We need to find a fairer way of providing Goods and Services to the rest of the people on Earth.Cryptocurrencies and/or Gold Standard of money....maybe the answer to fight hyperinflation caused by too much printing of paper/fiat currencies by Governments and Central Banks all over the World. (https://nomorefiatmoneyplease.blogspot.com)
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s underground vault supposedly holds 7,716 tons of gold bullion – most of it in trust for foreign nations, central banks and official international organizations. The United States Bullion Depository, known as Fort Knox, is a fortified vault located within the United States Army post of Fort Knox, Kentucky, and used to store a large portion of United States gold reserves. But how much gold is really in these massive vaults – and how easy is it to withdraw reserves?
The European debt crisis caused the Federal Bank of Germany to bring home Germany’s gold reserves – but it hasn’t been very easy – leading to widespread speculation of monetary foul play by the United States.
U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Tuesday, with Microsoft and Caterpillar (CAT.N -7.43%) shares tumbling after both posted earnings, while an unexpected decline in durable goods orders also weighed on sentiment.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 222.56 points, or 1.26 percent, to 17,456.14, the S&P 500 lost 19.29 points, or 0.94 percent, to 2,037.8 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 73.43 points, or 1.54 percent, to 4,698.33 points.
The strong U.S. dollar is biting into profits of U.S.-based multinationals as a parade of big bellwether earnings reflects damage on their balance sheets.
The U.S. dollar index is hitting peaks not seen in years, biting into sales and profits earned abroad.
Pfizer (PFE.N 1.16%) and Dupont (DFT.N 0.11%) are warning their 2015 profit will take a significant hit from the stronger dollar.
Procter & Gamble (PG.N -2.89%) is revising its foreign exchange targets, with profit dropping 31 percent on global sales weakness.
While Corning (GLW.N 2.63%) says its currency hedging program helped it beat street expectations.
Microsoft (MSFT.O -9.93%) said the soaring dollar was a factor in its disappointing numbers after the bell Monday.
The Swiss National Bank is ready to intervene in the foreign currency market to ease monetary policy after ditching its cap on the Swiss franc earlier this month, its vice-chairman said in an interview on Tuesday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[ZURICH] The Swiss National Bank is ready to intervene in the foreign currency market to ease monetary policy after ditching its cap on the Swiss franc earlier this month, its vice-chairman said in an interview on Tuesday.
Switzerland's central bank shocked financial markets by abandoning its three-year-old cap on the franc against the euro on Jan. 15, a policy it later said would have cost 100 billion Swiss francs (S$148.9 billion) to defend this month alone had it been maintained. "Giving up the cap means a tightening of monetary policy. We accept this, but only up to a point. We are fundamentally prepared to intervene in the foreign exchange market," Jean-Pierre Danthine told Swiss national daily TagesAnzeiger in an interview.
Danthine said it would take some time for the foreign exchange markets to balance out, but declined to give exact levels, saying the central bank was not only looking at the exchange rate with the euro but also with the dollar.
Asked about a new currency strategy, Danthine said Denmark's policy of pegging the crown to the euro would not be suitable for Switzerland, but that Singapore's system, which allows the Singapore dollar to rise or fall against the currencies of its main trading partners within an undisclosed trading band, "deserved closer examination".
He also gave Sweden and Norway as examples of small, open economies that have fared well with a flexible exchange rate.
Danthine defended the SNB's decision to scrap its cap on the franc, saying the risks of the policy to the economy had begun to outweigh the benefits. "Theoretically, the balance sheet can grow endlessly," Danthine said. "However, in this situation, the SNB could - in an extreme case - be forced to bring more francs to the market than monetarily responsible." Danthine also cited the risk of losses on the bank's forex reserves as a reason for abandoning the cap.
Huge losses could wipe out the SNB's annual payout made to its biggest shareholders, Switzerland's 26 cantons, or states, and to the federal government, he said.
