Transpicuous News Ep “Welcome to the Circus: Big Banks Dog and Pony Show”

Transpicuous News, November 14, 2014. This weeks review of the main stream media news, and delving into the ridiculousness of the global economic and political circus.

http://the-one-network.org/transpicuous-news-ep-welcome-to-the-circus-big-banks-dog-and-pony-show/

U.S. POWER SHIFT

Republicans take control of Senate

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/04/politics/election-day-story/index.html?hpt=hp_t1


Ron Paul: US elections are 1-party monopoly
http://rt.com/usa/202295-ron-paul-midterm-elections/


If You Really Think It Matters Which Party Controls the Senate, Answer These Questions
http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.com/2014/11/if-you-really-think-it-matters-which.html


Voting machine, ID problems crop up in U.S. elections
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-usa-elections-irregularities-idUSKBN0IP06M20141105


The FBI’s Quiet Plan to Expand Its Hacking Powers
http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/the-fbi-s-quiet-plan-to-expand-its-hacking-powers-20141105

 the advisory panel. They also warned that the expansion would threaten the Fourth Amendment's strict limitations on government search and seizures, and allow the FBI to violate the sovereignty of foreign countries.

Big companies disclose too little on operations abroad: watchdog
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-business-transparency-idUSKBN0IP0C620141105

 The world's biggest companies disclose little or no financial details about their operations abroad, according to a report by Transparency International, which singled out Chinese companies but pointed to U.S. tech giants like Amazon (AMZN.O) and Google (GOOGL.O) as well....Warren Buffet's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) was ranked the sixth least transparent multinational,....
Transparency said the world's biggest oil, gas and mining companies were not yet ready for transparency rules that would enter into force across the European Union from July 2015.
Those regulations require extractive companies to report payments such as taxes to governments on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis. In the United States, similar measures are planned, but implementation has been delayed.

Canada's Head Central Banker Has A Modest Proposal: "You Should Consider Working For Free"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-04/canadas-head-central-banker-has-modest-proposal-you-should-consider-working-free

How bad are things in Canada’s job market? Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz says bad enough for young people to consider working for free.
Adult children stuck in their parents’ basements because they can’t find adequate employment should take unpaid work to bolster résumés as they wait for the recovery to take hold, Poloz said Monday in Toronto.
The Bank of Canada estimates about 200,000 young people want to work or work more, and Poloz said they may be scarred by prolonged unemployment that prevents them from moving out on their own. He said he’s been asked for advice on how young people can find work.

Chinese, Canadian central banks agree to 200 bln yuan currency swap
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/china-says-icbc-yuan-clearing-bank-canada-081837237--business.html


Canada police deploy facial recognition tech
http://rt.com/news/203035-canada-police-facial-recognition/

Pssst!  They've been doing this for years!  The change is that they are now doing it "in house"  instead of having the US do it for them.


Parliament to debate ‘money creation’, first time in 170 years
http://rt.com/uk/202923-uk-parliament-future-money/

 “most MPs lack a sufficient understanding of money creation, leaving them ill-equipped to legislate on important policy.”

New Economics Foundation senior economist James Meadway said the last time the issue of money creation was debated in parliament was in 1844, where politicians “stopped banks issuing their own currencies,” leading to an economic crash three years later.
“The crash of 2008 drummed home the point that we cannot just leave the institutions that look after our money to their own devices. How banks operate, and how money is created and supplied by them, are so central to the economy – but so dysfunctional – that widening public debate and discussion of the money system has to be a good thing,” he said.
“That said, the last time Parliament debated money creation, it managed to come to entirely the wrong answer – following conventional economic theory at the time, Robert Peel's Bank Charter Act in 1844 stopped banks issuing their own currency.
“When a banking crisis erupted anyway in 1847, the Act had to be suspended to allow the system to continue functioning at all.”

First world war 100 years on
UK bonds that financed first world war to be redeemed 100 years later
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/31/uk-first-world-war-bonds-redeemed

The UK government is to repay part of the nation’s first world war debt – 100 years since the start of the war.
As Europe marks the centenary of the Great War, the Treasury said it would pay off £218m from a 4% consolidated loan next February, as part of a redemption of bonds stretching as far back as the 18th century.

In addition to the war bonds, some of the debt being repaid dates as far back as the eighteenth century. In 1853, William Gladstone, then chancellor, consolidated the capital stock of the South Sea Company which had collapsed in the infamous South Sea Bubble financial crisis of 1720. And in 1888, then chancellor, George Goschen, converted bonds first issued in 1752 which were later used to finance the Napoleonic and Crimean wars, the Slavery Abolition Act (1835) and the Irish Distress Loan (1847).

$3.8bn in UK aid for developing states 'routed through tax havens'
http://rt.com/uk/202091-uk-aid-tax-avoidance/

Over two-thirds of investments by the private-sector wing of the UK's foreign aid program were funneled through tax havens in 2013, a report reveals. Since 2000, the UK government
The network is comprised of 48 NGOs from 18 different EU states that campaign on development, tax justice, and other financial issues.
The research reveals how billions of euros, supposedly intended for projects in developing states, are being channeled through tax havens that are “shrouded in secrecy.”

Cayman Islands premier McKeeva Bush arrested
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-20679259


BREAKING: 51 arrested in raids across Spain in massive anti-corruption crackdown
http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2014/10/27/breaking-former-government-minister-among-51-arrested-in-massive-anti-corruption-crackdown/


Exclusive - Central bankers to challenge Draghi on ECB leadership style
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/04/uk-ecb-governors-idUKKBN0IO1H020141104


ECB's new watchdog takes over EU banks supervision
http://rt.com/business/202143-ecb-watchdog-supervise-banks/


... which is basically puttting the cat in charge of guarding the cat nip.  seirously.


€9bn wasted: EU fails own budget audit after misspending ‘errors’
http://rt.com/business/202563-eu-budget-errors-audit/

which put me in mind of  the movie Independence Day, when julius says to the President:   "You don't actually think they spend $20,000 on a hammer, $30,000 on a toilet seat, do you?"


It Begins: German Bank 'Charging' Negative Interest To Its Retail Customers
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-04/it-begins-german-bank-charging-negative-interest-its-retail-customers

GOLD AND "ASSETS"

New Currency Wars Cometh - Gold To Be “Last Man Standing”
www.goldcore.com/goldcore_blog/New_Currency_Wars_Cometh_Gold_To_Be_Last_Man_Standing


Now ISIS wants to introduce its own currency: Plans to bring back solid gold and silver dinar coins announced in Iraqi mosques
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2829097/Now-ISIS-wants-introduce-currency-Plans-bring-solid-gold-silver-dinar-coins-announced-Iraqi-mosques.html


The Council Of Foreign Relations Apologizes For The "Greenspan Glitch"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-10/council-foreign-relations-apologizes-greenspan-glitch

"Last week, we brought to the public's attention a controversial 'missing' section from the official transcript of Alan Greenspan's interview last with the Council of Foreign Relations where he dared utter his honest opinion that, "Gold is a currency. It is still, by all evidence, a premier currency. No fiat currency, including the dollar, can match it." Well, it turns out the reason for the practically heterical section's omission was "a glitch in the live stream" and CFR has apologized and posted the full transcript. Interesting coincidence that this gold-loving, Bernanke-denying section was the only one to be hit by the 'glitch'; we are confident it's mere coincidence..."

Because Nothing Says "Best Execution" Like Dumping $1.5 Billion In Gold Futures At 0030ET
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-05/because-nothing-says-best-execution-dumping-15-billion-gold-futures-0030et

"For the 5th day in a row, "someone" has decided that 0030ET would be an appropriate time ... to be dumping large amounts of precious metals positions via the futures market. Tonight, with over 13,000 contracts being flushed through Gold - amounting to over $1.5 billion notional, gold prices tumbled $20 to $1151 (its lowest level since April 2010). Silver is well through $16 and back at Feb 2010 lows. The USDollar is also surging. The timing of the dump is right as Japanese trading breaks for lunch

Gold prices swoon, coin sales surge as buyers seek bargains
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-global-coins-demand-idUKKBN0IP0W520141105

"A sharp break in gold prices to their lowest levels in more than four years has unleashed a surge in demand for coins, with buyers in Germany queueing out the door and some U.S. investors returning to the market for the first time in years.
Coin dealers and mints from North America to Europe are reporting a surge in coins and small bars that are favored by retail investors, after spot gold on Friday broke below a key technical support at $1,180 an ounce. It was the biggest buying binge since April 2013, when prices fell by $200 in two days.

Oil continues to slide, with Brent at lowest in over four years
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-continues-to-slide-with-brent-at-lowest-in-over-four-years-2014-11-05

BANKING

Nigerian Banks’ Depressed Prices Attract Bargain-Hunters
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-05/nigerian-banks-depressed-prices-attract-bargain-hunters.html

Bank Of America Finds It Did Some More Crime In Q3, Revises Previously Released Earnings Lower By $400 Million
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-06/bank-america-finds-it-did-some-more-crime-q3-revises-previously-released-earnings-lo

The $9 Billion Witness: Meet JPMorgan Chase's Worst Nightmare
http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.com/2014/11/meet-jpmorgan-chases-worst-nightmare.html


JPMorgan Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Into Currency Trading
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-03/jpmorgan-faces-u-s-criminal-probe-into-foreign-exchange-trading.html

Virginia Sues 13 Banks for $1.15 Billion Alleging Fraud
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-16/virginia-sues-13-banks-for-1-15-billion-alleging-fraud.html

Libor Fixing
http://www.propublica.org/special/your-guide-to-the-latest-efforts-to-hold-big-banks-accountable

Forex-Rigging Fines Could Hit $41 Billion Globally: Citi
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-20/forex-rigging-fines-could-hit-41-billion-globally-citi.html

U.S. Prosecutor Masterminded $37 Billion Bank Penalty Win
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-07/u-s-prosecutor-masterminded-37-billion-bank-penalty-win.html

UBS Adds $2Bn to Its Litigation Warchest as Regulators Sharpen Their Sabres - See more at: http://forexmagnates.com/ubs-adds-2bn-litigation-warchest-regulators-sharpen-sabres/#sthash.epuawhmM.dpuf

Too Big to Tax: Settlements Are Tax Write-Offs for Banks
http://www.newsweek.com/2014/11/07/giant-penalties-are-giant-tax-write-offs-wall-street-279993.html

Homework Reading:

The Big Banks: Fraud, LIBOR, FOREX, Money Laundering, Ponzi schemes.....
http://transpicuousnews.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-big-banks-fraud-libor-forex-money.html



The Last Gasp Of The Global Economy
http://transpicuousnews.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-last-gasp-of-global-economy.html


QE for Dummies
Understanding the most outlandish monetary experiment ever
http://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/80790/qe-for-dummies



No Tax Write-Offs for Wall Street Wrongdoing
http://uspirg.org/resources/usp/no-tax-write-offs-wall-street-wrongdoing


The Corporate Research Project
http://www.corp-research.org/


Crimes, Fines, and Abuses by the World’s Top Corporations
compiled for The Transnational Institute’s State of
Power 2014
http://www.tni.org/sites/www.tni.org/files/download/corporate_planet_crimes_and_fines_website_table_with_sources.pdf


A List of the Biggest Bank Settlements
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/06/23/a-list-of-the-biggest-bank-settlements/