InformedTrades

On Monday, the first gold contracts denominated in the Chinese Renminbi (also known informally as "yuan") came to the Hong Kong market.  Analysts have been quick to note the implications of a yuan-denominated contract, realizing that the new contract could drive nearly three times as much demand as the dollar-denominated contract. Looking at the yuan product from the macro-view, a move into gold is about more than just gold-it's about reserve currency status. 

Brazil on Tuesday rejected the idea of buying European bonds to help ease the euro zone's debt crisis, casting doubt on a plan for major emerging market economies to offer fresh funds for the continent's rescue. European leaders had floated the idea that developing nations including Brazil and China could provide funding to buy Euro zone bonds, which would help lower yields and ease pressure on countries such as Spain and Italy.

Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM ) is facing protests from community-based organizers in northern Peru. The townspeople are demanding an end to the $4.8 billion Minas Conga gold mine construction as the project threatens the local water supply. Newmont Mining and its local affiliate Yanacocha are developing the Minas Conga, and if completed, it will represent one of the largest investment's in Peru's mining industry. Milton Sanchez, head of the civic group that organized the assembly, says that they "reject the presence of Yanacocha's Conga mining project because it is located at the start of a water basin," further saying that the organization will "give the company eight days to evacuate from the site." Newmont officials say that the protest has left three workers injured.

On May 31, 2011, I was invited by Russia Today's Keiser Report to discuss bitcoin, the decentralized cryptocurrency:

On several occasions in the past, we've alerted readers to potentially big moves in markets using our Trend-Vol alerts, Precious Metals being the chief focus. Trend-Vol is an early warning system that focuses on several factors to predict movement. Those factors include: historical and implied volatilities, skewness and Bollinger Band width.  This momentum indicator warns when volatility is about to increase and directional moves can be large, quick, and profitable, even after the original trigger goes off. Simply put, and stated here often; volatility breathes. We believe that it is about to exhale soon in the Precious Metals, particularly Silver, but Gold is on the radar as well. What we do not know is in which direction the markets will head…. yet. 

Russia is to build an ultra-modern city on a frozen island deep inside the Arctic Circle - in the Kremlin's latest move to back its claim to vast oil and gas reserves under the polar ice cap. Named Umka, after a popular Soviet polar bear cub cartoon hero, the initial 5,000 residents will live under a vast dome to protect themselves from temperatures sinking below minus 30C in winter. 'This city will be of strategic importance as Russia's northern outpost,' said architect Valery Rzhevskiy who has shown its modernistic designs to an approving Vladimir Putin.

The Vatican says that if a "world government" isn't created with the ability to cope with large-scale speculation, "A climate will generally progress with growing hostility and even violence to undermine the foundations of democratic institutions". The proposal includes a world central bank, taxes on financial transaction proportional to the sophistication of financial products, a fund for the recapitalization of world banks, and different rules for commercial and investment banking.

That suggests Sun Security's 107% overvaluation, the other examples cited above ranging from 56% to 126% and the average, across-the-board overvaluations of 47% were all permissible under present accounting standards. These facts indicate that regardless of statements made by politicians or Federal Reserve officials, there will be no end to Quantitative Easing or massive liquidity injections any time in the foreseeable future.  Any so-called recovery in the financial sector over the past several years appears to have been little more than an accounting trick permitted by the FASB's elimination of fair value requirements.

This summer, the State Legislature and Governor of Louisiana passed a law that bans individuals and businesses from transacting in cash if they are considered a "secondhand dealer". House Bill 195 of the 2011 Regular Session (Act 389) broadly defines a secondhand dealer to include "… Anyone, other than a non-profit entity, who buys, sells, trades in or otherwise acquires or disposes of junk or used or secondhand property more frequently than once per month from any other person, other than a non-profit entity, shall be deemed as being in the business of a secondhand dealer. " The law then states that "A secondhand dealer shall not enter into any cash transactions in payment for the purchase of junk or used or secondhand property. Payment shall be made in the form of check, electronic transfers, or money order issued to the seller of the junk or used or secondhand property…" The broad scope of this definition can essentially encompass everyone; from your local flea market vendors and buyers to a housewife purchasing goods on ebay or craigslist, to a group of guys trading baseball cards, they could all be considered secondhand dealers. Lawmakers in Louisiana have effectively banned its citizens from freely using United States legal tender.

On the very first day, reports indicate yuan gold contracts amounting to a total of 322 kilogram were traded, with the settlement price set at 346.95 yuan per gram, or US$ 1,693.9 an ounce - a significant premium on U.S. and European prices.. Some forex dealers are of the opinion that the yuan will become a dominant force in international financial markets over the next three years and rival the dollar, euro and yen. Meantime, China has formalised a rule to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the renminbi legally obtained overseas, as it moves to further internationalise its currency. The scheme aims at promoting trade and investment by expanding cross-border use of the Chinese currency and supporting the development of the renminbi market in Hong Kong.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen said a third round of large-scale securities purchases might become warranted if necessary to boost a U.S. economy challenged by unemployment and financial turmoil. The central bank should also give "careful consideration" to Chicago Fed President Charles Evans's proposal to tie the near-zero interest-rate pledge to specific levels of unemployment and inflation, Yellen said today in a speech in Denver. The remarks signal Fed officials may be prepared to delve further into unprecedented monetary territory and take criticism inside and outside the central bank for expanding the balance sheet. Fed policy makers are struggling to lower unemployment that's been stuck near 9 percent or higher for 30 months without boosting inflation that's already close to the central bank's long-run goal.

A University of Zurich study 'proves' that a small group of companies - mainly banks - wields huge power over the global economy. The study is the first to look at all 43,060 transnational corporations and the web of ownership between them - and created a 'map' of 1,318 companies at the heart of the global economy. The study found that 147 companies formed a 'super entity' within this, controlling 40 per cent of its  wealth. All own part or all of one another. Most are banks - the top 20 includes Barclays and Goldman Sachs. But the close connections mean that the network could be vulnerable to collapse.

Google Ventures, too, is all about the data. Beyond being able to help teams solve their UX, search, and scaling issues, the team takes hopes to mix both qualitative and quantitative data to put together the best approach to deciding in which startups to invest. According to Maris and Spencer, Google Ventures applies data tools and metrics to their prospective investments to decide which opportunities make the most sense. Naturally, as the team at Google Ventures itself (and their mothership as well) is home a full roster of computer scientists, engineers, machine learning specialists, and more, there's really no surprise that Google Ventures would be applying a data frame to the problem of what spaces and areas are most ripe for investment.

. 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.

All of which means you should really be reading the work of Bentley Economist Scott Sumner, who has been writing forever about the benefits of Nominal GDP targeting, and who is sure to be the hottest economist in the world, as this takes off. You can start by watching his lecture below.

A leading Democrat warned Sunday that the United States and Iran are on a "collision course" as Tehran steps up its nuclear program and escalates hostilities with its alleged plot to kill the Saudi envoy to Washington. But Dianne Feinstein, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said this was not the time for war with Iran, but for stronger international sanctions to change its behavior, saying she favored sanctions on the Islamic republic's central bank.

Click the link to see the global debt clock -- an interactive overview of government debt across the planet from economist.com.

Hong Kong has become the world's first place to offer gold trading in yuan, cementing its status as an offshore hub for the Chinese currency. The Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society (CGSE) said it will offer offshore renminbi-denominated spot gold contracts to investors. The move comes amid a push by Chinese authorities for a more international role for its currency.

In a properly functioning monetary system in which the flow and the valuation of elemental gold is uninhibited, deflation is neither good nor bad, it just is. In such a system both inflation and deflation have a role, as the brake and the spur. As the value in gold of the local currency changes, so the users of that currency adjust their efforts accordingly. And the result is an equilibrium, a self-correcting system, a natural symbiosis between the producers and the consumers where one is naturally encouraged to become the other.

"Iran's advantage over its rival countries (Qatar and Russia) is being situated between two big gas consumption markets, China and Europe," SHANA quoted Hossein Bidarmaghz as saying. He went on to highlight China's growing need for gas and LNG, saying that its consumption would equal all of Europe by 2030. Bidarmaghz said if the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline is extended to China it will facilitate gas exports to the country adding that Iranian and Chinese officials would review the matter in the future.