Gold Smuggling Soars In India

India, the world's largest gold consumer, meets almost all of its demand via imports, and purchases from abroad require buyers to sell the rupee to raise greenbacks. Government efforts to curb imports is meant to limit that downward pressure on the currency but has instead driven a surge in illegal imports (smuggling) of the precious metal.

The rupee has fallen more than 10% in the past couple of months and the country has sharply increased the import tax on gold to 8% (from 1% in Dec 2011) and last month India's central bank banned the use of credit to procure gold (requiring dealers to pay in advance for imports). As the WSJ reports, the measures are having an effect. Gold imports declined 11% to 859.7 tons in 2012 from 969 tons in 2011 and the total for June fell about 80% to 30 tons from 162 tons. Read more >>

India raises duty on gold imports as demand surges

India has increased the duty on gold imports for the second time in six months, in an attempt to rein in surging demand for the precious metal. The finance ministry said it had raised the duty to 8% from 6%. Gold is a preferred investment option among Indian consumers and the recent drop in its price has boosted demand.

But gold imports are also one of the biggest contributors to India's current account deficit, which has been rising, prompting concerns among policymakers. A current account deficit, which is the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign currency, occurs when a country's total imports are greater than its exports.

A rising deficit impacts the country's foreign exchange reserves as well as the value of its currency. India's current account deficit hit a record high of 6.7% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in the October to December quarter. The government has been trying to bring down the deficit and improve the country's finances amid threats of a downgrade in its ratings. Read more >>

China Gold Imports From Hong Kong Climb to Record on Wealth

Gold imports into mainland China from Hong Kong surged 94 percent to an all-time high last year as rising incomes in the world’s second-largest economy underpinned increased demand and helped the metal to post a 12th annual gain.

Mainland China imported 834,502 kilograms (834.5 metric tons), including scrap and coins, compared with about 431,215 kilograms in 2011, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department. Imports in December rose to a monthly record of 114,405 kilograms, according to data from the department yesterday.

China was expected to displace India as the world’s biggest gold consumer last year, according to a forecast in November from the producer-funded World Gold Council. Rising consumption in the country may help to offset concern that the metal’s bull run may be coming to an end as the global economy recovers. Spot gold is little changed so far this year, while the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of raw materials has risen 4.4 percent. Read more >>

India has successfully tested a medium-range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile

An Indian news report says India has successfully tested a medium-range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile fired from an underwater platform in the Bay of Bengal.

The Press Trust of India news agency says the missile would soon be ready for deployment on platforms, including a nuclear submarine.

India's Defense Ministry spokesman was not available for comment.

Pallava Bagla, a defense expert, said Sunday's test off the east coast was 14th in the series with a range of 700 kilometers (435 miles). It would complete India's nuclear triad - the capability to launch missiles from land, air and below the sea. Read more >>

8,000 requests for Google user data from USGOVT in last 6 months

Google received more requests from the U.S. government to hand over user data during the first half of this year than from any other country, according to the search company's biannual "Transparency Report" released on Tuesday.

From January to June, Google received nearly 8,000 requests for user data from the U.S. government. The search company said it "fully or partially" compiled with roughly 90 percent of them. That's up from the 5,950 requests for user data that Google received from the U.S. government during the same period a year ago.

More than 16,000 Google accounts were specified in the U.S. government's user data requests, according to the report.

However, the search company cautioned that the total number of U.S. government requests for user data also tallied requests "issued by U.S. authorities on behalf of other governments pursuant to mutual legal assistance treaties and other diplomatic mechanisms."

Still, that number dwarfs the requests from other countries: India and Brazil came after the U.S. with 2,319 and 1,566 requests for user data, respectively, during the first half of 2012. Read more >>

Prime Minister of Canada - Fear of ‘catastrophic event’ holding back global recovery

Stephen Harper offered a gloomy assessment of the world economy even as he used his fourth day of an Indian trade mission to plead for closer ties with the south Asian country.

The prime minister told a World Economic Forum audience in Gurgaon, just outside New Delhi, that he worries fear of a “catastrophic event” is restraining the global recovery and spurring increased protectionism.

“If I were to go back and look ahead I would say one of the things that most surprises me is that four years after this crisis, we’re still in it to some degree,” Mr. Harper told a moderator at the global business meeting.

He said the U.S. governments debt and deficit problems are one thing but a bigger more potentially imminent concern for world leaders is the risk of another economic crash.

“I do believe is that what worries big actors in the global economy, is that there will be some kind of catastrophic event as happened in late 2008 that will send everything into a tail spin.” Read more >>

Starbucks Opens First Store in India as U.S. Growth Slows

The world’s largest coffee chain will need options that are priced as much as 33 percent lower than its U.S. offerings to succeed in the Indian market, said Saloni Nangia, president at Gurgaon-based consultancy Technopak Advisors Pvt. The company opens its first outlet in the country today with partner Tata Global Beverages Ltd. in an upscale south Mumbai neighborhood that also boasts a Hermes store.

Keurig K-Cup 18-Pk. Gloria Jean's Butter Toffee Coffee (Google Affiliate Ad)

Starbucks is entering the world’s second-most populous nation as part of a plan to counter slowing growth in the U.S. and a recession in Europe. The U.S. accounted for less than 70 percent of its sales last fiscal, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In India, where consumption of the drink has almost doubled in the decade through 2010 to 108,000 metric tons, the chain will compete with Barista Coffee Co., a unit of Italy’s Lavazza SpA, and Cafe Coffee Day, run by Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Co.

“It’s a great time for Starbucks to come in because some of the base is already here, in terms of cafes, in terms of people using them as socializing hotspots,” said Nangia. “The average Indian consumer, or the current cafe consumer, is happy to upgrade to a Starbucks environment.” Read more >>

DHS Working for Monsanto

One can see their not very subtle desperation to shut down all questions about their GMOs in the bill proposed in India, that would set up a biotech regulatory authority and laws to imprison anyone who even dared to bring up the issue of the safety of GMOs (including in vaccines, which now contain GMOs with news equally dire). The Indian bill has been called “unconstitutional, unethical, unscientific,” which is practically a nickname for Monsanto at this point.

But however outrageous the efforts to force GMOs onto India, they are small potatoes compared to what Monsanto and the biotech industry have done behind the scenes in the US where they have arranged for Homeland Security to define organic food – the only safe food – as a bio-security threat. They are clearly not happy about the unpatented, free for the taking, biodiversity people are working to save – open pollinated seeds and crops, as well as heritage animals raised on small farms.

As is Monsanto’s modus operandi, reality has been turned on its head, such that GMO seeds and only crops raised on giant mono-culture GMO farms and sprayed with deadly pesticides, and only animals trapped in animal prisons (CAFOs – controlled animal feeding operations) where they are fed on GMOs with pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones, have now been defined as “normal” and what actually is normal (and safe) has been defined as a threat. Read more >>

Jim Rogers: The Agriculture Industry Is Doomed

Legendary investor Jim Rogers has long been a fan of agricultural assets and companies along with a number of other hard assets. His hard-nose investing theory has payed off quite handsomely, as his name has become renown around the world and investors hang on his every word. Unfortunately, his words as of late paint a relatively gloomy picture for the overall agriculture industry, as he feels that it will soon fall on hard times [for more agriculture news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

The first thing that Rogers points out, and has been pointing out for quite some time, is that the world is short-handed when it comes to farmers. “The average age of farmers in America is 58 years old. In Japan, the average age is 66. In Australia, it’s 58. Hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers commit suicide every year. It’s a disastrous business. In the U.K., the highest rate of suicide is in agriculture. It’s been a horrible business for 30 years. Prices have to go up – have go to up a lot – or we’re not going to have any food at any price” Rogers stated earlier in 2012. Read more >>

Europe Heat Wave Wilting Corn Adds to U.S. Drought

Heat waves in southern Europe are withering the corn crop and reducing yields in a region that accounts for 16 percent of global exports at a time when U.S. drought already drove prices to a record.

Temperatures in a band running from eastern Italy across the Black Sea region into Ukraine reached 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) or more this month, about 5 degrees above normal, U.S. government data show. Corn, now in the pollination phase that creates kernels, risks damage above 32 degrees, said Cedric Weber, the head of market analysis at Bourges, France- based Offre et Demande Agricole, which advises farmers on sales.

The heat wave in Europe is adding to concern about global food supplies as U.S. farmers face the worst drought since 1956, India delays sowing because of a late monsoon and Australian crops endure below-average rainfall. Soybeans and corn rose to all-time highs yesterday and wheat surged 42 percent since June 1. The United Nations says food prices will probably rebound after falling the most in three years in the second quarter.

“Everyone is looking to the U.S., but clearly in Europe we’ll need to import a lot of wheat and corn,” said Weber, whose company advises about 5,000 farmers. “That’s just adding to the problems we’ve got everywhere.” Read more >>

Wells Fargo To Send Jobs to India, Philippines

Wells Fargo, the lender looking to trim more than $1.7 billion in quarterly expenses between the first quarter and the end of this year, may move some jobs overseas.

Roles in technology, the retirement division and other business lines may go to India and the Philippines as part of a companywide review, Bridget Braxton, a bank spokeswoman, said today. News 14 Carolina reported a review for the retirement business earlier, citing an internal memo from a Wells Fargo executive it didn’t name. Braxton, who declined to make the memo available, said it alerted employees that the bank was undergoing “an assessment” of the idea. She wouldn’t say how many jobs may be moved.

Wells Fargo has had employees in India since 2006 when it opened a so-called technology resource center in Hyderabad. The bank cited a “growing need” for talent that couldn’t be met by U.S. workers, according to a statement in August, 2006. The move wasn’t made to cut costs, Wells Fargo said at the time. The lender started a Philippines-based unit in November, Braxton said. Many jobs in the Philippines are “customer- service” roles, while those in India involve technology functions as well as functions for many business lines across the bank, she said. Read more >>

Marc Faber: Global Recession Dead Ahead

 

Faber warns that economies of the world may be on the brink of a serious slowdown. Faber indicated that while investors remain focused on Greece and Europe – other issues, bigger issues are looming.

And they’re more threatening. “As an observer of markets – whenever everyone focuses on one thing – like Greece and Europe – maybe they miss issues that are far more important – such as a meaningful slowdown in India and China.” The latest reports from Beijing would support Faber's assertion. The HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index, slipped to 48.7 in May from 49.3 in April. That marks the seventh straight month that the index has been below 50, a level which indicates economic activity is contracting.

Faber also cited weakness in the high-end as another key catalyst that’s very negative. “There are more and more stocks that are breaking down – economic sensitive stocks and companies that cater to the high-end,” he said. "That suggests to me the economy is likely to weaken and the huge asset run is likely to come to an end with significant asset deflation.” Read more >>

China, India Major Importers of Iranian Crude

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Director General for International Affairs says China and India remain the major importers of crude oil from the Islamic Republic.

“China has not reduced its oil imports from Iran, but has increased it compared to last year,” SHANA quoted Mohsen Qamsari as saying on Saturday.

He added that India is the second major importer of Iranian oil, saying, “in addition to long-term contracts, Iran’s costumers buy oil in the form of spot packages. Therefore, we must wait until the end of the year to find out which country purchased the most [oil].”

"Iran has extended contracts with all of its costumers for the year 2012 and before the imposition of sanctions,” Qamsari said. More...

Home Depot moving white-collar jobs overseas

Image via WikipediaU.S. figures show American companies have slashed labor costs by moving millions of manufacturing jobs to China. A new trend involves many companies moving higher-paying, white-collar positions overseas too. Many American corporate call centers now are in places like the Philippines and technical jobs are in India. One example is Channel 2 parent company Cox Media Group, which uses overseas call center for some customer service questions.

Now, U.S. firms are quietly moving high-paying accounting, finance and human resource jobs offshore. National labor statistics reveal that in the past 10 years, American companies have slashed 2.9 million jobs in the United States. At the same time, they have created 2.4 million jobs for people overseas.

Local companies, like Home Depot, are among them. The company built an international chain from one store in Atlanta. Now it's moving white collar jobs offshore.

Channel 2 Action News has reported in recent years that Home Depot has laid off thousands of workers, including hundreds at its worldwide corporate headquarters in Vinings in Cobb County. At the same time, it's hiring hundreds of workers thousands of miles away.

Georgia Labor Department records show Home Depot has moved jobs from Vinings to India. Companies usually keep outsourcing details a secret, but two Home Depot executives taped a testimonial posted online for the outsourcing company in India now is handling some of their accounting functions. More...

India’s inflation accelerates; food costs increase

India’s inflation accelerated as food costs increased, adding pressure on the central bank to extend last year’s fastest round of monetary tightening in Asia.

The benchmark wholesale-price index rose 8.43 percent in December from a year earlier after a 7.48 percent gain in November, according to a commerce ministry statement in New Delhi today. The median forecast of 30 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for an 8.4 percent increase.

“Inflation is worrying and is a potential constraint on the economy’s growth potential,” Robert Prior-Wandesforde, the Singapore-based head of India and Southeast Asia economics at Credit Suisse Group AG, said before the release. “The central bank is likely to step in and hike rates.” Read more...

Record Gold Imports by India

Gold imports by India, the biggest bullion consumer, likely reached a record last year driven by investment demand, according to the World Gold Council.

Purchases were about 800 metric tons, compared with 557 tons in 2009, Ajay Mitra, managing director for India and the Middle East at the producer-funded group, said today in a phone interview from Dubai.

Imports at that level “would be the highest for India in its history,” he said. The group hasn’t released final data for last year. Purchases in 2010 may exceed 750 tons, Mitra said Nov. 17. The Bombay Bullion Association said Jan. 3 imports probably totaled 700 tons in 2010. More...

Premiums for gold bars jump to 2-year high, Chinese buy

Image by hto2008 via FlickrPremiums for gold bars jumped to their highest in two years on Tuesday as worries about inflation drove investors in China, the second-largest consumer of the precious metal after India, to bullion ahead of the Lunar New Year.

China's inflation raced to a 28-month high of 5.1 percent in November, and it's not clear whether policy steps the government is taking will calm prices, benefiting gold which is traditionally seen as a store of value in times of uncertainty.

Gold bars were offered at premiums of $3 an ounce to the spot London price in Hong Kong, physical dealers said, matching a similar level seen in late 2008. Refiners were running out of stocks and some even quoted premiums as high as $6. More...

Russia Buys 22 Tons Of Gold In May

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ZeroHedge

Ten days ago we reported the most recent data on gold reserve holdings as presented by the World Gold Council, where we pointed out that Russia had purchased 27.6 tons of gold in the most recent reporting period, bringing its total to 668.6 tons.

It appears Russia is only getting started. According to the latest IMF data, in the period between April and May, Russia added another 22.5 tons, bringing its May total to a fresh record of 703.1 tons. As BusinessWeek reports, Russia "has added gold every month since at least February." At the same time, The International Monetary Fund’s gold holdings fell by 15.25 metric tons (490,286 ounces).

"Reserves of gold at the IMF were 2,951.58 tons at the end of May compared with 2,966.83 tons at the end of April, data on the IMF’s website show." Good thing the world's bailout cop is doing all it can to keep gold prices low by transacting in the open market instead of in prenegotiated transaction. Again, per BusinessWeek, this “is an indication that they will continue to sell the remaining 137.5 tons on-market as opposed to via off-market transactions with other central banks,” said Daniel Major, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London.

“Indeed the decline in gold sales from European central banks and purchases from India, Russia and China in recent years demonstrates gold’s growing popularity with central banks.” Well, all Central Banks except those that are printer happy of course, and are now loaded to the gills with toxic debt that will continue to impair their currencies until the bitter Keynesian end.

Central banks have been adding to reserves and gold-backed exchange-traded fund assets have advanced to a record as investors sought an alternative to currencies and a protection of wealth from Europe’s debt crisis. Gold traded at $1,243.45 an ounce at 4:16 p.m. in London and reached a record $1,265.30 on June 21.

While the paradoxical IMF's agenda is all too clear (sell gold, get cash, but help the CB's by keeping price low), that of Russia is even clearer- never mind all time record gold prices. Buy. In that, Putin's country is a spitting image of the GLD, which has added almost a hundred tons of gold in recent weeks, price considerations be damned.

U.S. Food Inflation Spiraling Out of Control

FORT LEE, N.J., April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Inflation Association today issued the following food inflation alert to its http://inflation.us members:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today released their Producer Price Index (PPI) report for March 2010 and the latest numbers are shocking. Food prices for the month rose by 2.4%, its sixth consecutive monthly increase and the largest jump in over 26 years. NIA believes that a major breakout in food inflation could be imminent, similar to what is currently being experienced in India.

Some of the startling food price increases on a year-over-year basis include, fresh and dry vegetables up 56.1%, fresh fruits and melons up 28.8%, eggs for fresh use up 33.6%, pork up 19.1%, beef and veal up 10.7% and dairy products up 9.7%. On October 30th, 2009, NIA predicted that inflation would appear next in food and agriculture, but we never anticipated that it would spiral so far out of control this quickly.

The PPI foreshadows price increases that will later occur in the retail sector. With U-6 unemployment rising last month to 16.9%, many retailers are currently reluctant to pass along rising prices to consumers, but they will soon be forced to do so if they want to avoid reporting huge losses to shareholders.

Food stamp usage in the U.S. has now increased for 14 consecutive months. There are now 39.4 million Americans on food stamps, up 22.4% from one year ago. The U.S. government is now paying out more to Americans in benefits than it collects in taxes. As food inflation continues to surge, our country will soon have no choice but to cut back on food stamps and other entitlement programs.

Most financial experts in the mainstream media are proclaiming that the recession is over and inflation is not a problem in the U.S. Unfortunately, they fail to realize that rising food and gasoline prices accounted for 58% of February's year-over-year 3.85% rise in retail sales. NIA believes price inflation is beginning to accelerate in many areas of the economy besides food and energy, and all increases in U.S. retail sales this year will be entirely due to inflation.

To receive NIA's latest updates about inflation and the economy, sign-up for the free NIA newsletter at: http://inflation.us

About us:

The National Inflation Association is an organization that is dedicated to preparing Americans for hyperinflation. The NIA offers free membership at http://www.inflation.us and provides its members with articles about the economy and inflation, news stories, important charts not shown by the mainstream media; YouTube videos featuring Jim Rogers, Marc Faber, Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, and others; and profiles of gold, silver, and agriculture companies that we believe could prosper in an inflationary environment.

CONTACT: Gerard Adams, 1-888-99-NIA US (1888-996-4287), editor@inflation.us

SOURCE National Inflation Association

Fed Face-Off: Peter Schiff Goes Toe-to-Toe With Alan Blinder, Jim Bullard

Tech Ticker
Peter Schiff's views as an author, investor and free market idealist are no secret: Abolish the Fed, buy gold and avoid the dollar. With that in mind, Sunday night was something of a dream come true for the President of Euro Pacific Capital. See Video

Thanks To Princeton University's Business Today, Schiff went head to head in New York City with St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard and former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Alan Blinder in a panel titled, "Challenges of the Global Slowdown: Redefining Government Regulation."

It might as well have been called "Schiff Blames the Fed for the Financial Crisis."

We caught up with Schiff after the panel to discuss some of the points mentioned in greater detail. (Click here for our one-on-one intereview with Bullard from the confab.)

Schiff on capitalism

• Capitalism is not the problem: "Just like during the 1930's, capitalism got a bad rap for all the damage that government did. Every time government policy interferes with capitalism and then creates a problem it's always capitalism that comes under fire not the government interference that led to the problem," he says. Schiff predicts this behavior will lead to the next calamity, a currency crisis which he claims will be even bigger than the one "we think we've solved."

Schiff on the Stock Market

• The stock market rally is an illusion: "It looks like stocks are going up but on a real basis they're going down" when compared to the value of gold, he says, predicting that trend will continue until the Dow trades on a one-to-one ratio with gold. (Today, the Dow is worth about 9 ounces of gold, down from a peak of 43 in 2000.)

Schiff on Gold

• Gold is not a bubble. "It's a great buy, I think it's going higher." Earlier this month, India's central bank bought 200 metric tons of gold for more than $1000 an ounce; Schiff believes other central bankers will follow suit which should help drive prices higher for years to come.