Golden Minerals Company

Spending was flat in May, the Commerce Department said on Monday, and, once adjusted for inflation, showed a decline of 1pc.

Hopes that 2011 would see the US recovery strengthen have so far been dashed as higher gasoline and food prices erode the spending power of millions of Americans.

This story, one of many from Roy Stephens today, was posted at The Telegraph yesterday evening...and the link is here.

Last month, his venue for announcing another presidential bid was an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” -- a program with more than 4.5 million viewers. He spoke from a rally in New Hampshire, where hundreds of backers drawn to Paul’s message of shrinking government and limiting its reach cheered the 75-year-old great-grandfather.

“During the last campaign people weren’t too interested in what I was saying,” Paul said in an interview. “There’s some respect for it now.”

This is a Bloomberg story from yesterday...and I thank Washington state reader S.A. for sending it along. The link is here.

Today's next story is another Roy Stephens offering...this one out of the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal.

What we have come to call the Greek crisis is, first, an international banking crisis. Like Lehman Brothers, Greece is definitely not too big to fail. It is too interconnected to fail, too interconnected to the international banking system, too interconnected to the political ambitions of those who have spent decades replacing the system of nation states with a united Europe.

It's nice to see someone call a spade a shovel in the main stream media on this side of the Atlantic Ocean regarding the world's banking system. And let's not forget that British and American banks have exposure as well, if not directly, then indirectly through credit default swaps, which are just as lethal. This article is worth your time...and the link is here.

Here's a story that was posted over at bbc.co.uk late on Sunday night that reader George Findlay was kind enough to share with us.

The BIS warned low cost of borrowing had resulted in a credit and property price boom that was fuelling inflation, especially in emerging economies. [No! Really? - Ed]

"The prolonged period of very low interest rates entails the risk of creating serious financial distortions, misallocations of resources and delay in the necessary deleveraging in those advanced countries most affected by the crisis," the bank said in its annual report. [It sounds like they hired Doug Noland over at prudentbear.com to write this...as he says this sort of thing every week in his CBB. - Ed]

The BIS is an organisation of international central banks which is not accountable to any national government. [That it is. - Ed]

The bank warned that if not addressed immediately, a crash in the property market may derail economic growth in emerging economies.

"All financial crises, especially those generated by a credit-fuelled property price boom, leave long-lasting wreckage," the bank said.

These guys have a keen grasp of the obvious...and it's amazing to see them put it in print. The story is very much worth skimming...and the link is here.

This week the embattled Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou needs to force through a raft of further austerity measures to keep his country afloat. But many feel it may be time to abandon the sinking ship.

The boardwalks and bars flanking the crystal waters of Athens' marinas were once the leisurely venues of choice for Greece's well-heeled elite. But not any longer.

The Greek government, under huge international pressure to wring every possible cent out of its woefully leaky tax system, has rounded on the country's wealthy residents and demanded they pay their dues, making the rich nervy and in some cases even driving fearful mariners away from the harbour.

This is an interesting read...and it really makes you wonder with a tax system like that, how they heck they ever got accepted in the E.U. in the first place. It's no wonder the country is going down the drain.

This is another Roy Stephens offering...and this one's from The Telegraph on Saturday...and the link is here.

Greece's conservative opposition has rejected EU leaders' calls for national unity, forcing Prime Minister George Papandreou to rely on his slim parliamentary majority to push through the package.

Without approval for the measures, the European Union and International Monetary Fund say they will not disburse the fifth tranche of Greece's €110bn bailout programme.

Athens needs the €12bn to pay its bills next month and avert the euro zone's first sovereign default, which would send shockwaves through a jittery global financial system.

It matters little if it passes or if it doesn't, as the world's financial system will fall apart regardless...and the only thing to wonder about is whether it will happen sooner rather than later.

This was in yesterday's edition of The Telegraph...and is another Roy Stephens offering. The link is here.

In a SPIEGEL interview, leading German economist Stefan Homburg argues that euro-zone members should not bail out Greece, discusses who is making a profit from the crisis and explains why he himself is buying Greek bonds. "I believe in the boundless stupidity of the German government," he says.

Not too many shades of grey with this guy. It's not an overly long read...and it's another offering from Roy. The link is here.

“There’s no arrangement for any countries leaving the euro, which in current circumstances is probably inevitable,” Soros, 80, said at a panel discussion in Vienna yesterday on whether liberal democracy is at risk in Europe. “We are on the verge of an economic collapse which starts, let’s say, in Greece, but it could easily spread. The financial system remains extremely vulnerable.”

This Bloomberg story from yesterday is courtesy of reader Scott Pluschau...and the link is here.

The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, has thrown the eurozone a vital lifeline and pledged to buy billions of euros of European debt to keep the single currency project alive.

The move, which will be a relief to struggling eurozone countries including Greece, Portugal and Ireland, was announced as Mr. Wen continues his four-day trip to Europe, arriving in Britain last night from Hungary and going on to Germany on Monday night.

"China is ready to work with Europe to share opportunities, cope with challenges and achieve common development and to make unremitting efforts for stable development of the world economy and an in-depth development of China-Europe ties," he added.

This story, posted in the Saturday edition of The Telegraph, is from Roy Stephens as well...and the link is here.

Jim Antos, bank analyst at Mizuho Securities Asia, says on a scale of 1 to 10 with Greece being a 10 in terms of severity, China is an 8.

“I'm negative on the Chinese banks; on this off-balance sheet lending, very few facts and a lot of fear,” he told CNBC on Monday.

The volume of Chinese bank loans has doubled from December 2007 to May 2011, which Antos describes as a “textbook example of a credit bubble.”

Reader David Ball sent me this cnbc.com story from yesterday...and the link is here.

China's first audit of local government debt found liabilities of 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion) at the end of last year and warned of repayment risks, including a reliance on land sales.

Premier Wen Jiabao ordered the first audit of local government borrowing in March, amid concern spending designed to support the economy following the 2008 global financial crisis would leave a legacy of bad debt. As much as 30 percent of bank loans are expected to turn sour and they are likely to be the biggest source of non-performing assets for the industry, Standard & Poor's said in April.

This is another offering from reader Scott Pluschau...and it's a Bloomberg piece from yesterday. The link is here.

Are you a US taxpayer? Do you have at least $10,000 in overseas accounts? It’s time to put those annual disclosure statements in the mail… and quickly. Let me explain.

Each year by June 30th, US taxpayers are obliged to report all foreign financial accounts in which they have either a beneficial interest or signature authority, so long as the aggregate value of all the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. The form is known as the FBAR.

You must accurately disclose the highest value of each account during the previous calendar year on your FBAR… so make sure you go back through your bank and brokerage statements to check.

If you fall into this category, dear reader, I urge you to check out this zerohedge.com piece that reader Phil Barlett was kind enough to share with us...and the link is here.

Writing for King World News, Hinde Capital CEO Ben Davies foresees a sort of "swine flu" from Europe's "PIIGS" infecting the financial world, including the United States, United Kingdom, and China. The only protection, Davies concludes, is to hold assets outside the banking system, like the great monetary asset that has no liabilities...gold.

I stole the preamble from Chris Powell...and the link to this rather lengthy must read blog over at KWN is here.

The mining business, regardless of what mineral is being dug out of the ground, is fraught with danger...with the biggest danger being governments.

When a Central American gold rush brought a Canadian mining company here a few years ago, the company promised to stake a claim that would be as green as the lush hills.

“No other mine in North America has gone to this level of environmental protection,” said Tom Shrake, the chief executive of the Canadian company, Pacific Rim, which is seeking to tap a vein that it says could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But when the government of El Salvador, facing mounting public concern over the consequences of mining, failed to grant the company the final permit it needed, Pacific Rim sought to extract a different kind of green: $77 million from the nation’s treasury as compensation for lost profits.

This is another Phil Barlett offering...this one from the Saturday edition of The New York Times...and the link is here.

I think that this is the third 'gold may gain because of Greece's problems' that I've run in the last ten days. So far, JPMorgan and the rest of 'da boyz' have had other plans for both precious metals...so we'll see if this story has any more credibility than the last two.

We're almost through the roll-overs out of the July silver contract...and with first notice day on Thursday, maybe there's a chance that the bullion banks will back off.

I thank Washington state reader S.A. for this Bloomberg story from yesterday...and the link is here.

Here's a story that was posted as a GATA release in the wee hours of this morning...and, like the previous story, I'm just going to steal Chris Powell's preamble and post the link.

GoldMoney founder James Turk has just interviewed Ronald-Peter Stöferle, analyst for Erste Bank in Vienna, whose reports have cited manipulation of the gold market by central banks (here.