ZeroHedge.com | Two years ago, Zero Hedge first made the observation that the bulk of Fed reserves (also known simply as "cash created out of thin air" because money is first and foremost fungible no matter what textbook theoreticians may claim, and the only cash allocation preference is the capital allocation IRR analysis) had been parked not with US banks, but with foreign banks with US-based operations.

SilverSeek.com | This has been one of the worst stretches for gold and silver pricewise in quite some time, no secret there.  I have to go back to when silver was in single digits to find a comparable period.   The question on precious metals investors’ minds is whether this bad stretch is going to continue much longer.  Are the past few months setting the stage for a pronounced rebound in prices or has the tide changed for the worse for an extended period of time?  I think the answer can be found in analyzing the following facts.

Numismaster.com | A man who attended a financial conference earlier this year told me that the famous speaker began his presentation by asking the audience how many thought that the price of gold had peaked. He was stunned that almost everyone other than him raised their hands.

Natural News | The United States has been a stable country for most of its 230-plus years, as well as a global hegemonic power since the end of World War II and the world's primary superpower since the fall of the Berlin Wall and theQ crumbling of the Soviet Union in 1990. That kind of long-term stability has led many Americans - too many, in fact - to adopt an attitude of, "It can't happen here - not to us," attitude.

Zero Hedge | Two years ago, Zero Hedge first made the observation that the bulk of Fed reserves (also known simply as "cash created out of thin air" because money is first and foremost fungible no matter what textbook theoreticians may claim, and the only cash allocation preference is the capital allocation IRR analysis) had been parked not with US banks, but with foreign banks with US-based operations. We followed that with more analyses,

RT | America’s ticking debt bomb has been reset. Washington has suspended the debt ceiling, setting a date, and not a concrete dollar sum as a deadline, an unprecedented first in US history. Citing ‘extraordinary measures’, the US Treasury has further delayed tackling America’s debt, and will wait until Labor Day, September 2nd, to revisit the burgeoning crisis. The ceiling has been lifted, and the Treasury has promised it will keep cash pumping into government spending programs beyond the debt limit through a series of emergency cash tools.

TheAtlanticWire.com | Google Wallet is a nifty idea (buy things in stores using your phone) that hasn't really taken off yet, but that's only because the company's giant tentacles haven't fully unfurled yet. Among the many adventures that Google announced during its annual developer conference Wednesday afternoon was a multi-pronged plan to integrate Google Wallet into every aspect of your shopping life.

RT | The US Department of Homeland Security seized a payment processing account Tuesday belonging to Mt. Gox, the largest international Bitcoin trader, claiming the monetary exchange service falsified financial documents. The American government has previously made it clear that officials are watching Bitcoin, a decentralized economic currency that international regulators have not yet been able to control. Many of those who favor Bitcoin use Dwolla, an Iowa-based startup that allows customers to transfer their dollars into Bitcoins.

WSJ | Central banks want to add Chinese yuan and other emerging market currencies to their emergency cash stocks, according to a new International Monetary Fund survey, a change that could redefine the world’s reserve currencies.The shift, should it occur, would broaden reserve holdings from dollars, yen and euros and modernize countries’ emergency stockpiles of foreign cash. Central banks want their reserves to reflect changes in global trading patterns amid tepid growth in the U.S., Europe and Japan and rapid expansion of emerging economies. Diversifying currency portfolios will give central banks more flexibility to better to respond to emergencies.

NYT | California’s top law enforcement official accused JPMorgan Chase on Thursday of flooding the state’s courts with questionable lawsuits to collect a glut of overdue credit card debt. On Thursday, the California attorney general, Kamala D. Harris, sued the bank, the nation’s largest, in California Superior Court over claims that the lender “committed debt collection abuses against tens of thousands of California consumers,” according to court records.

MarketWatch.com | The global economy has already entered into stagflation with a growth rate of 2% and inflation at 3%. The inflation rate is likely to rise above 4% in 18 months while the growth rate will remain stuck in the same range. With inflation twice as high as the growth rate, the global economy will slip deeper into stagflation. The recent decline in commodity prices doesn’t signal a reversal in the inflationary trend. It is a onetime redistribution of mining income to consumer purchasing power.

Azstarnet.com | Gov. Jan Brewer refused Thursday to make Arizona the second state in the nation to declare privately minted gold and silver coins, bars and ingots to be legal tender in the state. In vetoing the measure, Brewer said she shares the concerns of proponents that the dollar isn't worth what it used to be. And she said it's likely to get worse "as a result of an unsustainable federal deficit."

Reuters |  The Arizona Senate on Tuesday approved a measure to make gold and silver legal currency in the state, in a response to what backers said was a lack of confidence in the international monetary system. The legislation cleared the Republican-controlled Senate by an 18-10 vote after being approved by the state House earlier this month. It now goes to Republican Governor Jan Brewer, who has not indicated if she will sign it into law or veto it.

CNBC | Foreigners now hold more than $13 trillion in American securities, a record set as the U.S. seeks to assert itself as the safest port in troubled global waters. China and Japan combined owned more than $3.4 trillion, including $2.4 trillion in debt, a number that has grown since the data set was compiled. The total value of U.S. stocks and bonds under foreign ownership rose 6.5 percent in 2012, with stocks actually rising more on a percentage basis, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Treasury.

Mineweb.com | Physical gold stocks held at CME Group's Comex warehouses in New York have dropped to a near-five year low in a further sign that gold's price crash unleashed a frenzy of demand as investors scramble to buy bars and coins. U.S. gold stocks, comprised of 100-troy ounce COMEX gold bars, have fallen almost 30 percent since February, as dealers have switched to selling into the burgeoning Asian market, where prices and demand are higher than in New York.