Another stake in the heart of Europe.

May 19th is a Red Letter Day for Greece. It needs to repay 9 billion Euros to foreign and domestic investors by raising money from the debt markets. Unfortunately, it cannot do so due to its skyrocketing rates: 2 Year Bonds are trading at 23%.

Meanwhile, German engages in brinkmanship. The weakness in the Euro is a boon to its manufacturing sector.

"BERLIN—A cut to Spain's credit rating on Wednesday, just one day after downgrades to Portugal and Greece, fueled fears that the euro zone's debt crisis is widening and sent new tremors through financial markets.

Chiefs of the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank went to Berlin to exhort reluctant German lawmakers to support the IMF-European Union rescue package for Greece. According to German officials, IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the aid could total up to €120 billion ($158 billion) over three years—nearly three times the amount recently pledged...."

Read more:

http://online.wsj.com/ar...html?mod=wsj_india_main

Thank you Sheep.

I was once a follower of Adam Hamilton. His articles on commodity cycles are quite informative.

Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.

"Amidst growing pessimism about the financial condition of U.S. cities and states, investors are increasingly buying financial instruments that essentially allow them to short sell - or bet against - cities and states, says a Wall Street Journal report.

Offered by banks like JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Citigroup, the so-called municipal credit default swaps can be used by investors to bet that insurance contracts protecting holders of municipal bonds will default...."

Read more:

http://www.huffingtonpos...t-us-citi_n_553891.html

In the wake of the 1929 stock market crash and the ensuing depression, gold was hoarded as a protection of wealth. The government had fixed an ounce of gold to $20.67 so gold stocks were essentialy utilities. It was in 1934 that Franklin D. Roosevelt devalued the dollar versus gold by fixing it at $35.

The premier gold stock at the time was Homestake Mining. The 1931 calendar brought with it a ticker price of $79 per Homestake share, closing the year at $129 due to the unfolding Debt Crisis in Europe. 1932 saw the stock trading at a range of $110 to $163 whilst in 1933 the range was between $145 and $373. Roosevelt's devaluation was a boon to gold miners. Homestake reached $544 by 1936.

It is that time again.

"Dear Friends,

Linked below are some charts of gold priced in currencies other than the US Dollar. As you can see from the charts, gold is either making new highs or is close to previous highs. What this reveals in picture form is a loss of confidence in paper currencies.

This is gold reverting to its historic, age-old role as a safe haven for wealth preservation.

Trader Dan...."

Read more:

http://jsmineset.com/201...-in-various-currencies/

@Mzee karanjakinuthia ,

Spot Gold price in USD at the moment is circa 1,170 can you predict the peak price this year, or can any one answer the question ?