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On August 25, 2011, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a wild new concept relating to privacy glasses. While the new specs will be applauded by both professionals and multi-player-gamers alike - gamers may get the added thrill of tapping into the specs' 3D capabilities. While we covered Apple's initial patent regarding privacy-mode viewing in May of this year, it appears as though this project has taken on dramatic new twists. As computer users shift more towards using mobile devices like iPads and MacBooks as their primary devices, and use them more and more in public spaces, privacy-viewing is going to be an essential feature for all future mobile devices. Apple is out to be first and more importantly, the best in delivering this essential new feature and/or accessory. 

Some big news from the Merkozy press conference happening right now. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has expressed plans to introduce a "Tobin tax" in Europe: This means taxes on financial transactions, which is something the banks will hate. Obviously we need details, but this is not minor news if it's carried forth

"He's called up the Bank of England and he's asked the Bank of England to ship the gold back to Venezuela and he's built new vaults in Venezuela to hold his gold.  Taking that altogether, what does it all mean?  Well, the reserve part of it, moving the dollars out of BIS and moving it into Russian and Chinese banks tells me that he's worried about a freeze.  He's worried about some kind of confrontation with the United States number one, but he's probably worried the dollar itself.  Meaning, once he gets the dollars into Russian banks, he can then tell the Russian banks, his new custodians, 'I want you to sell the dollars, buy the euro, buy more gold, buy Chinese yuan.  But it's a way for him to diversify in ways that are not very easy to track.

Here's Bernanke's speech to the Economic Club of Minnesota. There's not much new here. He basically says the growth outlook isn't great, and that the Fed has more tools. But he says nothing explicit. Markets aren't moving much on this.

The Financial Stability Board wrote a report in April this year saying that ETFs might present new, unexpected risks to financial stability. The full report is available for download by clicking here.

It means the spot market in gold could be headed for China- and away from London's Metals Exchange or the Comex in New York. I'd like to know who is going to oversee and regulate all this action.  For example, when the Comex raises margin requirements to dampen speculative fervor- will  China bew governed by that? I doubt it very much. In June you'll be able to buy spot gold or futures contracts in China. It also means that the Chinese currency- not dollars- will for the first time become the ruling currency used in one of the major speculative commodities of our age. All eyes will be on the influence of the gold trade in China  rather than New York, London, Switzerland or South Africa.

. A new technology from Carnegie Mellon's Human Computer Interaction Institute allows your device to distinguish between different types of taps using a microphone and touchscreen. Created by Chris Harrison, the same guy who brought us Omnitouch, the technology "doubles the bandwidth" when it comes to touch interaction. By attaching a microphone to a touchscreen, the CMU scientists showed they can tell the difference between the tap of a fingertip, the pad of the finger, a fingernail and a knuckle. This technology, called TapSense, enables richer touchscreen interactions. While typing on a virtual keyboard, for instance, users might capitalize letters simply by tapping with a fingernail instead of a finger tip, or might switch to numerals by using the pad of a finger, rather toggling to a different set of keys.

The folks at the USDA released their projections for 2011/2012-food price inflation. The bad news is that feeding ourselves will cost ~4% more in 2011. The good news is that USDA thinks prices will rise only ~2.5% next year. I shop (I hate it). My food inflation is closer to 10%. It depends on what you eat.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to rally support in his cabinet for an attack on Iran, according to government sources. The country's defence minister Ehud Barak and the foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman are said to be among those backing a pre-emptive strike to neutralise Iran's nuclear ambitions. But a narrow majority of ministers currently oppose the move, which could trigger a wave of regional retaliation. The debate over possible Israeli military action has reached fever pitch in recent days with newspaper leader columns discussing the benefits and dangers of hitting Iran.

Emerging Capital Partners, the Africa-focused private equity group, has money to invest and knows how it wants to spend it. The group has, historically, pumped a quarter of its investments into telecommunications and will maintain that commitment - but with a bit of a tweak. ECP thinks the African telecoms market is at an "inflection point" with the large, established operators looking for new ways to drive growth without investing vast sums on infrastructure. So, the fund has decided to concentrate on  smaller, infrastructural investments where it thinks there is value to be found - right now, that means mobile towers which can be shared by different operators to reduce costs.

The renminbi has come a long way since 2009 when Beijing took the first steps to promote its use to settle trade transactions and opened up the RMB bond market. And while it certainly still has some way to go before it becomes fully convertible, that day may be coming sooner than you think - if the words of Xia Bin, an advisor to China's central bank, are anything to go by. Speaking at a City of London event this week, Xia said if the Chinese government is to turn Shanghai into an international financial centre  - a hub to rival Hong Kong or New York by 2020 - it won't be able to do so without a fully convertible RMB. "We are very close to the requirement for full convertibility. Personally, I think we are just one step away now. It will be a political decision and we are not as far away as some people think. It is not as big of a step as some people tout it," Xia said.

The company recently responded to the Beltway's heightened antitrust scrutiny by hiring 12 new outside lobbying firms with deep connections to all branches of government. It also spent more than $2 million last quarter - more than rival Microsoft, for the first time - to talk up its issues around Washington. And Google's bigger 2011 haul could allow it to wage a more aggressive war with its PAC, too. For now, the roughly $60,000 Google has written in campaign checks reflect contributions to party leaders as well as key decision makers on tech- and telecom-focused congressional committees.

Dunkin' Brands Group Inc (NasdaqGS:DNKN - News) said on Wednesday its franchisees are raising prices at Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins stores to help cover the higher costs of key ingredients such as coffee and milk. The shares of the company, which had its initial public offering last week, were down 4 percent after it also reported profits in the most recent quarter were down slightly from a year ago.

The U.S. Treasury Department is planning to meet with bond dealers at noon in New York today to discuss next month's quarterly auctions of notes and bonds and the debt ceiling, according to people familiar with the meeting. The Treasury has canceled its regularly scheduled individual meetings with bond dealers in favor of the group meeting, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the meeting hasn't been publicly announced. All 20 primary dealers were invited.

Citi's Osamu Takashima, who writes that the BOJ will intervene at a level of 76 on the USDJPY or about 9500 on the Nikkei. Bloomberg All News summarizes the highlights of his note. Possibility of BOJ intervention is much higher if Nikkei and USD/JPY falls to 9,500 and 76, respectively Last 2 BOJ interventions in September 2010 and March 2011 didn't benefit Japanese exporters as much as margin FX investors, aka Mrs. Watanabe Rough calculations show FX margin players may be holding about 2.8t yen or $36b in short-yen positions BOJ/MOF would need to intervene at least 3t yen or $38b to help Japanese exports

Copper futures fell in New York, capping the biggest weekly slump since June 2010, on concern that the faltering global economy will curb demand for industrial metals. Copper declined for the fifth straight day as a report showing U.S. employers in July added more jobs than forecast failed to ease concern that the nation will slip into another recession. All six base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange dropped, with lead and zinc falling more than 5 percent and tin had the biggest weekly drop in two years.

Also in this interview: Why we've now reached the "biophysical gauntlet" where higher energy costs are handicapping future economic growth The subtle yet critical relationship between debt and energy. And why our ignorance of it is worsening our collective situation. The most probable implications of peak oil for the financial markets and asset valuations What individuals (and society) should do to position for a future of lower available energy Why 'self worth' is the new 'net worth'

The dollar represents 60.7 percent of the world's currency reserves, compared with the 26.6 percent for the euro, which has the next biggest portion, according to the International Monetary Fund in Washington. Ten-year Treasury yields fell 17 basis points, or 0.17 percentage point, last week to 2.80 percent, the lowest level since November. The benchmark 3.125 percent note due May 2021 rose 1 13/32, or $14.06 per $1,000 face amount, to 102 25/32, Bloomberg Bond Trader prices show. The yield fell to as low as 2.72 percent today in New York, the least since November.

Oil fell to the lowest in eight months in New York, set for the biggest weekly decline since May, on speculation fuel demand will falter as U.S. economic growth falters and Europe's debt crisis worsens.

More executives at Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies are buying their stock than any time since the depths of the credit crisis after valuations plunged 25 percent below their five-decade average. Sixty-six insiders at 50 companies bought shares between Aug. 3 and Aug. 9, the most since the five days ended March 9, 2009, when the benchmark index for U.S. equities reached a 12- year low, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Morgan Stanley (MS) Chief Executive Officer James Gorman and two other managers purchased 175,000 shares of the New York-based bank as the shares fell to the lowest level since March 2009, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.