Wheat, gas and palladium surge 3.3%, 2.4% and 1.7% respectively. Palladium surged for a fifth straight session to its highest since August 2011 on growing fears that supply would be hurt by more U.S. sanctions on top producer Russia and prolonged labour strikes in world number two producer, South Africa.

The EU agreement on a common rulebook for handling bank failures, including bail-ins, is in danger of unravelling over the fine print restricting when a state can intervene to rescue a struggling bank. It is important to realise that not just the EU, but also the UK, the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most G20 nations have plans for depositor bail-ins ...

“George Osborne is facing a backlash over plans to give his government unprecedented powers to dip into taxpayers’ bank accounts to seize unpaid tax debts.” The surreptitious and somewhat underhand manner in which the legislation was slipped in should give pause for concern. In that way, the measures are similar to the developing bail-in legislation in the UK which is gradually coming into place without any public debate or informed discussion.

Jim Rickards said that gold should remain an essential part of diversified portfolios and Mark Faber pointed out that the question should be “how could you NOT own gold?” Faber has said that he favors owning gold in fully allocated gold accounts in Singapore and Switzerland. 

Shockingly, the UK government will now be able to directly access taxpayers’ bank accounts, under little noticed measures announced in this month’s Budget speech. The significant HMRC legislation change was buried deep in the Budget document and comes amid preparations by the Bank of England for bail-ins.

Britain's former chairman of the  Financial Services Authority (FSA), Lord Adair Turner, warned that the UK could be repeating the 2008 financial crisis by fueling the property market ... When money is debased by monetary authorities on an industrial scale, the results can be catastrophic ...

In the early hours of yesterday morning European Union politicians struck a deal on legislation to create a single agency to handle failing banks and bail-ins in the Eurozone. It is important to realise that not just the EU but also the UK, the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most G20 nations all have plans for bail-ins. Prepare accordingly ...

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