Malcolm Robinson

Jim, Where did you get the information from?

Nice one......... :lol:

It seems someone has done a 'Brown' in the gold market and sent the price downwards. The Bank of International Settlements has just done a deal with …………. (Fill in your own guess here!) and taken in 380 tonnes of gold in exchange for $14B worth of foreign currency. This is a huge amount and represents about 20% of annual gold production. Without the full details we can only speculate and there has been heavy speculation but one clue is that the BIS have said it dealt with commercial banks. So it would appear it wasn't central banks such as Spain or Portugal or even a partnership between them or other Eurozone central banks. The IMF has been mentioned but again the description doesn't fit notwithstanding the fact that the IMF doesn't really work like that. Could a single bank hold or dispose of that much gold without being noticed? If we look closer to home I think we might well see a French connection! On the other hand Dubai would also fit the bill? If it does emerge that this is some sort of covert European bailout that a single country wants to keep quiet about I would look at the 'stable' players such as France and not the obvious candidates like Spain, Greece or Portugal. Collectively Spain Greece and Portugal hold about 760 tons of the stuff but that trade for any of them individually would wipe out their entire holdings with Greece and Spain still left short. Has Portugal really done a Brown? Speaking of Brown might be worth mentioning that his sell off of around 395 tonnes of our gold reserves produced about $3.5B, anyone else feeling short-changed!

DRIVING Two elderly women were out driving in a large car - both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red, but they just went on through. The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself "I must be losing it. I could have sworn we just went through a red light." After a few more minutes, they came to another intersection and the light was red again. Again, they went right through. The woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it. She was getting nervous. At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was red and they went on through. So, she turned to the other woman and said, "Mildred, did you know that we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us both!" Mildred turned to her and said, "Oh! Am I driving?"

SENIOR DRIVING As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Herman, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on Interstate 77. Please be careful!" "Hell," said Herman , "It's not just one car.. It's hundreds of them!"

OLD FRIENDS Two elderly ladies had been friends for many decades. Over the years, they had shared all kinds of activities and adventures. Lately, their activities had been limited to meeting a few times a week to play cards. One day, they were playing cards when one looked at the other and said, "Now don't get mad at me.. I know we've been friends for a long time but I just can't think of your name. I've thought and thought, but I can't remember it. Please tell me what your name is." Her friend glared at her. For at least three minutes she just stared and glared at her. Finally she said, "How soon do you need to Know?"

DOWN AT THE RETIREMENT CENTER 80-year old Bessie bursts into the rec room at the retirement home. She holds her clenched fist in the air and announces," Anyone who can guess what's in my hand can have sex with me tonight!!" An elderly gentleman in the rear shouts out, "An elephant?" Bessie thinks a minute and says, "Close enough."

ROMANCE An older couple were lying in bed one night. The husband was falling asleep but the wife was in a romantic mood and wanted to talk. She said: "You used to hold my hand when we were courting." Wearily he reached across, held her hand for a second and tried to get back to sleep.. A few moments later she said: "Then you used to kiss me." Mildly irritated, he reached across, gave her a peck on the cheek and settled down to sleep. Thirty seconds later she said: "Then you used to bite my Neck.." Angrily, he threw back the bed clothes and got out of bed. "Where are you going?" she asked.. "To get my teeth!"

SUPERSEX A little old lady was running up and down the halls in a nursing home. As she walked, she would flip up the hem of her nightgown and say "Supersex.." She walked up to an elderly man in a wheelchair Flipping her gown at him, she said, "Supersex." He sat silently for a moment or two and finally answered, "I'll take the soup."

I CAN HEAR JUST FINE!" Three retirees, each with a hearing loss, were playing golf one fine March day. One remarked to the other, "Windy, isn't it?" "No," the second man replied, "it's Thursday..." And the third man chimed in, "So am I. Let's have a beer."

TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO ME !!! An elderly Floridian called 911 on her cell phone to report that her car has been broken into.. She is hysterical as she explains her situation to the dispatcher: "They've stolen the stereo, the steering wheel, the brake pedal and even the accelerator!" she cried. The dispatcher said, "Stay calm. An officer is on the way." A few minutes later, the officer radios in. "Disregard." He says, "She got in the back-seat by mistake.."

Senior moments............. FAMILY Three sisters ages 92, 94 and 96 live in a house together. One night the 96 year old draws a bath. She puts her foot in and pauses... She yells to the other sisters, "Was I getting in or out of the bath?" The 94 year old yells back, "I don't know. I'll come up and see." She starts up the stairs and pauses "Was I going up the stairs or down?" The 92 year old is sitting at the kitchen table having tea listening to her sisters. She shakes her head and says, "I sure hope I never get that forgetful, she knocked on wood." She then yells, "I'll come up and help both of you as soon as I see who's at the door."

Bit more news about Goldman Sachs, or the current debacle surrounding it. The man who has the job of prosecuting offenders for the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Storch, anyone guess who was his last employer? The same Goldman Sachs he has, to all effects, let off the hook! Flipping heck…………. Mr Stroch is only in his early 30s' with a career stretching ahead of him, I wonder which institutions might reasonably be expected to appear in his CV in the years ahead! This sort of thing perfectly illustrates the nebulous and amoral standards applied throughout and can be applied to both Governments and private sector institutions and especially in their dealing with each other

It would seem Greece has not enamoured itself within the EU membership as Slovakia has refused to take part in the ECB bailout package aimed at Greece. Slovakia has graciously voted to allow other members to use their cash in this manner but not her own! Looking a bit closer it would seem what they really don't want to do is support failed EU banks! Are the veils beginning to lift? Speaking of Greece the union charged with negotiating the minimum wage has come to an agreement with the employers' confederation. This is complicated but in essence they agreed to extend the normal 13/14th salaries PA but not roll them into a more normalised 12. Wage increases this year, 0%, next two years, 1.2%-1.5%. With Greek inflation at 5% we are talking about a reduction in domestic incomes and therefore reduced domestic spending. This is basket case economics if they hope to grow their way out of their financial black hole! As already mentioned public services, transport, post, etc, are in dire straits and in some areas of Athens you have to go to the local post office to see if you have any mail! It would seem the basic infrastructure of the county is grinding to a halt and things like VAT payments and other tax payments as well as any repayments are put off as long as possible. This is contrary to the public uttering of the Greek Finance Minster just last week! If we look at the rules for registering as unemployed you have to be a master contortionist to actually sign on so I guess we can discount any Gov. talk about any reduction in unemployment! This is so serious it is being reported that hospitals are putting off operations and other treatments because they cannot get supplies. The reason……they haven't paid their bills to suppliers! All of the above was supposed to be averted by Monsieur Trichet and his interventions! Very soon it will dawn on the Greek people that maybe monetary union isn't all that it was cracked up to be!

It would seem the Vampire Squid (Goldman Sachs) has been let off the hook……bah! In an American court style plea bargain they have paid the biggest fine in history, £360M, had the charges dropped and effectively had that paid by '1 days increase in their share price!' This is financial tomfoolery par excellence! RBS, yes our bank, will get £80M as they were one of the major players Sachs 'misdirected', even though the total RBS lost for us in its dealings with Sachs is about £800M! This would seem a 1 in 10 return; for every 10 invested 1 is coming back. Now let's apply that to another UK institution currently going through the American courts, BP! I wonder why there is a difference, the Vampire Squid haemorrhaged an inky black cloud over the financial markets and I would charge it with being an instigator of the financial crisis affecting a whole lot more people! Speaking of black inky stuff anyone else queasy at the latest offering off Lord Voldemort? What a complicitous two faced bar steward that man is!

Basel 111. For anyone who doesn't know what is going at the mo, there is a corporate war going on between the banks and governments, who want to punish them for the credit crunch as a means to regain some political credence with their electorates. This is true in the UK as well as Continental Europe and the States. This has taken a turn and we now see 'bank stress tests' being talked about. One item on the agenda is supposed to examine how capitalised the banks are, in other words a bit like us mere mortals going along to our bank manager asking for a loan and him asking what resources we have to repay the debt! The banks have immediately bogged the politicians down in the minutia of the question, 'how to define capital'. This is predominantly about valuing minority stakes banks hold in each other. At the moment they can list these stakes as assets but in reality they could be liabilities, especially in this time of financial turmoil. This looks likely to take several months to resolve but we are supposed to see these stress tests in several days! Looks very much like yet more political fudge to me………. We have a slim chance to make the banking sector responsible I hope our political class are up to the game!

So Moody's has downgraded Portugal to A1 status and cited debt to GDP and debt to revenue as the main reasons. Portugal didn't really have the growth others in EMU had and so it's not hard to see her economic growth now as something almost impossible to attain. Like the rest of the PIIGS implementing harsh austerity measures ends up being counterproductive as by their very nature they tend to depress economic growth and if you rely on growth to pay your way out of the do do then there would seem an obvious conclusion? With her banks now probably only able to borrow from the ECB and her nearest neighbour in a similar mess there doesn't seem much hope for an economic boom! Speaking of ratings agencies, China has come out and said they are all tainted with bias towards western economies and unreliable therefore her agency, the Dagong Global Credit Rating Company, has rerated economies and surprise surprise China had edged upwards and the western economies have all been taken down a notch or two, the UK is now AA- not AAA! Seems China is learning the tricks of international finance quickly! The Greek bond issues currently gone and going through do have an intrinsic question, how much did the ECB take? (European Central Bank's Securities Market Programme.) We are not supposed to know this of course but isn't this pubic money overseen by publicly accountable officials? This is the ECB's version of QE, something verboten in various pan European treaties so even more smoke and mirrors is required! Trichet actually said this would not happen only to see the next day the Spanish finance minister saying it had started! It might be worth mentioning here that the Greek companies running her public transport network are currently running in the red to the tune of around E13B which is supposed to at some point be added to her national debt figure. Unable to meet payroll obligations and with a national strike the Gov. stepped in and lent more money to keep the busses and trains going! Almost 20,000 retired public sector workers are waiting to receive their full pensions, 20 months and counting, at a cost of around E900M. The E1.6B bond issues should be regarded in that light! The utterings by her finance minister also need closer inspection as the debt decrease mentioned of around E5B should be viewed in relation to the unpaid obligations of the Gov. which amounted to E10B! Can this just be 'spin'; heavens forbid a politician being economical with the truth, never heard of such a thing! The whole economic structure of Greece looks to be under threat with more and more private sector jobs and companies being lost. With austerity measures in her public sector being implemented not hard to see the double whammy. At some point the people will make the decisions the Eurocrats, politicians and financiers are unwilling to make. The problem is that the longer their, and any other, domestic politicians cling to the forlorn hope of EMU stability as a scapegoat the more extreme the correction could to be. We might well see Madam La Guillotine back on the streets in Europe!

Thursday 22nd July 2010 6-30 – 8-30pm Venue: The Salvation Army Hall Hartford Road Room No4 AGENDA 1. Welcome & Introductions 2. Apologies 3. Minutes of the meeting held on: Thursday 20th May 2010 4. Matters Arising 5. Update from the Chair 6. Police update 7. Parish update 8. Update and open discussion on the Development Trust 9. A.O.B.

Might be worth mentioning here that the new cycle route which is going in will have 'statuette' markers along its route and we have suggested Dr Brown as one of the 'statues' for the Bedlington route. These will be profile cut outs in metal with full accreditation.

There are some complicated moves afoot within the Greek financial debacle at the moment. She has just gone to the market with 6 month bonds and her finance minister has been talking up her reaction to the imposed austerity measures. So Greece is willing to pay around 4%+ on this paper yet she is supposed to have access to the EMU bailout dosh costing 5% pa or nearly half the cost? If we then look at the total issued we see a paltry E1.25B, this will not even repay the rollover debts (E2.16B) she has! Next week she is supposed to offer 13 week bills and again we see a rollover figure of E2.4B. It very much looks like she is paying what she can off her mortgage with her credit card and allowing the capital debt to increase. Maybe Greek financiers can see something I can't? If she issued 12 month paper, currently 7% but she can use EMU money at 5%, to cover costs and repayment then markets would at least be sure of no defaults for that duration. The sad truth about her finances according to people living there is that she is trying to pay international national debts but issuing IOU's for domestic local and regional debts! If you worked for Northumberland County Council how many IOU's would it take to feed your family and pay your mortgage? The fat lady is a long way off singing here!

Speaking of the EU, these banking stress tests we are all eagerly awaiting…..is there anyone who is going to believe whatever they come out with? It seems the banks are themselves actively seeking a watering down of some of the tests involved. If Trichet comes out with anything like a watered down version the markets will see there is more really bad news behind the headlines and act accordingly. What a stupid position to put yourself in! One thing is clear the politicians are running scared and that leaves us mere mortals only left to speculate! The games afoot Watson………..

Back with the good old EU……… In 2009, the EU spent £400 million on projects marked 'Confidential'. There's no graft involved - just stupidity at a time of fiscal austerity! One of these outlays involved a circus troupe performing "spectacular belching" and "smelly foot" jigs. An official in Brussels commented, "This is a very small amount of money and I am sure there are reasons why this is confidential." Yeah, maybe someone might like to explain them then! Also the EU will this year spend almost £1 billion on pensions, giving the average retired official an income of almost £60,000. The UK's contribution will be £135 million. A British diplomat said: "Pay and pensions in EU institutions must reflect the very difficult decisions which are being made right across Europe." Well it certainly looks that way to me, these guys must be really tightening their belts!!!!!!!!!!!!

Change is coming to the NHS, yippee, we can expect our elderly nearest and dearest to get those operations they need to stay alive in their lifetimes now, instead of being top of the list just after it doesn't matter anymore. Mr Lansley has come up with a scheme which will revolutionise our heath provision. With the Thatcherite mantra of 'more choice' above all else ringing in his ears he is going to give the docs more budgetary control and form an new independent body to oversee the NHS. Just what we need, doctors with no financial training given more financial responsibilities and more jobs for the boys! I would have thought doctors and their specialist skill set should be left to their own area of expertise to the exclusion of all else, isn't that best for the population? As for more managers…….words fail me! It's about time the great and good realised health provision is not a market, it can't be manipulated in the same way as a run of the mill business. It may well end up we need to pay more into the system for heath provision and that's fine as long as we get a first class system and one we can trust. Look out for the first million pound a year GP!

Didn't most of us already know this..... http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100712/tuk-uk-britain-gdp-fa6b408.html

Did anyone else see Trichet's speech last week? His conclusion now is that "There has been a tendency for outsiders to be excessively pessimistic". He goes on to justify ECB actions because of a fall in joblessness and a rise in exports. The rise in exports was almost certainly down to German efforts as they have seen an exponential rise in their figures with the Euro heading towards parity with the dollar. The other member states believe this to be a problem not something to be applauded; Germany is so far out of whack with them it is untrue! As for the joblessness figures, again Germany is the only leading contender, the figures in the majority of EMU members is heading in the opposite direction. Looking at France, the biggest government employer in the union, where their deficit figure is rising by E3B a month, not one single redundancy has so far been enacted! Mr Trichet, delude yourself if you want but leave the rest of us to try and make sense out of the carnage you have overseen! In the near future Trichet will be pensioned off on a nice fat EU pension. It would seem a pity a great many people will not have the same choice due to the laissez-faire attitude apparent under his fiscal authority tenureship!