Exclusive: Brazil could waive U.S. dollar to bolster Iran trade – minister

Brazil will accept payment from Iran in euros and other currencies for planes, cars and machinery to sidestep lingering U.S. sanctions on the oil-rich nation, Trade Minister Armando Monteiro told Reuters on Tuesday.

Monteiro is the first Brazilian official to confirm that Latin America’s biggest economy could accept payment in currencies including the euro from Iran, which is forbidden from using the U.S. financial system under the sanctions.

‘Foreign shocks’ could harm US financial stability: Lew

If “all hell breaks loose” you could expect the EU to face serious turmoil and possibly crumble. If Greece can’t make a payment, then Germany can’t get paid. Germany’s Deutsche Bank has $72.8 trillion in derivatives exposure while its GDP is roughly $2.7 trillion.  The contagion would then spread to South America (think Venezuela/Argentina defaults) because of the interconnectedness of investments and would head north all the way up to Mexico for another default. When the wave hits Mexico, America has two weeks before its collapse.

 

Washington (AFP) – US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned Congress on Wednesday that foreign turmoil, such as Greece’s debt crisis, could destabilize the US financial system.

“In today’s globally integrated financial markets, foreign shocks have the potential to disrupt financial stability in the United States,” Lew said in testimony to the House of Representatives financial services committee.

One Last Look At The Real Economy Before It Implodes – Part 2

You can read Part one here:

One Last Look At The Real Economy Before It Implodes – Part 1

 

Consumer spending in the U.S. accounts for approximately 70 percent of gross domestic product, though it is important to note that the manner in which “official” GDP is calculated is highly inaccurate. For example, all government money used within the Medicare coverage system to pay for “consumer health demands,” as well as the now flailing Obamacare socialized welfare program, are counted toward GDP, despite the fact that such capital is created from thin air by the Federal Reserve and also generates debt for the average taxpayer. Government debt creation does not beget successful domestic production. If that was a reality, then all socialist and communist countries (same thing) would be wildly enriched today. This is simply not the case.

The Real Reason Why The Netherlands Repatriated Its Gold

It shouldn’t take a genius to see where this is going. They’re jumping ship before it sinks.

 

President Knot of the Dutch Central Bank with ‘his’ gold.

 

In what could definitely be called a stunning move, the Netherlands has announced it has repatriated in excess of 120 tonnes of gold from the vaults of the Federal Reserve in New York to the Dutch Central Bank in Amsterdam. Officially a move made to rebalance the locations where the gold is being stored, one cannot ignore the fact that the Netherlands only repatriated a large part of the gold which was stored in New York and it did not touch the gold stored in Canada and London.

Additionally, it’s not just ‘some’ gold being brought back home, no, the total amount is 122.47 tonnes or almost 4 million ounces with a market value of $5B. This will reduce the exposure of the Dutch Central Bank to the US financial system as now just 31% of its gold is being stored in the vault of the Fed, coming down from 51%. We have the impression this won’t be the last repatriation as the Dutch Central Bank is keeping its shipping route secret ‘in case more gold needs to be repatriated’.

China May Seize Control Of Entire US Financial System

Today acclaimed money manager Stephen Leeb stunned King World News when he warned “if the Chinese were ready right now to seize power, they could probably take control of our financial system today.”  Leeb also discussed the frightening implications of this for the United States as well as where the US is headed from here.

Leeb:  “I am focused on the chaos in Washington.  We need a situation where the politicians form some sort of cohesive unit that would suggest they are interested in growth and the well-being of the American people, but that doesn’t exist.  Frankly, I’m angry.  I’m an American.  I have kids that are growing up here, and as I said, I’m really, really angry about what is transpiring….

“I see what is happening as the beginning of the end.  I also continue to see what is taking place as a tremendous gift to China.  We are just giving power to China — just handing it over to them.  It’s as if we lost a big poker game to China, or we are in the process of losing.