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“Non-Official Cover” – Respected German journalist blows whistle on how the CIA controls the media

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“I was bribed by billionaires, I was bribed by the Americans to report…not exactly the truth.” – Udo Ulfkotte, former editor of one of Germany’s main daily publications, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung © Wikimedia Commons Some readers will see this and immediately dismiss it as Russian propaganda since the interview appeared on RT. This would be […]

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Large new study reveals how harmful psychological abuse in childhood can be

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Children who are neglected and emotionally abused experience similar, if not worse, psychological problems than those who are sexually or physically abused. Despite this, childhood victims of psychological mistreatment rarely receive treatment and their suffering frequently goes unidentified. Those are the conclusions of a new study of 5,616 youths who had faced different types of […]

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70-90% efficiency: Russia to send Ebola vaccine to W. Africa in 2 months

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In two months, Russia is planning to send a new experimental vaccine against Ebola to Africa, according to the country’s health minister. The efficiency of the drug, which is to be tested on the ground, is about 70-90 percent. “Today we are discussing that we will have enough of Triazoverin vaccine in two months so […]

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Russia’s two largest banks plan SWIFT alternative

Elite Forex Blog - Market Research & Analysis
The two biggest banks in Russia, Sberbank and VTB, are in talks to create an alternative to the SWIFT global system for interbank financial communications, VTB head Andrey Kostin said.
According to Kostin, Russia has two options: either use the system run by the Russian Central Bank or create a new homegrown transaction platform.
“There is an alternative, we can use the Central Bank system that is already in operation, and we may make our own, we are already in discussions with Sberbank,” Kostin told reporters in Washington DC, where he is for the annual fall meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
However, the catch with the Central Bank’s international transaction system is the price.
“It’s expensive, in fact several times more expensive than the SWIFT payment system,” the VTB head said.
“If we create our own interbank system, which isn’t difficult at all and we are in the process of doing, it will be cheaper. And then hold talks with the Central Bank,” Kostin said.
Switching Russia off SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, would instantly isolate it from global finance, as happened with Iran in 2012. According to reports, EU leaders, especially in Britain, were discussing the option as a sort of super sanctions to punish Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine crisis. Many US senators have also been pushing to block Russia from SWIFT payments.
SWIFT, the Brussels-based global payments system, said last week that they wouldn’t succumb to political pressure and cut Russian payments and would continue services. The group said that disconnecting Russia violates the company’s mission and that it doesn’t make such unilateral decisions.
However because it’s based in Brussels, it would have to comply with any greater EU ruling.
Last month the SWIFT system transmitted more than 21 million financial messages a day between more than 10,500 financial institutions and corporations in 215 countries.
The Russian National SWIFT Association, or ROSSWIFT for short, is the second biggest worldwide, after the US.

http://rt.com/business/195472-russia-sberbank-vtb-swift/ 

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“Prepare For Runs”, IMF Warns Policymakers Of “Elevated Financial Stability & Liquidity Risks”

Elite Forex Blog - Market Research & Analysis
The extended period of monetary accommodation and the accompanying search for yield are leading to credit mispricing and asset price pressures, increasing the chance that financial stability risks could derail the recovery.
 [6]
Concerns have shifted to the shadow banking system, especially the growing share of illiquid credit in mutual fund portfolios.
Should asset markets come under stress, an adverse feedback loop between outflows and asset performance could develop, moving markets from a low- to a high-volatility state, with negative implications for emerging market economies.
 [7]
Funds investing in credit instruments have a number of features that could result in elevated financial stability risks.

First is a mismatch in liquidity offered by investment funds with redemption terms that may be inconsistent with the liquidity of underlying assets. Many credit funds hold illiquid credit instruments that trade infrequently in thin secondary markets.

Second is the large amount of assets concentrated in the hands of a few managers. This concentration can result in “brand risk,” given that end-investor allocation decisions are increasingly driven by the perceived brand quality of the asset management firm. Sharp drawdowns in one fund of an asset manager could propagate redemptions across funds for that particular asset manager if its brand reputation is damaged, for example through illiquidity or large losses.

Third is the concentration of decision making across funds of an individual fund manager, which can reduce diversification benefits, increase brand risk, or both.

Fourth is the concentrated holdings of individual issuers, which can exacerbate price adjustments.

Fifth is the rise in retail participation, which can increase the tendency to follow the herd.

These features could exacerbate the feedback loop between negative fund performance and outflows from the sector, leading to further pressure on prices and the risk of runs on funds. These risks could become more prominent in the coming year as the monetary policy tightening cycle begins to gain traction.
 [8]
Such stress might be triggered as part of the exit from unconventional monetary policy or by other sources, including a sharp retrenchment from risk taking due to higher geopolitical risks.
And, as we have discussed numerous times previously, less liquidity is available from traditional liquidity
providers…
 [9]
The IMF is worried…

Policymakers and markets need to prepare for structural higher market volatility. Doing so requires strengthening the system’s ability to absorb sudden portfolio adjustments, as well as addressing structural liquidity weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Advanced economies with financial markets at risk for runs and fire sales may need to put in place mechanisms to unwind funds should they come under substantial pressure that threatens wider financial stability.

Source: IMF

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Thousands of spiders ‘bleed out of the walls’ and force family from home

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A family was driven from their suburban St Louis home by thousands of venomous spiders that fell from the ceiling and oozed from the walls. Brian and Susan Trost bought the $450,000 home overlooking two golf holes at Whitmoor Country Club in Weldon Spring in October 2007. Soon after that, they started seeing brown recluse […]

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Ebola Pandemic Update: Probable Cases In Brazil And Paris, 7 More Isolated In Spain, WHO Warning

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Despite claims of containment, Reuters reports seven more people turned themselves in late on Thursday to an Ebola isolation unit in Madrid; but following a visit by PM Rajoy, Spanish citizens can relax as the government is setting up a special Ebola committee. Following yesterday’s scare in Paris, The Independent reports authorities are investigating a […]

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The Stronger Dollar = Stealth QE

Elite Forex Blog - Market Research & Analysis

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,Whether this trend will hold or reverse is unknown, but it does suggest that there are advantages to being the cleanest shirt in the dirty laundry.Dave at Trade with Dave recently posed …

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Swiss National Bank Explains Why It Is Against Repatriating Gold

Elite Forex Blog - Market Research & Analysis
The Swiss National Bank has lashed out at the so-called “gold initiative” efforts to “Save Our Swiss Gold” unsurprisingly proclaiming it as a bad idea. AsRon Paul previously noted, “The gold referendum, if it is successful, will be a slap in the face to those elites,” and so the full-court press ahead of the Nov 30th vote has begun (a la Scotland fearmongery) as SNB Vice Chairman Jean-Pierre Danthine explains how a ‘yes’ vote for the initiative“would severely constrain the SNB’s room for manoeuvre in a future crisis,” as it “poses danger to the conduct of a successful monetary policy.” His reasoning (below) is stunning…
On 30 November, the Swiss electorate will vote on the so-called “gold initiative” (“Save our Swiss gold”, in full), which, paradoxically, would severely constrain the SNB’s room for manoeuvre in a future crisis. Let me digress for a few minutes to explain why the SNB is opposed to this initiative.
The initiative is calling for three things:
first, the SNB should hold at least 20% of its assets in gold;
second, it should no longer be allowed to sell any gold at any time; and
third, all of its gold reserves should be stored in Switzerland.
Let me address the last point first. Today, 70% of our gold reserves are stored in Switzerland, 20% are held at the Bank of England and 10% at the Bank of Canada. As you know, a country’s gold reserves usually have the function of an asset to be used only in emergencies.
For that reason, it makes sense to diversify the storage locations. In addition, it makes sense to choose locations where gold is traded, so that it can be sold faster and at lower transaction costs. The UK and Canada both meet that criterion. In addition, they both have a strong and reliable legal system and we have every assurance that our gold is safe there.
The initiative’s demand to hold at least 20% of our assets in gold would severely restrict the conduct of monetary policy. Monetary policy transactions directly change our balance sheet.
Restrictions on the composition of the balance sheet therefore restrict our monetary policy options. A telling example is our decision to implement the exchange rate floor vis-à-vis the euro that I mentioned above: with the initiative’s legal limitation in place, we would have been forced during our defence of the minimum exchange rate not only to buy euros, but also to buy gold in large quantities. Our defence of the minimum exchange rate would thus have involved huge costs, which would almost certainly have caused foreign exchange markets to doubt our resolve to enforce the rate by all means.
Even worse consequences would result from the initiative’s proposal to prohibit the sale of gold at any time. An increase in gold holdings could not be reversed, even if necessary from a monetary policy perspective. In combination with the obligation to hold at least 20% of total assets in gold, this could gradually lead the SNB into a situation where its assets would mainly consist of gold: each extension of the balance sheet for monetary policy reasons would necessitate gold purchases, but whenever the balance sheet needed to be reduced again for the same reasons, we would not be able to resell our gold holdings. This would severely restrict our room for manoeuvre.
Furthermore, because gold pays no interest or dividends, the SNB’s ability to generate profits and distribute them to the Confederation and the Cantons would be impaired.
As a final point, note that currency reserves which cannot be sold are not truly reserves. It does not make sense to call for an increase in emergency reserves – gold holdings – and simultaneously prohibit the use of these reserves even in emergencies.
The SNB’s overriding objection to the gold initiative stems from the danger it poses to the conduct of a successful monetary policy. It would severely impair the SNB’s ability to fulfil its constitutional and legal mandate to ensure price stability while taking due account of economic developments, in the interests of the country as a whole.
*  *  *
We will hazard a guess that the voting will go exactly as Scotland’s independence vote went – young vote for it, old against it… as fearmongering status quo managers step up the propaganda with no regard for what happens next.
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Did Today’s “Satan Signal” In S&P Futures Give The ‘All-Clear’ For Selling To Begin?

Elite Forex Blog - Market Research & Analysis

Even Bob Pisani knows by now that the European Close seems to create a trend-reversal moment intraday that few machines (and even fewer humans) are willing to fight. Whether this is remnants of short-term cycles found due to POMO or just a drop in…

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