Free Republic

The American debt problem was almost entirely ignored at the Republican National Convention last week, and we can expect nothing more when the Democrats gather this week. Both parties support the entitlement spending system and the decrepit tax system that fails to support it. They compete on the fiscal side of politics with impossible promises to spend more and tax less. Imagine the U.S. Treasury as an airplane beginning to roll down the runway to take off. For a mile or so, the plane gains no altitude, then the wings start to generate lift. The wheels leave the ground and...

The glut of gasoline and other refined products has taken center stage for the oil markets, threatening to initiate a new bear market and push oil prices down below $40 per barrel for the first time in months. But while a surplus of refined products is weighing on crude prices, there could be another culprit that does not get as much publicity. Goldman Sachs says that a strong dollar deserves more blame for an oil price downturn, and further strengthening of the greenback looms as a much larger threat to prices than the gasoline glut. The U.S. Federal Reserve could...

ISIS is now issuing its own currency referred to as the ‘Golden Dinar,’ with engravings bearing the words “Islamic State.” The coins, currently being released in limited quantity, are to primarily be used by traders in the oil industry in areas under Islamic State control, according to reports on jihadi online forums. Activists in Deir ez-Zor, Syria reported oil traders have been ordered to use the new Dinar when purchasing from ISIS-held oil fields. Reports from the Iraqi city of Mosul have indicated the Golden Dinar is being introduced to the currency market as part of a serious attempt to...

The Canadian dollar has posted gains on Monday session, continuing the upward trend which marked the Friday. USD/CAD is trading at 1.2860. The Canadian dollar posted strong gains on Friday, which was somewhat surprising as Canadian markets were closed for Canada Day. US markets are closed on Monday for Independence Day, so there are no scheduled US events. Canada will publish Manufacturing PMI and the BoC Business Outlook Survey. With the financial markets understandably focused on the stunning Brexit vote, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy has shifted to the back-burner. That could change later this week, with the release of...

It wasn’t so long ago that some of the more famous investor gurus were shrugging off gold as nothing more than shiny trinkets with no investment value. They were wrong. This safe haven is back, the recovery is clear, and there have been some very big changes of heart. The biggest gold producers in the world have seen their share prices double this year. Not only are gold prices soaring, but producers are cutting costs and slimming down debt as they pave the way for gold to return to the top of the favored commodities list. Even though gold dropped...

With Saudi Riyal forwards plunging back below 3.81, dramatically weaker than the current peg, Bloomberg reports that Saudi authorities are cracking down on currency traders as speculation mounts that the world’s biggest oil exporter won’t be able to maintain the riyal’s peg to the dollar as revenue plunges. Saudi Arabia ordered banks in the kingdom to stop selling some products that allow speculators to bet against its currency peg just days after demanding information from lenders on the offerings, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency sent a circular to banks this week saying...

Leading members of Congress are calling on President Barack Obama to fire one of his top advisers amid a deepening scandal over accusations the White House intentionally misled lawmakers and the American public about the contents of last summer’s comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran, according to a letter sent Monday to Obama and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The lawmakers are pressing Obama to fire deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes following revelations he and other officials “spearheaded the charge to mislead elected lawmakers and the American people about the Iran nuclear deal and the negotiations that led to...

When Jim Chanos said earlier this week that days ago that sub-Saharan Africa is facing a severe cash shortage (mostly as a result of their collapsing oil export revenue) he probably did not have the economic basket case of Zimbabwe in mind, and yet this is the country which, after years of monetary and economic collapse "problems", including the occasional bout of hyperinflation, finds itself in the most dire situation. As News24 reports, just this past week, Zimbabweans formed long queues outside banks on Thursday as a cash shortage prompted the government to announce plans to print a local version...

In a shocking move likely to crush the US economy overnight, China is refusing to make its new gold-backed Yuan, convertible from or to US Dollars. The new Yuan will be introduced next Tuesday, April 19. When the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to add the Yuan to the basket of world currencies used for Global Reserves and International Trade, they wanted China to make the Yuan more reliable as a currency. Since then, China has almost un-pegged its Yuan from the Dollar, allowing its value to fluctuate on world markets. But for years, China has been amassing huge amounts...

This is the first in an eight-part series about America's awesomeness. The United States of America is the most awesome country in the world – even when I was a child. I was grateful to live in America and not in some impoverished Third World country. But it is really my experiences living abroad and traveling across the globe that have utterly convinced me that America is a uniquely great country. Democracy and liberty are clearly the two most important birthrights of Americans. But today I want to write about the U.S. dollar. A stable national currency and low inflation are...

Five consecutive weeks of gains makes it hard to argue that we’re in a bear market. While it may not seem like much has changed since the markets last swooned, a few key developments remain supportive of stock prices.In particular, a shifted stance on monetary policy, change in the trajectory of the dollar, and recovery in oil prices have turned sellers into buyers.The Fed Last Wednesday the Federal Reserve confirmed what many had anticipated going into the latest FOMC meeting: that the Fed would have to back off of its four-rate-hike plan for 2016.For some time now, the Fed’s...

Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, who advised Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, wrote for the Yorkshire Post, was managing editor of the Telegraph Sunday Magazine, has lectured at faculty level on currency theory and is now a columnist for WND, has long given warnings that the over-borrowing governments of the West are on a course to bankruptcy, from which recovery will not be possible.Monckton has now come out with his personal plan to sideline the collapsing dollar and rescue western markets: a sound and fully asset-backed currency called the Texas Talent. Users of the Talent would trade in their...

The US dollar has suffered one of the sharpest drops in 20 years as the Federal Reserve signals a retreat from monetary tightening, igniting a powerful rally for commodities and easing a ferocious squeeze on dollar debtors in China and emerging markets. The closely-watched dollar index (DXY) has fallen 3pc this week to 96.44 and given up all its gains since late October. This has instant effects on the world’s inter-connected financial system, today more geared to the US exchange rate and Fed policy than at any time in modern history. David Bloom, from HSBC, said the blistering dollar rally...

Iran wants to recover tens of billions of dollars it is owed by India and other buyers of its oil in euros and is billing new crude sales in euros, too, looking to reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar following last month's sanctions relief. A source at state-owned National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) told Reuters that Iran will charge in euros for its recently signed oil contracts with firms including French oil and gas major Total, Spanish refiner Cepsa and Litasco, the trading arm of Russia's Lukoil. "In our invoices we mention a clause that buyers of our oil...

China is burning through its foreign-currency reserves at such a blistering pace that the country will run down its cushion in a few months, forcing the government to wave the white flag and float the yuan, says Societe Generale global strategist Albert Edwards. "The market remains content that massive firepower remains to support the renminbi. It does not," Edwards, a perma-bear with a propensity for doom-and gloom-prognoses, said in a report published Thursday. Societe Generale, using the International Monetary Fund's rule of thumb on reserve adequacy, estimates that China's foreign-currency reserves are at 118% of the recommended level. But that...

I saw a huge waterfall pouring over a beautiful rock formation and the water looked like liquid glass so pure and transparent you could see all the rocks behind it . All around the base of the waterfall were people and they were enjoying the refreshing spray and droplets covering them as a beautiful misty spray and the droplets just seemed to hang in the air effortlessly and the sound of the waterfalls was the roar of His Voice. As I looked over where the water goes over the falls I saw Jesus with his bare feet standing in the...

Gasbuddy.com says several stations in Houghton Lake, Michigan have lowered their prices under $1 per gallon, in what appears to be a price war. According to GasBuddy it appears these stations are currently the first stations in the country to see prices under $1 per gallon in years. As the situation unfolds, it's possible these stations re-raise prices back over $1/gallon. 78 cents per gallon was recorded at Beacon & Bridge Market while 95 cents per gallon was recorded at the Marathon in Houghton Lake. Prices were verified by GasBuddy after a review of photographs uploaded to GasBuddy's app.

The falling oil price has pressured Riyadh's coffers, pushing the government to lay out budget cuts last week. The clash with Iran could magnify regional tensions and push Saudi Arabia's defense costs up as it fights an expensive war in Yemen and supports allies in conflicts elsewhere. "We have a new economic reality in the Gulf region, with oil prices so much lower," said Michael Cirami, a portfolio manager at Eaton Vance. "That requires an adjustment." Mr. Cirami, who isn't currently making this bet, thinks Riyadh is unlikely to scrap its peg in 2016, but will come under growing pressure...

HONG KONG--The International Monetary Fund on Monday designated the Chinese renminbi as one of the world's elite currencies, a major milestone that underscores the country's rising financial and economic heft. The decision will help pave the way for broader use of the renminbi in trade and finance, securing China's standing as a global economic power. Just four other currencies--the dollar, the euro, the pound and the yen--have the I.M.F. designation...Many central banks follow this benchmark in building their reserves, which countries hold to help protect their economies in times of trouble. By adding the renminbi to this group, the I.M.F....

The year 2015 is coming to an end and we’ve seen a lot this year. Not only did we see a much stronger dollar, the gold price also weakened despite the dire economic situation in, well, everywhere in the world, terrorist attacks and additional tensions between a NATO member and Russia. Additionally, the Federal Reserve seems to be on track to increase the interest rate before the end of this year. In fact, as you can see on the next chart, gold has now almost reached a 6 year low, but two important indicators are indicating the yellow metal might...