Behind the curtain, Spain presents a clear and present danger. Private capital is fleeing the nation, weakening banks, worsening the recession and all but ensuring that there will be few buyers of Spanish debt let alone citizens to tax. Italy is one step ahead, hoping to curtail capital flight by stationing currency sniffing dogs at the departure points.

"Spain has suffered the worst haemorrhaging of bank deposits since the launch of the euro, losing funds equal to 7pc of GDP in a single month.

Data from the European Central Bank shows that outflows from Spanish commercial banks reached €74bn (£59bn) in July, twice the previous monthly record. This brings the total deposit loss over the past year to 10.9pc, replicating the pattern seen in Greece as the crisis spread...."

Read more:

http://www.telegraph.co....hes-record-in-July.html

Workers arrested at South Africa's Marikana mine have been charged in court with the murder of 34 of their colleagues shot by police.
The 270 workers would be tried under the "common purpose" doctrine because they were in the crowd which
confronted police on 16
August, an official said.
Police opened fire, killing 34 miners and sparking a
national outcry.
Police have not been charged because a commission of inquiry would investigate their actions, the official said.

http://bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19424484

Gold standard goes mainstream in US...

http://online.wsj.com/ar...577619383218788846.html

It's now a political debate in public as campaigns intensify!? Never thought I'd see this so soon. Ron Paul has been called a nuthead for such calls for many years. Does it mean that the politicians in US have now become nutheads for inclining towards the gold standard for the USD?

Is Buffett The Greatest Investor Of All Time?

A good read...

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has raised the August retroactive official selling price (OSP) for its key Murban crude by $9.90 from July to $111.65 a barrel, ADNOC said on Wednesday.

http://en-maktoob.news.y...33939281--business.html

EU praises ECB on yet another miraculous bailout idea of euroland - Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) - that is, unlimited buying of PIIGS bonds. Markets cheer and the world is saved yet again by creating more debt to wipe out old debt! This ponzi scheme is fascinating... Nowadays it is a holy grail moment for a CB to issue and at the same time buy its own bonds and all is well?!

Why waste time in a financial course? Gambling courses should be introduced to replace finance since its outdated anyway!

http://www.chinapost.com...8/353577/EU-praises.htm

But Ze Germans esp Bundesbank is not amused wiz ze plan...

Why is Russia stockpiling gold?

http://articles.marketwa...-council-power-politics

Meanwhile the chings continue buying gold. As per last count in July they had accumulated approx 459 tons. At this rate, the chings will have bought in one year bullion larger than the entire ECB reserves!? This is a clear signal the chings are pushing for the yuan reserve currency. It won't be shocking to learn that the chings hold more gold reserves than everyone globally in a few years. So will the yuan become a gold backed currency? Since russia is also buying furiously like the chings will the ruble also become a backup in the ching currency reserve plan?

Interesting times this as currency wars scale up towards the tipping point of dethroning the petrodollar hegemony...

www.gold-prices.biz/home...ts-more-gold-in-201.html

Dubai style apartments in KE. Wow! Hot money is in town. No wonder the numerous golf resort cities and marinas along the coastal area. I wonder what inflation effects this will have on real estate & partly the econ...

http://www.businessdaily...6/-/15dwe4o/-/index.html