'Two Weeks' To Prepare For Cyber Attack On Bank Accounts - UK Government

Today’s AM fix was USD 1,244.25, EUR 914.42 and GBP 742.26 per ounce.Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,244.75, EUR 915.26 and GBP 743.49 per ounce. Gold fell $7.70 or 0.62% yesterday to $1,243.10/oz. Silver slipped $0.06 or 0.32% to $18.75/oz.

Gold fell to the lowest since February 3 and prices completed a sixth day of declines for the longest losing run since August. Gold bullion in Singapore traded sideways around the $1,244/oz level prior to ticking slightly higher to over $1,246/oz at the open in London (0800 BST). Silver for immediate delivery rose 0.5% to $18.849 an ounce after sliding to $18.635 on May 30, the lowest since June 2013. Platinum traded at $1,437.75 an ounce from $1,435.56 yesterday, when prices fell to a three-week low of $1,433.

Palladium added another 0.2% to $833.74/oz. The metal climbed to a 34 month high of $845.24 an ounce on May 28 amid a strike in South Africa and prospects of further sanctions against Russia, the world’s biggest producers.

Gold held near a four-month low as risk appetite saw advances in the dollar and global equities. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index reached a new record high and the dollar climbed to a two-month high against 10 major counterparts.

Gold declined 3.3% in May, the biggest monthly drop this year, despite quite strong fundamentals.  The euro also weakened 1.7% versus the dollar in May and there is speculation that the European Central Bank will become even more dovish when policy makers meet this Thursday, June 5. Goldman alumni Draghi adopting an even loose monetary policy should support gold prices.

Gold in U.S. Dollars - 5 Years - (Thomson Reuters)

On Friday, the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data will be watched for signs regarding the fragile U.S recovery. As usual, a good jobs number should see gold sold by traders and a poor jobs number should see gold buying.

Gold remains 3.6% higher this year partly due to robust global demand and due to heightened geopolitical risk.

Since May 29, the 14 day relative-strength index has been below the level of 30 that suggests a potential impending rebound to technical analysts.

'Two Weeks' To Prepare For Cyber Attack On Bank Accounts -  UK Government
Computer users are being urged to protect their machines from malware which could allow hackers to steal financial data, access banks accounts and withdraw savers funds.

British investigators have been working with the FBI to trace the hackers behind an attack, which they expect to take place in the next fortnight.

Between 500,000 and one million machines have so far been infected worldwide, according to court documents.

U.S. officials have accused a Russian hacker of masterminding the scam - and prosecutors say those involved have already raked in more than $100 million (£60 million).

The National Crime Agency (NCA) is now warning of a "powerful computer attack". It is urging people to back up important files and make sure their security software and operating system are up to date.

Two pieces of malware software known as GOZeuS and CryptoLocker are responsible for the alert.

They typically infect a computer via attachments or links in emails. If a user clicks on GOZeuS, it silently monitors activity and tries to capture information such as bank details.

"(The links or attachments) may look like they have been sent by genuine contacts and may purport to carry invoices, voicemail messages, or any file made to look innocuous," the NCA warned.

"These emails are generated by other victims' computers, who do not realise they are infected, and are used to send mass emails creating more victims."

The Cryptolocker malware is activated if the first attack is not profitable enough. It locks a user from their files and threatens to delete them unless a "ransom" of several hundred pounds is paid.

Some 234,000 machines were hit by Cryptolocker - bringing in $27m (£16m) in payments - in its first two months, the US Justice Department said. More than 15,500 computers in the UK are infected and "many more" are at risk, according to the NCA.

Stewart Garrick, a senior investigator with the NCA, told Sky News the threat was mainly against individuals or businesses running Windows-based computers.

We have long warned of the vulnerability of having all your investments and savings in electronic format. The nature of our modern financial and banking system exposes investors and savers to new risks that were not there a generation ago.

Prudent diversification today, involves owning some actual physical gold and silver coins and bars in your possession or in allocated, segregated accounts that can be taken delivery of with a phone call.

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2014-06-03/two-weeks-prepare-cyber-attack-bank-accounts-uk-government

EES: FX Volatility down

In the above 4 hour chart of EUR/USD - look the downtrend of the ATR (Average True Range).

Is this the beginning of summer doldrums, just a slow couple of weeks, or EUR/USD locked in a battle between east / west?  Although not leading news, the situation between US & Russia continues to worsen (although more behind the scenes) today with the US Treasury announcing "Weapons of Economic Mass Destruction" and a recent leaked plan for US first strike on Russia.

Meanwhile, the Ruble is up, and EUR/USD is mostly unchanged, since it's fall from the 1.40 barrier.

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Obama Administration Prepares To Unleash Weapons Of Mass Wealth Effect Destruction On Russia

As Senator Ron Johnson so appropriately blasted, "I'm not sure sanctions had any effect whatsoever other than, you know, the Russians have mocked them," and so it is that the Treasury's (little heard of) "Terrorism and Financial Intelligence" division is preparing to unleash its most deadly weapons yet - an arsenal of financial weaponry aimed at hitting foreign adversaries with limited cost to allies. It appears clear that while the US dropped speech-bombs and sanction-mines, proclaiming the disastrous economic significance of these efforts, Russian stocks soared (vastly outperforming the US) and the Ruble strengthened... and so - as undersecretary David Cohen tells the WSJ, "What we've done over the past 10 years is to create a new method of projecting U.S. power..." e.g. sell non-US stocks (thus buy US stocks).

While the US equity market has already become a monetary policy tool, it appears now it is a global geopolitical force for good too...

As The Wall Street Journal reports,

the Obama administration is trying to shore up international support for a growing arsenal of financial weaponry aimed at hitting foreign adversaries with limited cost to allies.

As the administration prepares for a possible next round of sanctions against Russia, it is increasingly relying on an obscure unit inside the Treasury Department—a group of sanctions architects and financial sleuths in the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence—to play a leading role in U.S. foreign policy.

...

Founded to disrupt terrorist financing after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Treasury office now plays a central role in exerting pressure overseas as the American public has little appetite for military intervention.

"What we've done over the past 10 years is to create a new method of projecting U.S. power," Mr. Cohen said in an interview. "We do that in a way that is unique in the world."

His office includes an intelligence shop that scours bank reports and spy agencies' gleanings for financial patterns that could threaten U.S. security, making Treasury "the only finance ministry in the world with an in-house intelligence unit," Mr. Cohen said.

...

"We have become proficient at reducing collateral damage," Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in remarks to be delivered Monday at a conference hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that is looking at the office's work in its first decade. "But we cannot escape the fact that when we deploy these methods, there will be those who will unintentionally pay a price."

But it seems not everyone is so excited about the threat of this obscure war-mongering from the US Treasury...

Some of the resistance Treasury faces comes from U.S. businesses that worry about the fallout. Meddling with an economy as big as Russia's, for instance, could trigger significant losses for U.S. businesses if their work is affected by the sanctions, or if Moscow decided to retaliate.

...

Leaders of several European countries, including Hungary, have opposed tough sanctions on Russia, a major energy supplier on the continent, and their reluctance weighs on the sanctions policy of the EU, which makes such decisions by consensus. German firms have complained openly about the prospect of losing business in Russia.

Still, despite the massive outperformance of Russian stocks (and the Ruble) since sanctions began, Obama is proclaiming his actions as a major factor in Putin's retreat...

Still, Mr. Obama last week credited the sanctions and other measures the international community took against Russia with serving as a key "counterweight" to Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, most of which are now believed to have moved away.

So perhaps that explains the shocking decoupling surge in US equities this week as bonds rallied , volatility rose, and Russia stocks leaked lower...

Welcome to the new order... where elites wage wars on the stock exchanges... while real blood flows on the streets

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-01/obama-administration-prepares-unleash-weapons-mass-wealth-effect-destruction-russia

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UK Citibank USD Current Account Continues Ramping Up Fees

Once upon a time the Citibank USD current account was by far one of the best such accounts on the market for depositing USD cheque's in the UK, where typically 1.75% was added to the spot GBP exchange rate and if lucky at best as little as 1.5% or at worst rarely more than about 2.2% with no other fees as long as £2,000 or equivalent was always kept on deposit.

However, things started to change a couple of years ago when Citibank introduced a £5 ($8) charge per cheque deposited the immediate effect was to make deposits of small amounts unviable. For instance this fee translated into an additional cost of 0.8% on a $1k cheque deposit the effect of which was an increase of charges experienced to a range of 2.3% to 3.05% per USD cheque. Which when compared against competitors at the time was still was deemed to be a good deal.

If Citibank had stayed put at that than Citibank would still have remained one of the best USD current accounts on the market as the great advantage is that Citibank customers get to choose online when to make the currency transfer and therefore can better time transfers rather than to be left at the mercy of banks that effectively tend to CHOOSE the WORST rate over a 2 week period.

So despite the minimum transfer fee slowly creeping up to 2% to 3% (plus £5 fee), the ability to select rates offered customers a significant advantage over customers of other banks.

However lately, following the most recent Citibank changes the spread has now apparently jumped substantially to a minimum of 3% and as high as 4% with a typical rate offered of 3.6% for a $2k transfer (4.6% for less than $2k). Therefore more than twice the rate citibank used to typically charge a couple of years ago.

For instance the following table illustrates the actual citibank rates given this week on rate tests today and yesterday.

Offered	Spot	% Added
1.732	1.6716	3.61%
1.731	1.6707	3.62%
1.7307	1.671	3.57%

Up until 2 weeks ago the typical % added was 2.34%, that now for no apparent reason has been increased by near 1.3%.

The below table better illustrates the effect of the change in charges over the past few years on typical dollar cheque deposit amounts.

2011 Fee			May 2014 Fee
$500	$8.75	1.75%	$31	6.2%
$1000	$17.5	1.75%	$54	5.4%
$2000	$35	1.75%	$80	4%
$5000	$87.5	1.75%	$188	3.8%

So today a $5000 USD cheque deposit carries more than twice the fee charged in 2011 and a far greater % for smaller amounts.

Citi UK Reference Exchange Rate

Citibank exchange rates are hidden away on the website under the Investment & Deposits / FX Buy and Sell menu tab when logged in.

The table illustrates the huge GBP spread between buying and selling of 7.65%, more than twice what it used to be a couple of years ago.

The bottom line is that many Citibank USD cheque deposit customers will be wasting their time trying to transfer at a decent rate that is for instance 2.3% above the spot rate but the reality that they now face is that they will be lucky to obtain a rate of spot +3%, and more likely be lumbered with spot+3.6% that is in addition to the £5/$8 cheque deposit fee.

Time to start looking to a better alternative to Citibank USD banking.

Source and comments: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article45824.html

First Cisco And Microsoft, Now IBM: China Orders Banks To Remove High-End IBM Servers

A week ago, in retaliation to the inane charges lobbed by the US accusing 5 Chinese army officials of spying on US companies (when the NSA spying scandal on, well, everyone refuses to leave the front pages), China announced it would ban the use of Windows 8 on government computers (considering the quality of Windows 8, this is likely a decision government computers would have taken on their own regardless). Today, China has expanded its list of sanctioned companies from Microsoft to include IBM as well, following a Bloomberg report that the Chinese government is pushing domestic banks to "remove high-end servers made by International Business Machines Corp. and replace them with a local brand."

Why is MSFT and now IBM sowing the seeds of the US government's stupidity and failed attempts to distract from its own spying scandals? We don't know. Here is what we do know:

Government agencies, including the People’s Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance, are reviewing whether Chinese commercial banks’ reliance on IBM servers compromises the country’s financial security, said the four people, who asked not to be identified because the review hasn’t been made public.

The review fits a broader pattern of retaliation after American prosecutors indicted five Chinese military officers for allegedly hacking into the computers of U.S. companies and stealing secrets. Last week, China’s government said it will vet technology companies operating in the country, while the Financial Times reported May 25 that China ordered state-owned companies to cut ties with U.S. consulting firms.

Harriet Ip, a Singapore-based spokeswoman for IBM, referred questions to IBM in the U.S. Jeffrey Cross, a Somers, New York-based spokesman, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment outside U.S. business hours.

“Security trumps everything,” said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China Ltd., a Beijing-based consultant to technology companies. “China doesn’t need the U.S. companies in the way it did for the last few decades.”

Perhaps somewhat ironically, IBM sold its low-end server business to Lenovo, itself a part of IBM once upon a time, several months ago for $2.3 billion.

But if this wasn't enough of an insult to IBM's top line, here is another concern about IBM margins: China simply believes Big Blue's products are too expensive:

In addition to concern about Armonk, New York-based IBM’s equipment as a security threat, China’s government also believes IBM servers are more expensive in China than in other regions, the people said.

China Postal Savings Bank Co. is using servers made by Jinan-based Inspur Group Ltd. as part of a trial program that began in March 2013, the people said. The government plans to expand that trial to other banks, they said. The group’s Inspur International Ltd. unit gained 10 percent to HK$1.53 at 2:57 p.m. in Hong Kong trading today. In Shenzhen, Inspur Electronic Information Industry Co. rose 4.7 percent.

That's ok though: since news and fundamentals don't matter, we fully expect IBM stock to also be up several percent on what now appears to be the terminal loss of one of the company's largest export markets. And not only IBM: other stocks set to surge on this bad news are MSFT and, of course, Cisco, whose CEO was recently crying about Obama's NSA policies, and whose sales in China are once again assured to crater. But as they say in the movies: tis but a scratch - who needs top line growth when a company can issue debt to buy back its share and pretend all is well?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-27/first-microsoft-now-ibm-china-orders-banks-remove-high-end-ibm-servers

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Switzlerand: referendum may herald world's highest minimum wage

Swiss business leaders shocked by past popular votes on executive pay and immigration are wary of a referendum on 18 May that could see Switzerland adopt the world's highest minimum wage of 22 Swiss francs (£14.70) an hour.

A recent opinion poll by gfs.bern found that 64% of voters were against the proposal, made by the SGB union and supported by the Socialist and Green parties. But Switzerland's system of direct democracy, with frequent popular votes on social, political or economic matters, has brought surprises before: the Swiss unexpectedly voted in February to curb EU immigration.

"I'm feeling uneasy about the upcoming vote," said Ralph Mueller, division head at electronic components maker Schurter.

"We would have to significantly raise the salaries in our factory in Mendrisio, where about 80 of our 100 workers commute from Italy, but we would also have to raise the wages of our higher-paid staff. It would cost about 250,000 francs [£167,000] a year."

Swiss voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal in November to cap the salaries of top executives at 12 times that of their company's lowest earner, but they did back a plan last year to give company shareholders the final say on pay and incentives.

The state secretariat for economic affairs (Seco) said the proposed minimum wage of 22 Swiss francs an hour would be the world's highest, even when adjusted for purchasing power in the notoriously expensive country.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/12/switzerland-referendum-highest-minimum-wage

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Japan Debt Update: ¥1,020,000,000,000,000.00

It's been a while since we looked at Japan's debt situation. Here is the dire update.

From Japan News:

Japan’s national debt totaled a record-high ¥1.02 quadrillion as of the end of March, up ¥33.36 trillion from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said.

The central government debt, which increased ¥7.01 trillion from the end of December last year,kept rising mainly due to ballooning social security costs in line with the aging of the population.

The balance of government bonds, financing bills and other borrowing crossed the ¥1 quadrillion line for the first time ever at the end of June 2013.

The national debt stood at ¥8.06 million per capita, based on an estimated population of 127.14 million as of April 1.

Finance Minister Taro Aso said the situation has become “very severe” because of slow progress in fiscal reforms.

Of the debt, general government bonds increased ¥38.86 trillion from a year earlier to ¥743.87 trillion. Financing bills, used to procure funds for currency market intervention, totaled ¥115.69 trillion, up ¥420.8 billion.

But fiscal investment and loan program bonds, used to raise funds for loans to government affiliates, decreased ¥5.05 trillion to ¥104.21 trillion.

Long-term debt, excluding fiscal investment and loan bonds, financing bills and others, totaled ¥770.4 trillion.

* * *

So Japan's debt grew by 7 trillion in one quarter? Sure, why not. Here's why: presenting the Bank of Japan's balance sheet.

Perfectly "New", and quite sustainable, Normal.

Japan Debt Update: ¥1,020,000,000,000,000.00 | Zero Hedge

EES: Euro down off its highs

As suspected, although for reasons that could not have been known, EUR/USD failed to breach the key 1.40 area in its trend, largely due to comments made by ECB Chair Mario D. :

The euro came under pressure across the board after ECB President Mario Draghi said the Governing Council feels comfortable with acting next time. However, as the initial shock dissipates, analysts start to raise skeptical arguments on whether the ECB will deliver. 

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FXDD bulk move accounts to FXCM

Dear Customer,

This letter is to notify you that FXDirectDealer, LLC (“FXDD”) will no longer be the counterparty to retail customers’ positions and will no longer service such customer accounts. We have made arrangements to transfer the custody and clearing of your account to Forex Capital Markets, LLC (“FXCM”). FXCM is registered as a Futures Commission Merchant (“FCM”) and a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (“RFED”) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and is a member of the National Futures Association (“NFA”).

FXDD has worked closely with FXCM to ensure the seamless transfer of your trading account. As a result, no action will be required on your part for your account to be transferred to FXCM. During the transfer, you will receive an email confirming the transfer of your account that will include your new account number and instructions on how to access FXCM’s various client resources. If your current trading platform is not offered by FXCM, your account will be transferred to the FXCM trading platform deemed most appropriate given your current trading platform and your trading history. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your new FXCM trading platform, please contact FXCM at clientsupport@fxcm.com.

Open positions in your account(s) will be transferred. The transfer itself will not affect the equity of your account. Please note that pending orders will not be reinstated after the transfer. You must reinstate any pending orders after the transfer. You may continue to trade on your FXDD’s account up to market close on Friday, May 16, 2014. After that date you will need to contact FXCM directly at the address provided below with any questions regarding your account.

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FINRA Solicits Comment on Comprehensive Automated Risk Data System (CARDS) Proposal

WASHINGTON—The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a Regulatory Notice soliciting comment regarding an innovative proposal called Comprehensive Automated Risk Data System (CARDS). CARDS will involve account reporting requirements that would allow FINRA to collect, on a standardized, automated and regular basis, account information, as well as account activity and security identification information that a firm maintains as part of its books and records.

In its first phase, the CARDS program will increase FINRA's ability to protect the investing public by utilizing automated analytics on brokerage data to identify problematic sales practice activity. FINRA plans to analyze CARDS data before examining firms on site, thereby identifying risks earlier and shifting work away from the on-site exam process.

"The information collected through CARDS will allow FINRA to run analytics that identify potential "red flags" of sales practice misconduct and help us identify potential business conduct problems with firms, branches and registered representatives," said Susan Axelrod, FINRA's Executive Vice President of Regulatory Operations.

FINRA's Regulatory Notice discusses the CARDS concept without specific rule language, to solicit comments on the appropriate design of CARDS and related costs. The core principles in FINRA's recently released Framework Regarding FINRA's Approach to Economic Impact Assessment for Proposed Rulemaking will guide the CARDS rulemaking process and help reduce unnecessary burdens to the industry.

"FINRA's new Framework will result in a more transparent and rigorous rulemaking process. FINRA will consult with key stakeholders and provide clarity about the objectives and potential impacts of the proposal," said FINRA's Chief Economist Jonathan Sokobin.

As currently envisioned, once CARDS is implemented, clearing firms (on behalf of introducing firms) and self-clearing firms would submit in an automated, standardized format, and on a regular basis, specific information relating to their customers' accounts and the customer accounts of each member firm for which they clear. 

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business—from registering and educating all industry participants to examining securities firms, writing rules, enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws, informing and educating the investing public, providing trade reporting and other industry utilities, and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and firms. For more information, please visit www.finra.org.

https://www.finra.org/Newsroom/NewsReleases/2013/P412648

In the midst of the financial crisis, our “leaders” had a choice. They could’ve done what most Americans wanted, which was allow failing firms to fail and permit the chips to fall where they may. In contrast, our “leaders” settled on trillion dollar bailouts with zero strings attached for the criminals who destroyed the nation’s economy. At that point, the American people would’ve been at least somewhat satisfied if the rule of law was applied to the banksters, and those who deserved to go to jail were locked up. As we all know by now, the Justice Department decided to create a special “Too Big To Jail” untouchable class, and nobody was held accountable for anything. Once again, our “leadership” could've look at the situation honestly and responded appropriately. Rather, they doubled down on corruption and criminality and now nobody trusts anything. We don’t trust the Presidency, the Congress, the intelligence agencies, the banks, the financial system, the courts, the Federal Reserve, or any institutions at all. We certainly don’t trust Democrats and Republicans. In fact, millennials in particular have given up all trust in everything. They don’t even trust Jay-z anymore, which I suppose is what happens when you prance around with Warren Buffett and flash illuminati signs 24/7. This is how society breaks down.

Moving along, with confidence in “the system” already in the gutter by summer 2013, Edward Snowden released a bombshell of information on illegal government spying. It confirmed what so many of us had been saying for years, but had been dismissed pejoratively by the mainstream as “conspiracy theorists.” Once again, our “leaders” had a choice. Take the difficult steps and offer real reform, or merely pretend nothing really happened and defend the practices at all costs. Once again, they chose the latter. Just as no bankers were jailed for the financial crisis, no intelligence operatives were jailed for illegal spying. In fact, nothing at all has happened to James Clapper for perjuring himself in front of Congress.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-07/big-brother-coming-your-brokerage-account

Automation-Market Boom

Robot is a Czech word, meaning ‘forced labor’. It’s a bit like slavery, but when it’s a machine nobody gives a damn. As if the ruling minority didn’t have enough with the mass majority drudging to the factories day-in and day-out to add value to their portfolios, now is the time when technology has reached a point where robots are a viable thing of the present, or at least the future.

• The automation market is worth an estimated $100 billion and that is predicted to quadruple within the next seven years.
• By, 2020, it will be worth a staggering $400 billion.
• That means that it will be roughly the equivalent of the e-commerce sector.
• Who wouldn’t want a chunk of that?
• The growth rate in the world market for automated products in the manufacturing sector is set to rise from its present level of approximately 6.5% per year to more than 20% after 2015.
• It will then see a second stage in the development of the automation market, whereby, within the next seven years it will spread to the services sector as technology improves and prices fall.

Funding is also increasing from international organizations and for example the European Commission is literally pouring money into what it believes to be our future. The European Investment Fund for example announced in April 2014 that it was investing in “Robolution Capital”, which is the first fund that is intended to invest in turn in European companies that are involved in the robot sector. It managed to raise some 80 million euros to invest in the sector of activity getting money from institutions, as well as the private and industrial sector.

Robots today have seen a fall in their prices roughly equivalent to a quarter of their value half a decade ago.

Construction

---

Just at the end of April, a Chinese construction company managed to build ten houses in 24 hours by using a giant 3D-printer. That’s a house every 2.4 hours, mainly from recycled material and costing under $5, 000. Now, we shall probably see the market flooded with cheap, low-quality housing, but at least it won’t cost as much as it does now. Perhaps, if the bubble continues, then those super-fast houses will be printed quicker than the money that rolls off the printing presses of Quantitative Easing.

• The printer that was used measures 6.6 m (22 ft) tall, 10 m (33 ft) wide and 32 m (105 ft) long.
• Little labor is needed to assemble the panel blocks that are printed.
• Whether skyscrapers can be built is another matter.

But, how long will they last.

Health

---

Robots are not just there for building though.

They are extensively used today in the medical field. That may mean that one of the few winners ofObamacare may actually be robot manufacturers. It’s not just about building robot vacuum cleaners that do the cleaning why you are at the gym, but it’s Remote Presence Virtual + Independent Telemedicine Assistant (RP-VITA), or a tablet that controlled remotely in order to allow doctors that are not in the presence of the patient to give a consultation. Or there is the robot that enters a hospital room and zaps the germs and the bacteria with an ultra-violet light (Xenex), just so long as there are no people in the room at the time.

Robots: Good?

---

The only trouble is: you can’t help thinking that the invention and development of automated technology and robots is perhaps thought to be a way of alleviate the daily tasks that we do. Robots, however, will not replace man. They might put a few out of work, those at the very lowest echelons of society. But, the masses that are sandwiched in the middle of the ruling 1%-ers and those on the bottom rungs of life will still have to continue working. It wouldn’t do to put the mass out of work too much. Keep the majority of the mass of society just ticking over with a minimum subsistence and they will be too afraid to revolt for fear of losing what little they have.

Take everything away from them and they will start the revolution rather than hold a dinner party. The masses will just be working alongside the robots, to the benefit of the wealth, the ultra-high-net-worth people at the top and to the detriment of the poor. It’s the poor that will be out on the streets. But, that’s ok, how many people actually see a homeless person on the streets. I mean, they are there, but they are transparent, aren’t they?

Originally posted: Automation-Market Boom

EES: Euro near highs - backdrop of war, genocide

With EUR/USD at these levels, it may be a good time to take profits if long, and establish shorts here with stops above 1.40.  While the Euro should be feeling the pressure from impending World War 3, it still seems to be bid here going into an ECB meeting.  The USD seems to be selling off unusually strongly (certainly not based on what little negative data coming out), could be BRICs pulling money out?  

While the USD may be a net-negative of the situation developing in Ukraine, the Euro will be greatly impacted by any sanctions taken against the EU by Russia, most notably (but not totally) cuts to energy supply, or Russian import bans on EU manufactured cars (currently Russia purchasing roughly 40% of all cars manufactured in the EU).

Russia has made its first official comment following the latest escalations in Ukraine - and they are not peaceful-sounding - "We are dealing with the real genocide of both Russian and Ukrainian people,” said Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, adding that Russia was shocked by the massacre in Odessa and mourns the victims together with their families. His words went further as he warned the perpetrators "will get what they deserve from their people." The words though, have now been followed up by actions... as RIA reports that Russia’s Black Sea Fleet "will get new submarines and next-generation surface ships", Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday, voicing his concern at the increasing maritime activity of the US Navy.

The Fed Could Have Bought California & Texas… or All of China & Japan's Treasuries With QE Money

The Federal Reserve has spent over $3.2 trillion in the post-Crisis era.

The bulk of this money printing has gone towards buying garbage mortgage securities or US Treasuries from Wall Street.

Because we’ve reached a point in time at which $1 trillion no longer sounds like a lot of money, we thought we’d go through the exercise of assessing just what the Fed could have done with this money besides give it to Wall Street.

With $3.2 trillion, the Fed could have:

1)   Mailed a check for $10,223 to every man, woman, and child in the US.

2)   Bought back all of the US debt owned by China, Japan, Belgium as well as the debt acquired via investors through the Caribbean islands.

3)   Bought all of France’s economy for a year (or the UK or Brazil depending on its preference) and still had $600 billion or more left over.

4)   Performed leveraged buyouts of California and Texas.

5)   Funded NASA for the next 188 years.

6)   Treated every person on the planet to $200 five star dinners at one of New York’s top restaurants, along with a night’s stay in the Big Apple.

7)   Bought every human being on earth a PlayStation 4 gaming console… and still had enough money left over to buy all of Peru and Ireland’s economies for a year.

It’s quite impressive, isn’t it?

We’re repeatedly told that the Fed has to engage in QE to help the recovery and create jobs. But the facts show otherwise. The economy has added nearly 9 million jobs.

But the Fed could have spent the $3.2 trillion to create 12.8 million jobs in 2009, each paying $50K per year, and stillbe making payroll for them today.

Obviously, that’s an absurd notion, but then again, spending $3.2 trillion on anything without any evidence that your policies are really working is absurd (job growth remains anemic with the recovery being the worst in 80+ years).

Indeed, QE failed to put a dent in Japan’s jobs picture over the last 20 years. It also failed to do much for the UK. Why would it somehow be different in the US?

 http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2014-05-06/fed-could-have-bought-california-texas%E2%80%A6-or-all-china-japans-treasuries-qe-mon

Trade QE - Open a Forex Account Today!

AP ENTERPRISE: US to unleash IRS on Russian banks

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As the United States attempts to punish Russia for its actions in Ukraine, the Treasury Department is deploying an economic weapon that could prove more costly than sanctions: the Internal Revenue Service.

This summer, the U.S. plans to start using a new law that will make it more expensive for Russian banks to do business in America.

"It's a huge deal," says Mark E. Matthews, a former IRS deputy commissioner. "It would throw enormous uncertainty into the Russian banking community."

Long before the Ukraine crisis, Congress approved the law in 2010 to curb tax evasion that relies on overseas accounts. Now, beginning in July, U.S. banks will be required to start withholding a 30 percent tax on certain payments to financial institutions in other countries - unless those foreign banks have agreements in place to share information about U.S. account holders with the IRS. The withholding applies mainly to investment income.

Russia and dozens of other countries have been negotiating information-sharing agreements with the U.S. in an effort to spare their banks from such harsh penalties.

But after Russia annexed Crimea and was seen as stoking separatist movements in eastern Ukraine, the Treasury Department quietly suspended negotiations in March. With the July 1 deadline approaching, Russian banks are now concerned that the price of investing in the United States is about to go up.

The new law means that Russian banks that buy U.S. securities after July 1 will forfeit 30 percent of the interest and dividend payments. The withholding applies to stocks and bonds, including U.S. Treasuries. Some previously owned securities would be exempt from the withholding, but in general, previously owned stocks would not.

Private investors who use Russian financial institutions to facilitate trades also face the withholding penalty. Those private investors could later apply to the IRS for refunds, but the inconvenience would be enormous.

"It's a big problem for them," said Matthews, who is now a lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale, a tax firm based in Washington. "It decreases their competitiveness and they may have capital flight elsewhere."

The U.S. and Russia are significant trading partners, though not all transactions would be subject to withholding. Last year, the U.S. imported $27 billion in goods from Russia, which ranked 18th among importers to the U.S., according to the Census Bureau. The U.S. exported $11 billion in goods to Russia.

The withholding would expand in 2017, if there was still no information-sharing agreement. At that point, if investors sold stocks or bonds, U.S. banks would be required to withhold a 30 percent tax on the gross proceeds from those sales.

The law would also snag big global banks with subsidiaries that don't have agreements with the IRS to share information. At first the withholding could be limited to the subsidiaries. But eventually, if any part of a large global bank refused to comply with the information-sharing requirements, the entire bank would be penalized.

"That keeps an institution from deciding that it's going to register its entity in Germany but not register the entity it has in Switzerland," said Denise Hintzke of Deloitte Tax.

It would also provide a tremendous disincentive for large global banks to do business in countries where they can't share information with U.S. authorities.

More than 50 countries have reached agreements with the U.S. to share tax information about U.S. account holders. The list includes countries famous for bank secrecy, such as Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.

For Russia, the penalties could be more damaging to its economy than U.S. sanctions, said Brian L. Zimbler, managing partner of the Moscow office of Morgan Lewis, an international law firm.

"If sanctions are going to be limited to certain targeted individuals and banks, where this applies to everybody in the market, yes, I think this could potentially be worse than sanctions for the Russians," Zimbler said.

The 2010 law is known as FATCA, which stands for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. It was designed to encourage - some say force - foreign banks to share information about U.S. account holders with the IRS, making it more difficult for Americans to use overseas accounts to evade U.S. taxes.

Under the law, U.S. banks that fail to withhold the tax would be liable for it themselves, a powerful incentive to comply. On Friday, the Treasury Department issued guidance saying it will give U.S. banks a temporary reprieve. As long as U.S. banks make a good-faith effort to withhold the proper tax, they won't be liable for mistakes until 2016.

The goal of the law was to set up a penalty so harsh that foreign banks would have little choice but to share information with U.S. authorities, Matthews said.

"Withholding is a failure of the system," Matthews said. "Withholding was just a big stick out there. No one hoped that would happen."

The Treasury Department said Russian banks can still apply on their own to share information about U.S. account holders directly with the IRS. But those banks may risk violating local privacy laws by sharing such information with a foreign government.

"They can't do it," Zimbler said. "Russia does have bank secrecy laws."

It is a problem that banks around the world are facing. To get around the hurdle, the Treasury Department has been negotiating agreements in which foreign governments will collect the information from their banks and then share it with U.S. authorities. Russia was negotiating one of these agreements when the U.S. broke off talks.

Russian banks face another hurdle: time. In June, the Treasury Department is scheduled to release a list of foreign banks that are exempt from withholding. If your bank isn't on the list, U.S. banks are required to start withholding 30 percent of your payments in July.

The deadline for getting on the list was Monday, just a few weeks after the U.S. and Russia suspended negotiations.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRS_RUSSIA?SITE=CAOAK&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT