Economic Crisis News 2015-07-17
Greece
Banks in Greece are finally back open following three weeks of closures and a 7 point 2 billion Euro loan from the European Commission. Value added tax is rising from 13 percent to a staggering 23 percent on basic consumer goods. The increased austerity will definitely not be welcomed by the already devastated Greek people. They can still only withdraw about 65 dollars per day from their bank accounts.
With social security disability insolvent by 2016, the transportation fund deal expiring the end of this month, and no 2016 budget passed yet, how long until America has to resort to the same straight jacket of economic suppression to feed the oligarchs pennies from the peasants? For Greece the new deadline, or one of them, is October 2015 when a zero deficit clause or mutually agreeable alternative must be passed.
US Markets
The Dow has seen three down days in a row this week, wiping out recent gains to once again be slightly down for the year. Combined, it is down 363 points over the last three days. The government released its latest statistical propaganda; saying new jobless claims are at the lowest since November 1973…if they are, it’s because 20% of Americans have already lost their jobs and stopped looking since 2008.
US Dollar Reserve Status
ZeroHedge is reporting that alongside China’s announcement of their 600 ton increase in gold reserves, they have dumped up to $224 Billion in US treasuries over the last 3 months. The US Treasury’s officially released numbers which only show up to May, show an increase in China’s holdings but a decrease in Belgium’s by over 20 billion dollars.
ZeroHedge has exposed Belgium’s Euroclear as a conduit for China’s forex reserves in additional US Treasuries. With the IMF’s upcoming meeting in October and China making steps to increase their position in world financial markets, we could see the big kickoff to the death of the dollar very soon, something so many have been waiting for since 2008.
The Dollar Index sits at 97, up from 95 a month ago. It’s up 7% for the year from 90 but down from it’s March high of 100. We would have guessed back then to continue to see an increase in the index until the inevitable collapse of the dollar; now we’re not sure if we’ll see it over 100 again this year until the Euro crashes from the Greek debt crisis.
BRICS Bank Opens
Further solidifying the dollar’s inevitable fall is the BRICS bank opening operations in Shanghai following the 2015 annual BRICS meeting. Also meeting for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, they agreed to begin the process of making India and Pakistan new full members of the SCO. The “Silk Road” economic belt project is a key idea being discussed. The recent Iran nuclear deal further bolsters ambitions for increased trading in the East.
Donald Trump Coverage
America’s most outspoken Billionaire, Donald Trump, seems to be getting a lot of news coverage for his 2016 Presidential bid. Trump coverage is visible on CNN, CBS, Fox and ABC news homepages; even international news like Reuters and RT as well.
Precious Metals Shortage Update
Silver is now down to $14.80 from $16.60 just a month ago. APMEX and Provident Metals are showing some 1oz rounds back in stock, though we don’t know how long the shipping delays are from actual orders at this time. If you are purchasing metal at this time, do share your experiences with us either in the comment section or by email. “The question is…is this commodities collapse a prelude to a stock market crash as it was back in 2008?”
Oil
Oil is now down another 2 dollars to $49 WTI and $56 for Brent Crude. Reports are coming out that Texas is handling the oil price drop better than expected.
Bitcoin
In cryptocurrency news, bitcoin price is quite stable since last week around $275. Litecoin price has recovered nicely, at 3 dollars and 80 cents, over double what it was earlier this year, it rallied up to $7.50 on July 10th. It’s market cap is only 155 million compared to bitcoin’s 4 billion though. The block size debate is still ongoing and once this is resolved we could see the bitcoin rally further in the hundreds.