the general attack” by the conservative government to “claw back” gains that workers have achieved in the past few decades.
According to Britain’s Trade Union Congress, a key organizer of the general strike, public sector pensions average between $7,859-to-$14,147 annually in U.S. dollars.
Many workers argue that government official’s the pitting of public sector pensions against pensions for lower-waged workers in the private sector is both deceptive effort devised to maliciously divide workers.
Watson said there should be “parity” between public and private sector pensions but divide-and-rule tactics are a part of “the general attack” by the conservative government to “claw back” gains that workers have achieved in the past few decades.
The day before the November 30th general strike, Prime Minister Cameron’s finance head, George Osborne, announced new austerity-driven fiscal measures including pay freezes for public workers and hundreds of thousands of additional job cuts in the public sector.
Osborne’s announcements did include plans for billions in infrastructure improvements to stimulate the economy, government loans for small businesses to expand, targeted programs to reduce massive youth unemployment and increases in welfare benefits.
Osborne’s announcements did include plans for billions in infrastructure improvements to stimulate the economy, government loans for small businesses to expand, targeted programs to reduce massive youth unemployment and increases in welfare benefits.
... reports from think-tanks of a possible new recession in Britain, steep reductions living standards for the average family and the poorest 30-percent of households losing more than three times as much as the richest 30-percent of the population.
Others outside of public sector employment also oppose the austerity initiatives, criticizing the failure of the Cameron coalition government to end accelerating income inequities and crack down on the corporate classes that created the economic collapse with manipulative enrichment-schemes.
Austerity actions, Tongogara said, are increasing rates of poverty, especially among children and the elderly – an assertion backed by economists and other experts. “The rich continue to off-shore billions of pounds to avoid paying taxes. Tax evasion is illegal for working people but tax avoidance is not illegal for the rich…that is wrong,” he said.
Activist Selma James, 81, criticizes Cameron’s coalition government for failing to seriously address accelerating income inequities that aggravate existing poverty particularly impoverishment impacting children and the elderly.
“The 1% is pushing us around determining our lives, stealing our money, our resources and our possibilities,” James, the founder of London’s Crossroads Womens’ Centre, stated in an email interview.
James, the widow of the late Caribbean author/activist C.L.R. James, said actions like the general strike and the Occupy Movement are vital.
Those activities, said James, are a “strength for all to stop suffering in silence and spell out our real conditions of life and the brutality we try to defeat every hour we’re alive.”
Britain's situation is a microcosm of what is going on all over Europe with the credit and banking system problems leading to calls for austerity from all governments.
Others outside of public sector employment also oppose the austerity initiatives, criticizing the failure of the Cameron coalition government to end accelerating income inequities and crack down on the corporate classes that created the economic collapse with manipulative enrichment-schemes.
Austerity actions, Tongogara said, are increasing rates of poverty, especially among children and the elderly – an assertion backed by economists and other experts. “The rich continue to off-shore billions of pounds to avoid paying taxes. Tax evasion is illegal for working people but tax avoidance is not illegal for the rich…that is wrong,” he said.
Activist Selma James, 81, criticizes Cameron’s coalition government for failing to seriously address accelerating income inequities that aggravate existing poverty particularly impoverishment impacting children and the elderly.
“The 1% is pushing us around determining our lives, stealing our money, our resources and our possibilities,” James, the founder of London’s Crossroads Womens’ Centre, stated in an email interview.
James, the widow of the late Caribbean author/activist C.L.R. James, said actions like the general strike and the Occupy Movement are vital.
Those activities, said James, are a “strength for all to stop suffering in silence and spell out our real conditions of life and the brutality we try to defeat every hour we’re alive.”
Britain's situation is a microcosm of what is going on all over Europe with the credit and banking system problems leading to calls for austerity from all governments.
BBC News - Merkel tackles euro crisis in Bundestag speech
BBC News - Merkel tackles euro crisis in Bundestag speech:
Merkel giving speech now...
Continue reading the main story
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Merkel giving speech now...
Continue reading the main story
Key points of Sarkozy speech
- France and Germany will announce proposals on Monday to "guarantee the future of Europe"
- They agree that there should be a new EU treaty to impose greater financial integration
- Convergence is the key to solving the eurozone crisis but it will be a long and difficult process.
- France rejects fiscal union where national budgets would be approved in Brussels
- The rebuilding of Europe is not a march towards a federal super-state
- The European Central Bank will remain independent
- France must end doubts about its ability to repay debts
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Thursday, December 1, 2011
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Energy Deregulation: A Modern-Day Gold Rush
GROUND FLOOR INVESTMENT: The beginning or first stage of a new company. This phrase is used to describe an investment opportunity that is potentially lucrative because the investor can get in at the beginning, therefore sharing in maximum price appreciation.
I read an article earlier this year “How to Get in on the Ground Floor of the Coming Energy Megatrend”, by Frank Curzio, editor of Penny Stock Specialist, that I credit with having changed my life. If I had not read this piece, I believe I would not have listened to a colleague when he spoke to me a few months later about the upcoming energy deregulation. But I did listen, and did my research, and I am truly blessed to be in on this ground floor opportunity.
The natural gas market in California has actually been deregulated since 1991, but two months ago, California launched the natural gas deregulation program, allowing natural gas vendors to purchase gas at prices less than the local utility companies, and offering these potential savings to the consumer. Like with the telecommunications industry, (remember MCI?) deregulation of both gas and electricity provides many companies with cost effective ways of managing their energy providers, and offers alternative choices for residential customers.
If you are interested in launching your own energy broker business, and in getting paid on every one of your customer’s gas bills (and electricity in some states), then fill out the red form here, and I’ll get right back to you. I will show you step-by-step how this works, and how to make it happen for you.
This is an industry that is endorsed by Warren Buffett, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki to name a few, and they know what they are talking about. I have partnered with a recession proof business, and as long as people keep paying their energy bills, I get paid. This is seriously the modern day gold rush, and if you don’t at least look into the potential this has for your future, then you just aren’t listening. Just sayin’.
I read an article earlier this year “How to Get in on the Ground Floor of the Coming Energy Megatrend”, by Frank Curzio, editor of Penny Stock Specialist, that I credit with having changed my life. If I had not read this piece, I believe I would not have listened to a colleague when he spoke to me a few months later about the upcoming energy deregulation. But I did listen, and did my research, and I am truly blessed to be in on this ground floor opportunity.
The natural gas market in California has actually been deregulated since 1991, but two months ago, California launched the natural gas deregulation program, allowing natural gas vendors to purchase gas at prices less than the local utility companies, and offering these potential savings to the consumer. Like with the telecommunications industry, (remember MCI?) deregulation of both gas and electricity provides many companies with cost effective ways of managing their energy providers, and offers alternative choices for residential customers.
"The greatest transfer of wealth in history"
WHAT IS ENERGY DEREGULATION?
Deregulation allows you the ability to select who you wish to purchase your natural gas from. Natural gas vendors that cover many states are able to pool their customer’s usage together and get a much better rate for natural gas purchases. But right now, most of the population are unaware that they have any options regarding their natural gas purchases.HOW CAN YOU BENEFIT FROM ENERGY DEREGULATION?
Warren Buffett calls energy deregulation “the largest transfer of wealth in history”. You can be on the ground floor in two ways: as a consumer, you now have a choice as to who you pay, and what price you pay, on your gas bill; as a broker you can get paid as long as every customer you’ve acquired pays their utility bill. Forever. As a business owner you can benefit by identifying lower procurement cost for both gas and electricity so that future rate hikes, time of day pricing and market fluctuations no longer affect your businesses bottom line.IS IT ONLY IN CALIFORNIA?
Energy Deregulation is taking place nationally. The company I partnered with currently has gas and electricity programs in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, and California. They are also in pre-launch status in many other states.HOW DO YOU SIGN UP?
If you are interested in potential savings, it only takes a simple online application to transfer your account to the alternate rate plans. It’s about a 5 to 10 minute process. Max. There are no start- up, connection, or transfer fees of any kind. Additionally, you will incur no downtime and there are no additional risks involved with having an alternative natural gas supplier. If you have an emergency or a pipeline problem you will still deal directly with local utility company and you will not be charged extra because you buy your natural gas from a different provider. Check your local utilities website for FAQs regarding Core Transport Agents (CTAs). Here is Pacific Gas & Electric’s page. If you are ready to sign up, just fill out the blue form here, and I will contact you.If you are interested in launching your own energy broker business, and in getting paid on every one of your customer’s gas bills (and electricity in some states), then fill out the red form here, and I’ll get right back to you. I will show you step-by-step how this works, and how to make it happen for you.
This is an industry that is endorsed by Warren Buffett, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki to name a few, and they know what they are talking about. I have partnered with a recession proof business, and as long as people keep paying their energy bills, I get paid. This is seriously the modern day gold rush, and if you don’t at least look into the potential this has for your future, then you just aren’t listening. Just sayin’.
Gold USGS
Gold
by Harold Kirkemo, William L. Newman, and Roger P. Ashley
Through the ages men and women have cherished gold, and many have had a compelling desire to amass great quantities of it--so compelling a desire, in fact, that the frantic need to seek and hoard gold has been aptly named "gold fever."
Gold was among the first metals to be mined because it commonly occurs in its native form, that is, not combined with other elements, because it is beautiful and imperishable, and because exquisite objects can be made from it. Artisans of ancient civilizations used gold lavishly in decorating tombs and temples, and gold objects made more than 5,000 years ago have been found in Egypt. Particularly noteworthy are the gold items discovered by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1922 in the tomb of Tutankhamun. This young pharaoh ruled Egypt in the 14th century B.C. An exhibit of some of these items, called "Treasures of Tutankhamun," attracted more than 6 million visitors in six cities during a tour of the United States in 1977-79.
The graves of nobles at the ancient Citadel of Mycenae near Nauplion, Greece, discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876, yielded a great variety of gold figurines, masks, cups, diadems, and jewelry, plus hundreds of decorated beads and buttons. These elegant works of art were created by skilled craftsmen more than 3,500 years ago.
The ancient civilizations appear to have obtained their supplies of gold from various deposits in the Middle East. Mines in the region of the Upper Nile near the Red Sea and in the Nubian Desert area supplied much of the gold used by the Egyptian pharaohs. When these mines could no longer meet their demands, deposits elsewhere, possibly in Yemen and southern Africa, were exploited.
Artisans in Mesopotamia and Palestine probably obtained their supplies from Egypt and Arabia. Recent studies of the Mahd adh Dhahab (meaning "Cradle of Gold") mine in the present Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reveal that gold, silver, and copper were recovered from this region during the reign of King Solomon (961-922 B.C.).
The gold in the Aztec and Inca treasuries of Mexico and Peru believed to have come from Colombia, although some undoubtedly was obtained from other sources. The Conquistadores plundered the treasuries of these civilizations during their explorations of the New World, and many gold and silver objects were melted and cast into coins and bars, destroying the priceless artifacts of the Indian culture.
Nations of the world today use gold as a medium of exchange in monetary transactions. A large part of the gold stocks of the United States is stored in the vault of the Fort Knox Bullion Depository. The Depository, located about 30 miles southwest of Louisville, Kentucky, is under the supervision of the Director of the Mint.
Gold in the Depository consists of bars about the size of ordinary building bricks (7 x 3 5/8 x 1 3/4 inches) that weigh about 27.5 pounds each (about 400 troy ounces; 1 troy ounce equals about 1.1 avoirdupois ounces.) They are stored without wrappings in the vault compartments.
Aside from monetary uses, gold is used in jewelry and allied wares, electrical-electronic applications, dentistry, the aircraft-aerospace industry, the arts, and medical and chemical fields.
The changes in demand for gold and supply from domestic mines in the past two decades reflect price changes. After the United States deregulated gold in 1971, the price increased markedly, briefly reaching more than $800 per troy ounce in 1980. Since 1980, the price has remained in the range of $320 to $460 per troy ounce. The rapidly rising prices of the 1970's encouraged both experienced explorationists and amateur prospectors to renew their search for gold. As a result of their efforts, many new mines opened in the 1980's, accounting for much of the expansion of gold output. The sharp declines in consumption in 1974 and 1980 resulted from reduced demands for jewelry (the major use of fabricated gold) and investment products, which in turn reflected rapid price increases in those years.
Gold is called a "noble" metal (an alchemistic term) because it does not oxidize under ordinary conditions. Its chemical symbol Au is derived from the Latin word "aurum." In pure form gold has a metallic luster and is sun yellow, but mixtures of other metals, such as silver, copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, tellurium, and iron, with gold create various color hues ranging from silver-white to green and orange-red.
Pure gold is relatively soft--it has about the hardness of a penny. It is the most malleable and ductile of metals. The specific gravity or density of pure gold is 19.3 compared to 14.0 for mercury and 11.4 for lead.
Impure gold, as it commonly occurs in deposits, has a density of 16 to 18, whereas the associated waste rock (gangue) has a density of about 2.5. The difference in density enables gold to be concentrated by gravity and permits the separation of gold from clay, silt, sand, and gravel by various agitating and collecting devices such as the gold pan, rocker, and sluicebox.
Mercury (quicksilver) has a chemical affinity for gold. When mercury is added to gold-bearing material, the two metals form an amalgam. Mercury is later separated from amalgam by retorting. Extraction of gold and other precious metals from their ores by treatment with mercury is called amalgamation. Gold dissolves in aqua regia, a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids, and in sodium or potassium cyanide. The latter solvent is the basis for the cyanide process that is used to recover gold from low-grade ore.
The degree of purity of native gold, bullion (bars or ingots of unrefined gold), and refined gold is stated in terms of gold content. "Fineness" defines gold content in parts per thousand. For example, a gold nugget containing 885 parts of pure gold and 115 parts of other metals, such as silver and copper, would be considered 885-fine. "Karat" indicates the proportion of solid gold in an alloy based on a total of 24 parts. Thus, 14-karat (14K) gold indicates a composition of 14 parts of gold and 10 parts of other metals. Incidentally, 14K gold is commonly used in jewelry manufacture. "Karat" should not be confused with "carat," a unit of weight used for precious stones.
The basic unit of weight used in dealing with gold is the troy ounce. One troy ounce is equivalent to 20 troy pennyweights. In the jewelry industry, the common unit of measure is the pennyweight (dwt.) which is equivalent to 1.555 grams.
The term "gold-filled" is used to describe articles of jewelry made of base metal which are covered on one or more surfaces with a layer of gold alloy. A quality mark may be used to show the quantity and fineness of the gold alloy. In the United States no article having a gold alloy coating of less than 10-karat fineness may have any quality mark affixed. Lower limits are permitted in some countries.
No article having a gold alloy portion of less than one-twentieth by weight may be marked "gold-filled," but articles may be marked "rolled gold plate" provided the proportional fraction and fineness designations are also shown. Electroplated jewelry items carrying at least 7 millionths of an inch (0.18 micrometers) of gold on significant surfaces may be labeled "electroplate." Plated thicknesses less than this may be marked "gold flashed" or "gold washed."
Gold is relatively scarce in the earth, but it occurs in many different kinds of rocks and in many different geological environments. Though scarce, gold is concentrated by geologic processes to form commercial deposits of two principal types: lode (primary) deposits and placer (secondary) deposits.
Lode deposits are the targets for the "hardrock" prospector seeking gold at the site of its deposition from mineralizing solutions. Geologists have proposed various hypotheses to explain the source of solutions from which mineral constituents are precipitated in lode deposits.
One widely accepted hypothesis proposes that many gold deposits, especially those found in volcanic and sedimentary rocks, formed from circulating ground waters driven by heat from bodies of magma (molten rock) intruded into the Earth's crust within about 2 to 5 miles of the surface. Active geothermal systems, which are exploited in parts of the United States for natural hot water and steam, provide a modern analog for these gold-depositing systems. Most of the water in geothermal systems originates as rainfall, which moves downward through fractures and permeable beds in cooler parts of the crust and is drawn laterally into areas heated by magma, where it is driven upward through fractures. As the water is heated, it dissolves metals from the surrounding rocks. When the heated waters reach cooler rocks at shallower depths, metallic minerals precipitate to form veins or blanket-like ore bodies.
Another hypothesis suggests that gold-bearing solutions may be expelled from magma as it cools, precipitating ore materials as they move into cooler surrounding rocks. This hypothesis is applied particularly to gold deposits located in or near masses of granitic rock, which represent solidified magma.
A third hypothesis is applied mainly to gold-bearing veins in metamorphic rocks that occur in mountain belts at continental margins. In the mountain-building process, sedimentary and volcanic rocks may be deeply buried or thrust under the edge of the continent, where they are subjected to high temperatures and pressures resulting in chemical reactions that change the rocks to new mineral assemblages (metamorphism). This hypothesis suggests that water is expelled from the rocks and migrates upwards, precipitating ore materials as pressures and temperatures decrease. The ore metals are thought to originate from the rocks undergoing active metamorphism.
The primary concerns of the prospector or miner interested in a lode deposit of gold are to determine the average gold content (tenor) per ton of mineralized rock and the size of the deposit. From these data, estimates can be made of the deposit's value. One of the most commonly used methods for determining the gold and silver content of mineralized rocks is the fire assay. The results are reported as troy ounces of gold or silver or both per short avoirdupois ton of ore or as grams per metric ton of ore.
Placer deposits represent concentrations of gold derived from lode deposits by erosion, disintegration or decomposition of the enclosing rock, and subsequent concentration by gravity.
Gold is extremely resistant to weathering and, when freed from enclosing rocks, is carried downstream as metallic particles consisting of "dust," flakes, grains, or nuggets. Gold particles in stream deposits are often concentrated on or near bedrock, because they move downward during high-water periods when the entire bed load of sand, gravel, and boulders is agitated and is moving downstream. Fine gold particles collect in depressions or in pockets in sand and gravel bars where the stream current slackens. Concentrations of gold in gravel are called "pay streaks."
In gold-bearing country, prospectors look for gold where coarse sands and gravel have accumulated and where "black sands" have concentrated and settled with the gold. Magnetite is the most common mineral in black sands, but other heavy minerals such as cassiterite, monazite, ilmenite, chromite, platinum-group metals, and some gem stones may be present.
Placer deposits have formed in the same manner throughout the Earth's history. The processes of weathering and erosion create surface placer deposits that may be buried under rock debris. Although these "fossil" placers are subsequently cemented into hard rocks, the shape and characteristics of old river channels are still recognizable.
The content of recoverable free gold in placer deposits is determined by the free gold assay method, which involves amalgamation of gold-bearing concentrate collected by dredging, hydraulic mining, or other placer mining operations. In the period when the price of gold was fixed, the common practice was to report assay results as the value of gold (in cents or dollars) contained in a cubic yard of material. Now results are reported as grams per cubic yard or grams per cubic meter.
Through laboratory research, the U.S. Geological Survey has developed new methods for determining the gold content of rocks and soils of the Earth's crust. These methods, which detect and measure the amounts of other elements as well as gold, include atomic absorption spectrometry, neutron activation, and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emissionon spectrometry. These methods enable rapid and extremely sensitive analyses to be made of large numbers of samples.
Gold was produced in the southern Appalachian region as early as 1792 and perhaps as early as 1775 in southern California. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in California sparked the gold rush of 1849-50, and hundreds of mining camps sprang to life as new deposits were discovered. Gold production increased rapidly. Deposits in the Mother Lode and Grass Valley districts in California and the Comstock Lode in Nevada were discovered during the 1860's, and the Cripple Creek deposits in Colorado began to produce gold in 1892. By 1905 the Tonopah and Goldfield deposits in Nevada and the Alaskan placer deposits had been discovered, and United States gold production for the first time exceeded 4 million troy ounces a year--a level maintained until 1917.
During World War I and for some years thereafter, the annual production declined to about 2 million ounces. When the price of gold was raised from $20.67 to $35 an ounce in 1934, production increased rapidly and again exceeded the 4-million-ounce level in 1937. Shortly after the start of World War II, gold mines were closed by the War Production Board and not permitted to reopen until 1945.
From the end of World War II through 1983, domestic mine production of gold did not exceed 2 million ounces annually. Since 1985, annual production has risen by 1 million to 1.5 million ounces every year. By the end of 1989, the cumulative output from deposits in the United States since 1792 reached 363 million ounces.
Consumption of gold in the United States ranged from about 6 million to more than 7 million troy ounces per year from 1969 to 1973, and from about 4 million to 5 million troy ounces per year from 1974 to 1979, whereas during the 1970's annual gold production from domestic mines ranged from about 1 million to 1.75 million troy ounces. Since 1980 consumption of gold has been nearly constant at between 3 and 3.5 million troy ounces per year. Mine production has increased at a quickening pace since 1980, reaching about 9 million troy ounces per year in 1990, and exceeding consumption since 1986. Prior to 1986, the balance of supply was obtained from secondary (scrap) sources and imports. Total world production of gold is estimated to be about 3.4 billion troy ounces, of which more than two-thirds was mined in the past 50 years. About 45 percent of the world's total gold production has been from the Witwatersrand district in South Africa.
The largest gold mine in the United States is the Homestake mine at Lead, South Dakota. This mine, which is 8,000 feet deep, has accounted for almost 10 percent of total United States gold production since it opened in 1876. It has combined production and reserves of about 40 million troy ounces.
In the past two decades, low-grade disseminated gold deposits have become increasingly important. More than 75 such deposits have been found in the Western States, mostly in Nevada. The first major producer of this type was the Carlin deposit, which was discovered in 1962 and started production in 1965. Since then many more deposits have been discovered in the vicinity of Carlin, and the Carlin area now comprises a major mining district with seven operating open pits producing more than 1,500,000 troy ounces of gold per year.
About 15 percent of the gold produced in the United States has come from mining other metallic ores. Where base metals- -such as copper, lead, and zinc--are deposited, either in veins or as scattered mineral grains, minor amounts of gold are commonly deposited with them. Deposits of this type are mined for the predominant metals, but the gold is also recovered as a byproduct during processing of the ore. Most byproduct gold has come from porphyry deposits, which are so large that even though they contain only a small amount of gold per ton of ore, so much rock is mined that a substantial amount of gold is recovered. The largest single source of byproduct gold in the United States is the porphyry deposit at Bingham Canyon, Utah, which has produced about 18 million troy ounces of gold since 1906.
Geologists examine all factors controlling the origin and emplacement of mineral deposits, including those containing gold. Igneous and metamorphic rocks are studied in the field and in the laboratory to gain an understanding of how they came to their present location, how they crystallized to solid rock, and how mineral-bearing solutions formed within them. Studies of rock structures, such as folds, faults, fractures, and joints, and of the effects of heat and pressure on rocks suggest why and where fractures occurred and where veins might be found. Studies of weathering processes and transportation of rock debris by water enable geologists to predict the most likely places for placer deposits to form. The occurrence of gold is not capricious; its presence in various rocks and its occurrence under differing environmental conditions follow natural laws. As geologists increase their knowledge of the mineralizing processes, they improve their ability to find gold.
This publication is one of a series of general interest publications prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey to provide information about the earth sciences, natural resources, and the environment. To obtain a catalog of additional titles in the series "General Interest Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey," write:
U.S. Geological Survey Information Services Box 25286 Denver, CO 80225
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Bankers Saved the World From a Euro Meltdown
How Bankers Saved the World From a Euro Meltdown - The Daily Beast:
What happened was nothing less than a Rubicon moment in what was shaping up to be a financial meltdown of global proportions that would have made what happened in the fall of 2008 look tepid.
The reason, of course, is the crisis of the euro zone. And a crisis it is, with every major European leader attesting to just that. In the past two weeks, that crisis went from slow burn to raging fire. You wouldn’t have known that from the mainstream media, but the panic in finance-land was palpable, so much so that I began to wonder if we were at an August 1914 moment, when the world was about to change forever—and not in good ways.
It was the clear indication that the European Union and the common currency were in peril, and that there is no road map for its dissolution. The path to creating the euro was complicated enough, but the way out? There is none.
And that is what Europe has been confronting: the end of its bold experiment of economic union. If the euro zone dissolves rapidly, the global economy implodes. Period.
...if the euro zone collapses as an economic union, there is only the yawning unknown and the chaos that would ensue before clarity. The effects would be profoundly disruptive.
An announcement that the largest central banks in the world, including the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, had agreed to reduce the cost of bank borrowing of dollars by half a percent.
The immediate crisis has subsided.
An announcement that the largest central banks in the world, including the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, had agreed to reduce the cost of bank borrowing of dollars by half a percent.
The immediate crisis has subsided.
The crisis was unfolding in the world of daily cash flow, an esoteric world of finance, unlike the reviled Wall Street of outlandish profits, that is a global utility pumping trillions of dollars around the world. It provides the daily dose of money that allows billions to do whatever they must do: buy food, gasoline, get their kids to school, go to work, collect government benefits, and so on. The freezing of that system was what so imperiled the global economy after the collapse of Lehman in the fall of 2008, and that was only one large bank. The implosion of Euroland, in the form of depository banks unable to fund themselves and governments unable to tap markets for the cash they need to operate, would have been many orders of magnitude greater.
The world’s largest central banks acting jointly—along with the Chinese central banks easing conditions simultaneously—was a sign of two things: one, the situation was more dire than almost anyone was acknowledging in public, and two, there is a global political determination not to allow that to happen. For the moment, we can use the past tense, because the immediate crisis has subsided.
The core issue is at the heart of the euro paradox: how do you have a common currency with no common economic policy, and how do you prevent rich states from bailing out poorer or more profligate ones?
The world’s largest central banks acting jointly—along with the Chinese central banks easing conditions simultaneously—was a sign of two things: one, the situation was more dire than almost anyone was acknowledging in public, and two, there is a global political determination not to allow that to happen. For the moment, we can use the past tense, because the immediate crisis has subsided.
The core issue is at the heart of the euro paradox: how do you have a common currency with no common economic policy, and how do you prevent rich states from bailing out poorer or more profligate ones?
Germany has balked at subsidizing the debts of its neighbors, even as its own prosperity depends on those neighbors. So it has refused to allow for common bonds or to give the nod to the European Central Bank to issue more currency. The result has been recession and a gradual freezing of financial activity in Euroland, which in the past weeks went from a slow burn to a rapid deterioration.
Now the Europeans are faced with doing in a crisis: relinquish sovereign control of their economic lives, with Italy and Greece and Spain allowing Germans and French to pass judgment on their budgets and finances, and Germans bowing to the bitter fact that they will have to pay more than their share.
Now the Europeans are faced with doing in a crisis: relinquish sovereign control of their economic lives, with Italy and Greece and Spain allowing Germans and French to pass judgment on their budgets and finances, and Germans bowing to the bitter fact that they will have to pay more than their share.
...we live in a deeply interconnected global financial system where the risk of a meltdown remains.
Zachary Karabell is president of River Twice Research and River Twice Capital.
editor for Newsweek/The Daily Beast, he is the coauthor of Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World andSuperfusion: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World's Prosperity Depends on It.
Zachary Karabell is president of River Twice Research and River Twice Capital.
editor for Newsweek/The Daily Beast, he is the coauthor of Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World andSuperfusion: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World's Prosperity Depends on It.
Central banks move to improve the flow of money through the global economy
Bottom Line: " ...this doesn't address the risk to their overall solvency."
The Bank of Canada and five other central banks around the world are making a co-ordinated effort to improve the flow of money through the global economy.
The Bank of Canada, the European Central Bank, U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of England, and the central banks in Japan and Switzerland pledged to cut the rate on what's known as "dollar swap lines." That's the amount of money that banks pay in order to get their hands on different currencies so they can then loan them out to customers.
In plain terms, the plan is to make U.S. dollars more available by lowering the rate at which the world's banks have to borrow to get their hands on U.S. dollars.
Foreign banks get U.S. dollars by borrowing them from their own central banks, which then get them from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Because of the uncertainty in the economy, other banks have been less willing to loan anything to European banks. That means the latter have to pay a premium to get the cash, and that's ultimately passed on to consumers.
The premium that European banks must pay to get short-term U.S. dollar loans rose to 162 basis points recently. That's the highest they've been since Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008.
After a speech to a business audience in New York, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said, "One of the things that we see when there's a great deal of uncertainty is a tightening of credit and that has been a challenge particularly with respect to U.S. dollars and some of the European financial institutions."
The Bank of Canada, the European Central Bank, U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of England, and the central banks in Japan and Switzerland pledged to cut the rate on what's known as "dollar swap lines." That's the amount of money that banks pay in order to get their hands on different currencies so they can then loan them out to customers.
In plain terms, the plan is to make U.S. dollars more available by lowering the rate at which the world's banks have to borrow to get their hands on U.S. dollars.
Foreign banks get U.S. dollars by borrowing them from their own central banks, which then get them from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Because of the uncertainty in the economy, other banks have been less willing to loan anything to European banks. That means the latter have to pay a premium to get the cash, and that's ultimately passed on to consumers.
The premium that European banks must pay to get short-term U.S. dollar loans rose to 162 basis points recently. That's the highest they've been since Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008.
After a speech to a business audience in New York, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said, "One of the things that we see when there's a great deal of uncertainty is a tightening of credit and that has been a challenge particularly with respect to U.S. dollars and some of the European financial institutions."
Flaherty reiterated that on the broader question of sovereign debt, Europe is rich enough to help itself and should not seek help from the International Monetary Fund, often called the bank of last resort for poorer economies.
World stock markets soared on the news...although experts say the fundamental problems of massive sovereign debt loads remain.
"It does not address the heart of the crisis, which is the risk European banks will have to take further writedowns on sovereign debt and have to pull back on activities in euros," CIBC economist Avery Shenfeld said.
"It does not address the heart of the crisis, which is the risk European banks will have to take further writedowns on sovereign debt and have to pull back on activities in euros," CIBC economist Avery Shenfeld said.
"So this doesn't address the risk to their overall solvency."
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