The US is sinking ... sinking ... sinking, page-79

Not sure what happened there:

Hi Timber and all,

As our resident representative of the banking industry I was wondering if you could share your opinion on the official position on price fixing and LIBOR strategies.

I have no doubt that some of the people involved in these various schemes believe they are doing no wrong but merely working for the best interest of their (bank) employer. At what point does manipulation fixing etc. actually become an illegal activity?

For the moment it appears to me that this type of activity only moves into the criminal investigation area some several months after the fact. I dare say in the future we may see bank employees that thought they were just doing normal regular business facing some serious jail time.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/10...nd-of-u-s-charges/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Also you would obviously have more knowledge on this than me but from what I know about the banking and broking business I understand there are many checks and balances and overseeing departments, book and position squaring etc. Given this I find it difficult to understand the very concept of a Rogue Trader such as Nick Leeson and Bruno Iksil (the London Whale) in such a well regulated industry.

One could possibly be forgiven for thinking these guys are just scapegoats carrying the can for institutional ingrained criminal activity. Particularly in the light of some of hefty fines imposed on this well regulated banking industry we all know and love.

To return to Gold as we know there is a great deal of conjecture of the amount of gold held and being purchased by countries such as China, India and Russia. However; I see the Poms are no fools either (se link.) By the way I’m up on the right hand side of the map in North Yorkshire.

Makes one wonder for such a traditional irrelevant barbarous relic Gold remains in great interest in the media!

Biggle’s please take note:

“The gold buying secrets of the UK come as it was recently revealed the number of 12.5kg gold bars being bought by wealthy customers has increased 243pc so far this year, when compared to the same period last year.”

“The sales of 1kg gold bars, worth about £25,000 each, has doubled during the three months ended August, when compared to the same period last year.”

Gold hoarding secrets of the UK mapped:

copyright link/finance/commodities/11132762/Gold-hoarding-secrets-of-the-UK-mapped.html

Cheers and very best regards: Andy