China opposes sanctions on Russia over Ukraine Washington to announce additional sanctions on Russia, says Obama

China’s foreign ministry on Monday restated its opposition to placing sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, after leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major economies agreed to swiftly impose further punitive measures.

Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China had “maintained communication” with all sides since the outset of the Ukraine crisis, including the G7 countries, and explained its position.

“On the issue of international relations, China has consistently opposed threatening or imposing sanctions. We believe that sanctions are not conducive to an issue’s resolution, and may worsen tensions,” Mr Qin told a daily news briefing.

“We call on all sides to keep using dialogue and negotiation to appropriately resolve disagreements, to push for a political resolution to the Ukraine crisis. Sanctions are not in any party’s interests.”

US President Barack Obama, speaking in the Philippines, said Washington would announce new sanctions on Russia later in the day. He said the United States and its allies were keeping in reserve further measures against Moscow.

China has adopted a cautious response to the crisis, not wanting either to alienate key ally Russia or comment directly on the referendum in which Crimea voted overwhelmingly to join Russia, lest it set a precedent for its own restive regions, like Tibet.

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China Takes Steps to Further Conceal Gold Holdings

I really think China has a gold backed currency in it's future plans - Gary

Sprott Money Blog, The Silver Bug

It has long been public knowledge that China has been secretly adding to its gold reserves. Speculation abounds as to the quantity of gold that China holds, and even further speculation surrounds what they plan on doing with it.

Many precious metals experts believe that China is gearing up for the “end game” in which they will usher in a new global currency, a currency that will displace the US dollar and bring about a new age of prosperity for China. The truth of the matter is we don’t know.

Up until now, the only way investors could get any indication of how much gold China was accumulating was from the monthly release of export data from Hong Kong, which last year supplied $53 billion worth of gold to China last year. All that is about to change.

China has announced that it will begin allowing gold imports directly through its capital, Beijing. China would have no obligation to release or disclose its import numbers, thus making its accumulation of gold even more discreet.

The People’s Bank of China is likely to continue its trend of secrecy; they have made it well known that they intend to diversify out of US treasuries, much to the disappointment of the Federal Reserve.


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Forex trading as a beginner

When the word Forex is mentioned some people put a big smile on their faces simply because they have earned huge profits from the trading, however, some look back and put on a sad face perhaps because they lost most of their money in the trading overnight. Well its true Forex trading can be the breakthrough to your financial constraints but on the other side it can be a real cause for nightmares. Today, many people have opted to venture into Forex trading and take the risk for the purpose of earning big profits. In fact, it is estimated that this currency market trades over 4 trillion dollars in a single day. You can be part of this great community and smile all the way to the bank only if you are armed with relevant information on how to venture into the Forex trading as a beginner.
You may ask yourself, yes, you want to venture into this currency trading but how? Well if you are in this dilemma your worries will be short-lived. Today you will have an Idea where to gather relevant information that can help you as a beginner jump into the Forex world. There are many areas where you can research various aspects of Forex trading but thanks to technology the best place to achieve this is through the internet. Here you can get hundreds if not thousands of blogs all geared to providing you with the information you need to enter the Forex trading market.
So, what exactly is Forex trading according?
Also referred to as FX and foreign exchange, Forex trading is trading of currencies from various countries against one another. For instance, the United States uses USD as their currency while the UK uses Euro. Now Forex trading for this example is when you buy USD while simultaneously selling Euro.
Being a beginner you ought to have everything correct and on your fingertips if you want to make it big into the FX market. The only way you can achieve this is by training yourself through every little detail of this trading. Well to your advantage, you can peruse through various blogs with relevant information on how best to enter this market and be on the safe side. Here is some of good news on blogs to beginners.

Always be on the right side
Blogs will offer you directions when exactly to get into the market and when not to. While so many people trade every day, not all are on the right side. Some are on the losing trade side and they end up incurring losses from the trade. Of course that’s not what you would want!

Get a word from the expert’s blogs
Many Forex trading experts often have blogs in order to provide crucial information to people who want to venture into the FX market. Now this is where you need to take advantage as a starter and get all the information you need as you take your first step. Remember chances are that you will be on the right side of the trade more often than not when you tag on the proven path that experts followed. From the blogs, you can also decide to contact an expert and seek advice on how to eliminate any possibilities of failure and earn interesting profits from the market.

Russia Declares War on U.S. Dollar

Jerry Robinson of FTM daily is one of your better economist on the web, the petrodollar system may be sinking fast - Gary

FTMDaily.com – As the West continues to unleash its anger against Russia’s recent military moves, Vladimir Putin has intensified his diplomatic efforts with a rising China. After a decade of talks, Mr. Putin is expected to announce a broad plan to export vast amounts of natural gas to China during an official state visit to China next month. If Mr. Putin can seal the deal it will be another major victory for the BRICS nations and will provide yet another nail into the coffin of the failing U.S. dollar.

Of course, both sides are facing intense pressure from the West to abandon the deal. China, however, seems intent on pushing closer to Russia. Russia, in particular, is under the threat of more Western sanctions for its recent role in Ukraine. So too, Western sanctions are targeting Russia’s state-run energy company, Gazprom. Gazprom’s response to these sanctions shows just how close we are to the end of the petrodollar system…
From the Financial Times, a story entitled: Gazprom Looks to Drop the Dollar to Avoid Sanctions’ Bite:

The oil arm of Russia’s state-owned Gazprom is preparing customers to settle contracts in euros rather than dollars as it braces for the possible escalation of US sanctions against Moscow.
Alexander Dyukov, chief executive of Gazprom Neft, told reporters in St Petersburg that the company had discussed shifting contracts to euros with its customers. “Practically all – 95 per cent of our customers – confirmed their willingness to move to settlement in euros,” he said.

Through Gazprom, Russia is openly declaring war on the U.S. dollar and its long-standing role as the settlement currency in global oil transactions. Ukraine is yet another proxy war for the U.S. and Russia. Now, however, the long knives are coming out.
The Financial Times report continues:

One senior banker said that many commodity groups, including Gazprom Neft, had held talks with bankers about financing in euros rather than dollars. “Every commodity sector business is talking about what is possible if you couldn't do deals in dollars – if you couldn't get dollar clearing through New York,” he said.
Such a switch could result in higher costs for companies because of the need to convert currencies and the lower liquidity for those other than the US dollar.

As I have consistently told you, a global switch from the U.S. dollar is going to be costly, laborious, and painful. Those who suggest that one morning you will wake up to find the U.S. dollar completely worthless have no historical precedent. The entire global economic infrastructure is designed to run on U.S. dollars. Changing that system will be expensive and difficult. Nevertheless, the discussions on how to make the switch from the U.S. dollar are currently taking place, and plans are no doubt being hatched to eventually make the switch.
As this report suggests, Gazprom may just be ‘testing the waters.’ Regardless, this is just the calm before the storm. Our generation is going to witness the eclipse of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Global dollar demand creates a permission slip for excessive dollar supply. Excessive dollar supply creates unsustainably high prices. Reverse that cycle and you have a dramatic fall in prices.

America’s ‘house of cards’ is nearing the end of its lifespan. More >>>

A List Of 97 Taxes Americans Pay Every Year

Wonder where all your money goes?

A List Of 97 Taxes Americans Pay Every Year

 By Michael Snyder, on March 24th, 2014
If you are like most Americans, paying taxes is one of your pet peeves.  The deadline to file your federal taxes is coming up, and this year Americans will spend more than 7 billion hours preparing their taxes and will hand over more than four trillion dollars to federal, state and local governments.  Americans will fork over nearly 30 percent of what they earn to pay their income taxes, but that is only a small part of the story.  As you will see below, there are dozens of other taxes that Americans pay every year.  Of course not everyone pays all of these taxes, but without a doubt we are all being taxed into oblivion.  It is like death by a thousand paper cuts.  Our politicians have become extremely creative in finding ways to extract money from all of us, and most Americans don’t even realize what is being done to them.  By the time it is all said and done, a significant portion of the population ends up paying more than half of what they earn to the government.  That is fundamentally wrong, but nothing will be done about it until people start demanding change.  The following is a list of 97 taxes Americans pay every year…
#1 Air Transportation Taxes (just look at how much you were charged the last time you flew)
#2 Biodiesel Fuel Taxes
#3 Building Permit Taxes
#4 Business Registration Fees
#5 Capital Gains Taxes
#6 Cigarette Taxes
#7 Court Fines (indirect taxes)
#8 Disposal Fees
#9 Dog License Taxes
#10 Drivers License Fees (another form of taxation)
#11 Employer Health Insurance Mandate Tax
#12 Employer Medicare Taxes
#13 Employer Social Security Taxes
#14 Environmental Fees
#15 Estate Taxes
#16 Excise Taxes On Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans
#17 Federal Corporate Taxes
#18 Federal Income Taxes
#19 Federal Unemployment Taxes
#20 Fishing License Taxes
#21 Flush Taxes (yes, this actually exists in some areas)
#22 Food And Beverage License Fees
#23 Franchise Business Taxes
#24 Garbage Taxes
#25 Gasoline Taxes
#26 Gift Taxes
#27 Gun Ownership Permits
#28 Hazardous Material Disposal Fees
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The Signs That Most Are NOT PREPARED for The Coming Economic Collapse

16 Signs That Most Are NOT PREPARED for a Coming Economic Collapse.

Sometimes I think that I sound like a broken record.  I am constantly using phrases such as “get prepared while you still can” and “time is running out”.  In fact, I use them so often that people are starting to criticize me for it.  But the truth is that only a small percentage of people out there are actively taking steps to get ready for what is coming.  Most of the country is not prepared at all.  In many ways, it is just like 2007 all over again.  There were many people that could see what was about to happen and were doing all they could to warn people, but most did not listen.  And then the great financial crisis of 2008 struck and millions of people lost their jobs and their homes.  Unfortunately, the next great wave of the economic collapse is going to be even more painful than the last one.  It is imperative that people get prepared for what is on the horizon, but for the most part it is just not happening.
A lot of it has to do with the fact that we have such short memories and such short attention spans in America today.  Thanks to years of television and endless hours on the Internet, I find myself having a really hard time focusing on anything for more than just a few moments.  And we are accustomed to living in an “instant society” where we don’t have to wait for anything.  In such a society, we are used to “news cycles” that only last for 24 hours and very few people take a “long-term view” of anything.
And another one of the big problems that we are facing is something called “normalcy bias”.  The following is how Wikipedia defines it…

The normalcy bias, or normality bias, refers to a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This often results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations. The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur. It also results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.

Over the past several years, the U.S. economy has been relatively stable.  And that is a good thing.  But it has also lulled millions upon millions of people into a false sense of security and complacency.  At this point, most Americans consider 2008 to be a temporary bump in the road, and most assume that the U.S. economy will always be strong.
Unfortunately, that is not the truth.  As I have written about previously, the long-term trends that are destroying our economy have continued to get worse since 2008, and none of the problems that caused the last financial crisis have been fixed.
We are steamrolling toward the edge of an economic cliff, and most people in our entertainment-addicted society are totally oblivious to what is going on.  So they are not doing anything to get ready for the immense economic pain that is coming.  The following are 16 signs that most Americans are completely unprepared for the coming economic collapse…
#1 Could you come up with $2000 right now?  According to a shocking study that was just released, most Americans could not…

Forty percent of individuals in the U.S. said they could not or probably could not come up with $2,000 if an unexpected need arose, according to research by Atif Mian of Princeton University and Amir Sufi of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

#2 In that same study, Americans were asked the following question…

“Do you have 3 months emergency funds to cover expenses in case of sickness, job loss, economic downturn?”

An astounding 60 percent of people that responded said that they do not.
#3 Another study found that less than one out of every four Americans has enough money stored away to cover six months of expenses.
#4 Some people are actually trying really hard to get ahead, but admittedly that is really tough to do when we are all being taxed into oblivion.  In fact, it was reported this week that Americans now spend more on taxes than they spend on food, clothing and housing combined.
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