Russians and Chinese are ditching the dollar as Europeans start using renminbi in their reserves

by Simon Black on October 17, 2014 Sovereignman.com

At present, US dollar accounts for roughly 61% of the world’s foreign exchange reserves.

It’s still a safe bet for most, not because the currency is actually strong, but because so many others are already so reliant on it.

Between those with reserves in and pegs to the US dollar, many countries have given their allegiance, and now have a vested interest in the health of the currency.

Due to this common interest, a sort of unofficial, involuntary alliance has been formed between them all.

Together, they’re all playing along, pretending that everything is fine. If the dollar collapses, they’re all screwed, so they’ve got to get each other’s backs.

From the throne of the world’s reserve currency, the Federal Reserve, with the power to print the US dollar, feels dangerously omnipotent.

They can get away with just about anything. For now.

The central bankers get to print dollars and spend them at current prices, before the stuff hits the wider market and diminishes its overall value.


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U.S. Mint Sells Over 750,000 Ounces Of Silver In One Day

The market reacted to the big drop in the paper price of silver by a huge increase in Silver Eagle purchases.  September was turning out to be a much stronger month compared to July and August even before the last update of the month.

On Monday, the U.S. Mint reported 3,375,000 sales for the month.  Then this evening, I checked to see if they had updated their figures.. which they did in A BIG WAY.

In one day, the U.S. Mint sold 766,000 Silver Eagles, more than all the Gold Eagles sold to date.  Actually, is was more than double the 379,000 oz of Gold Eagles sold this year.

If we look at the chart below, sales of Silver Eagles in September, were double that of July and August:

Silver Eagle sales were quite strong in the beginning of the year and started to slow down in June.  However, the manipulated lower price of silver motivated investors to ramp up the purchases making September one of the three strongest months of the year.

Only January and March were stronger than the 4,140,000 Silver Eagle sales in September.  The total for the first three-quarters of the year is 32,251,000.

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Federal Judge: Stockton pensions can be cut in California bankruptcy

UT San Diego reports:

Public-employee pensions are not protected when a city goes belly-up, according to a ruling Wednesday by the judge overseeing Stockton’s much-watched federal bankruptcy case. Judge Christopher Klein’s few words have re-energized the state’s disheartened pension-reform movement – and left the nation’s most-powerful pension fund reeling.

One can’t go a day in Sacramento without hearing about a “historic” piece of legislation or a “groundbreaking” decision, but the Stockton case – held in a downtown Sacramento courthouse – could change everything on the pension front. Klein said in the verbal ruling that pensions are just another contract: “Impairing contractual obligations – that’s what bankruptcy is all about.”

Until now, there has been no way for California cities to get out from underneath the overly generous pension promises they have made to public employees over the past 15 years, the result in part of a pension-increasing bonanza spurred by 1999 legislation championed by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

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Judge rules Stockton can sever CalPERS pensions; Wall Street approves

By Dale Kasler Published: Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014 – 12:12 pm

 A bankruptcy judge handed CalPERS and organized labor a decision they've long feared Wednesday, declaring the city of Stockton has the right to reduce pension payments and even sever ties with the powerful pension fund.

 The verbal ruling from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein was groundbreaking. It pierced CalPERS’ aura of invincibility and made clear, for the first time, that public employee pensions in California aren't sacred. Two years after Stockton filed for bankruptcy protection, buried under more than $200 million in bond debt, a judge has declared that a municipality can walk away from its obligations to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

 Klein’s ruling was prompted by a legal protest from Franklin Templeton Investments, which is due to be repaid just $4 million on a $36 million loan it made to the city during better economic times. Franklin wants a better deal from Stockton even if it comes at the expense of the pensions.

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