KABUL - Hundreds of nervous account holders waited for hours Wednesday to withdraw their money from Kabul Bank, even as officials sought to assure them that the country's largest private bank was not in danger of collapsing. Governor Abdul Qadir Fitrat declared that Afghanistan's Central Bank would insure all of Kabul Bank's assets against creditors, and cautioned depositors to refrain from closing their accounts after media reports that the Central Bank had ordered the top two Kabul Bank officials to resign and hand over $160 million in Dubai villas purchased by its chairman for well-connected insiders.
KABUL - Hundreds of nervous account holders waited for hours Wednesday to withdraw their money from Kabul Bank, even as officials sought to assure them that the country's largest private bank was not in danger of collapsing.
Governor Abdul Qadir Fitrat declared that Afghanistan's Central Bank would insure all of Kabul Bank's assets against creditors, and cautioned depositors to refrain from closing their accounts after media reports that the Central Bank had ordered the top two Kabul Bank officials to resign and hand over $160 million in Dubai villas purchased by its chairman for well-connected insiders.
Only -ish: Hatzius, who heads the excellent Goldman Sachs econ group, is a very calm, measured guy. But like me, he finds the Fed's complacency about disinflation and deflation baffling (no link): The most surprising aspect of the August 10 FOMC minutes was the highlighted part of the following sentence (near the start of the discussion of the committee's policy action): "While no member saw an appreciable risk of deflation, some judged that the risk of further near-term disinflation had increased somewhat." ... We are surprised by this statement, for several reasons. First, it seems to be at odds with the recent economic data. ... Second, the confidence that deflation will be avoided is at odds with the recent moves in some measures of inflation expectations. Survey expectations have not changed much, but the decline in forward measures of breakeven inflation is noticeable.
Only -ish: Hatzius, who heads the excellent Goldman Sachs econ group, is a very calm, measured guy. But like me, he finds the Fed's complacency about disinflation and deflation baffling (no link):
The most surprising aspect of the August 10 FOMC minutes was the highlighted part of the following sentence (near the start of the discussion of the committee's policy action): "While no member saw an appreciable risk of deflation, some judged that the risk of further near-term disinflation had increased somewhat." ... We are surprised by this statement, for several reasons. First, it seems to be at odds with the recent economic data. ... Second, the confidence that deflation will be avoided is at odds with the recent moves in some measures of inflation expectations. Survey expectations have not changed much, but the decline in forward measures of breakeven inflation is noticeable.
The most surprising aspect of the August 10 FOMC minutes was the highlighted part of the following sentence (near the start of the discussion of the committee's policy action): "While no member saw an appreciable risk of deflation, some judged that the risk of further near-term disinflation had increased somewhat."
...
We are surprised by this statement, for several reasons.
First, it seems to be at odds with the recent economic data.
Second, the confidence that deflation will be avoided is at odds with the recent moves in some measures of inflation expectations. Survey expectations have not changed much, but the decline in forward measures of breakeven inflation is noticeable.
LONDON (Reuters) - Gold and silver hit multi-month highs in Europe on Wednesday, with gold breaking above $1,250 an ounce for the first time since late June, as investors bought the metals amid concerns over the pace of U.S. economic growth. Spot gold hit a high of $1,251.45 an ounce and was at $1,250.55 an ounce at 0920 GMT, against $1,248.99 late in New York on Tuesday. Silver hit its highest since May 17 at $19.53 an ounce and was later at $19.42 an ounce against $19.34. Deutsche Bank analyst Daniel Brebner said concerns over economic activity in the United States were leading to "a growing acceptance that if conditions remain poor or deteriorate further, the Fed will move to support growth."
LONDON (Reuters) - Gold and silver hit multi-month highs in Europe on Wednesday, with gold breaking above $1,250 an ounce for the first time since late June, as investors bought the metals amid concerns over the pace of U.S. economic growth.
Spot gold hit a high of $1,251.45 an ounce and was at $1,250.55 an ounce at 0920 GMT, against $1,248.99 late in New York on Tuesday. Silver hit its highest since May 17 at $19.53 an ounce and was later at $19.42 an ounce against $19.34.
Deutsche Bank analyst Daniel Brebner said concerns over economic activity in the United States were leading to "a growing acceptance that if conditions remain poor or deteriorate further, the Fed will move to support growth."
(Not really, it's a mineral with an unlimited supply, unlike oil...)
(Not really, it's a mineral with an unlimited supply, unlike oil ...)
I realize we don't burn the stuff but unlimited supply ? In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
... there's a lot more gold than oil ...
In what units? In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
And there's an awful lot of cubic metres in the sea. keep to the Fen Causeway
There's also plenty of gold dissolved in the rock of the mantle and at the center of the core. "Wood calculated that 1.6 quadrillion tons of gold must lie in Earth's core." That's 10*15 tons assuming he's using the modern numbering system. http://discovermagazine.com/2006/sep/innerfortknox Vs. 6000 billion barrels of oil in place, which is 6x10*15 http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/feature_articles/2004/worldoilsupply/oilsupply04.html
Vs. 6000 billion barrels of oil in place, which is 6x10
So they're actually not that far off from each other--within the error of these estimates at least. I'm surprised...
In this data brief, we use a unique synthesis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data to track private industry employment and wages from December 2007 (the start of the recession) through July 2010 (the most recent month of data available). We find that:
The former Lehman Brothers chief executive Dick Fuld is on the hotseat today for a quizzing over the bank's spectacular 2008 collapse at a hearing of America's bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in Washington.
New orders booked by British manufacturers slowed sharply last month, pushing industrial activity to a nine-month low.The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply monthly manufacturing index dropped to 54.3 in August from a downwardly revised 56.9 in July. This was the lowest level since last November, although it remained above the 50-mark which separates growth from contraction.A sub-index measuring new orders plunged to 52, the lowest since June 2009, from 58.5 in July. It was the biggest one-month fall in more than six years.
New orders booked by British manufacturers slowed sharply last month, pushing industrial activity to a nine-month low.
The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply monthly manufacturing index dropped to 54.3 in August from a downwardly revised 56.9 in July. This was the lowest level since last November, although it remained above the 50-mark which separates growth from contraction.
A sub-index measuring new orders plunged to 52, the lowest since June 2009, from 58.5 in July. It was the biggest one-month fall in more than six years.
European companies look set for a victory in their efforts to persuade regulators not to force them to use clearing houses for over-the-counter derivatives trades after the European Commission proposed that they be given exemptions from sweeping regulation to clamp down on such markets.The move, contained in a draft regulation, comes after months of lobbying by large industrial companies like Siemens, Eon, Lufthansa and Rolls-Royce. They argued that forcing them to process their OTC derivatives trades through clearing houses would cause a huge drain on cash, possibly hurting European economic growth prospects.Brussels is two weeks away from finalising its version of regulations in the Dodd-Frank Act agreed by the US Congress in June that clamp down on the OTC derivatives markets, parts of which were blamed for exacerbating the 2008 financial crisis. They would force more OTC derivatives to be traded on exchanges and electronic trading platforms, and push them through clearing houses to safeguard the financial system against the fallout from a catastrophic default, such as the failure of Lehman Brothers.
The move, contained in a draft regulation, comes after months of lobbying by large industrial companies like Siemens, Eon, Lufthansa and Rolls-Royce. They argued that forcing them to process their OTC derivatives trades through clearing houses would cause a huge drain on cash, possibly hurting European economic growth prospects.
Brussels is two weeks away from finalising its version of regulations in the Dodd-Frank Act agreed by the US Congress in June that clamp down on the OTC derivatives markets, parts of which were blamed for exacerbating the 2008 financial crisis.
They would force more OTC derivatives to be traded on exchanges and electronic trading platforms, and push them through clearing houses to safeguard the financial system against the fallout from a catastrophic default, such as the failure of Lehman Brothers.
Global meat prices have hit a 20-year high as robust demand from emerging countries has coincided with a drop in production by exporters such as the US and Australia, fuelling concerns about rising food inflation. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's index of meat prices rose in August to its highest level since 1990, up 16 per cent over the past year, after lamb prices hit a 37-year high, beef prices climbed to a two-year high and the cost of pork and poultry prices rose."There has been sustained demand from Asia and from the Middle East for both beef and lamb," said Pedro Arias, a livestock economist at the FAO in Rome, echoing a widely held view in the industry. "But the traders have not been able to satisfy that demand because herds have been curtailed." The sharp price rises have attracted speculative money to what is otherwise a niche market in Chicago. The number of outstanding contracts at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for live cattle and lean hogs futures and options - both benchmark derivatives - has jumped by nearly a third since the start of the year.
Global meat prices have hit a 20-year high as robust demand from emerging countries has coincided with a drop in production by exporters such as the US and Australia, fuelling concerns about rising food inflation.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's index of meat prices rose in August to its highest level since 1990, up 16 per cent over the past year, after lamb prices hit a 37-year high, beef prices climbed to a two-year high and the cost of pork and poultry prices rose.
"There has been sustained demand from Asia and from the Middle East for both beef and lamb," said Pedro Arias, a livestock economist at the FAO in Rome, echoing a widely held view in the industry. "But the traders have not been able to satisfy that demand because herds have been curtailed."
The sharp price rises have attracted speculative money to what is otherwise a niche market in Chicago. The number of outstanding contracts at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for live cattle and lean hogs futures and options - both benchmark derivatives - has jumped by nearly a third since the start of the year.
