Ancient portraiture

Even today portrait art is meant to glorify the subject.  The person portrayed is somehow worthy of having their image publicly disseminated.  Cameras and social media have compromised  technique as anyone can take a great portrait shot and post it anywhere.  Images are all commonly reduced to worthless noise.

2500 years ago, images were the province of the technically gifted.  Painters, Celators, Sculptors labored for months to produce extraordinarily artful renditions.  And before Alexander the Great Portraits were the province of Deity.  If men were depicted, they were depicted as Heroes: Gods on Earth, and portraits conflated their features with those of the Gods.

It was not until after the death of Alexander the Great that men were realistically portrayed on coins.  The first portraits were of Alexander himself.   Executed in the workshops of Philip III, (Alexander's half brother), they portrayed Alexander in order to establish Philip's right to the throne through Lineage.  However, once the taboo on human portraiture had been broken, the artists working at Philips's various mints began to execute an array of portraits, all of which have yet to be identified:


For example, who might this fellow be above?  Certainly not Alexander.  Could it be Philip III?  Or perhaps a favorite uncle of the celator?  Tough to say, though I would guess it's more likely to be Philip.

In Egypt, Ptolemy, one of Alexander's most powerful generals, began to mint coinage with his own image.  Some extraordinary pieces were singed behind the ear by proud artists (like the portrait coin below signed by the artist D)  This tradition continued throughout the course of Ptolemaic Egypt and yields some of antiquity's great gold portait coins.  The famous Cleopatra VII if depicted on several coins of her era.


In Thrace Lysimachus, another powerful General of Alexander,  also minted coins with the portrait of Alexander.  Yet he too issued coins with other portraits, as did other rulers of Thrace right down to Roman times.    They are all described as portraits of Alexander, but some clearly depict other unidentified officials.

For example, who might this be?  It doesn't look much like Alexander.  Yet the fine style clearly suggests a specific individual.  Could it be Lysimchos?  Or could it be Lysimchos' features conflated with those of Alexander.  It's certainly fun to speculate.

Seleukos, another of Alexander's generals,  took the Eastern provinces, and he also issued portrait coinage, mostly depicting Alexander.  But his son Antiochus began to issue coins with the image of Seleukos; and there is an entire line of Seleuked portrait coinage, which, alas, is all extremely rare, for reasons that are not entirely clear.


It is quite extraordinary to be able to see portraits of these men who shaped the course of history.  It must have been far more extraordinary at the time for common men and women to be able to see portraits of their rulers on these convenient, portable artworks.  How strange it must have been to people for whom the only other images available would have been those depicting religious and mythological scenes in temples, and perhaps in the villas of the very rich.

World's Biggest Criminal Lauded to the Heavens

-

The smiling Guru pictured above, a Hero of film, television, countless books, eulogies, elegies, newspaper and magazine articles, is certainly responsible, more than any other human, for the degradation of the Modern Mind - and the destruction of American Youth.

My daughter is 12.  She used to read for hours.  For fun.  I kept her away from video games and extended exposure to the Idiot Box.  She loves - or loved - to read.  She says she still does.

But because of the Satanist pictured above, she now has access to a tiny little delivery device that promises to addle her mind, and is very hard for a parent to police.

Her phone is certainly the most effective brain addling tool ever invented.  All thanks to the Evil Bastard pictured above.  I hope he rots in hell.  Because my poor daughter no longer needs permission to watch the idiot box or play on her computer.  Her Mind Numbing Device is portable, tiny, and impossible to monitor for a parent.  Good job, Steve Jobs, you're destroyed the youth of America.  And America loves you for it.


These were the hottest sellers this black Friday:

Candy Crush Saga

The combination of ancient adventure and easy gameplay turned Temple Run 2 in another popular game among Android users. You can cross great distances and can easily overcome various obstacles in the temple to achieve your goals, and in the new version you have available new types of power-ups and obstacles. However, the difficulty increases gradually until you might be tempted to pay to use the skills with which help you to get to the next level.

Temple Run 2

It is no surprise that a racing game occupies a leading position among the most popular Android games and the Fast & Furious game has earned a reputation for good part of the film series of the same name. The action takes place on the streets of London, where you have the mission to earn a reputation in various races, but also to end the domination of a criminal organization composed of trained mercenaries. As you advance in the “career” to unlock cars, they are becoming more powerful in order to get into a position to make it faster.

Fast & Furious 6: The Game

Real Racing 3 for Android
Pure car Games could not miss from this article, especially if they are free. Real Racing 3 especially impresses by the graphics and the actual selection of cars and tracks. For example, you can climb behind the wheel of official Porsche, Lamborghini, Dodge, Bugatti and Audi cars, and you can try out your skills on circuits that have become legendary in the world of motorsports, such as Spa-Francorchamps, Silverstone, Laguna Seca or Hockenheim. However, to avoid long waiting times for repairing cars or buy new ones faster and stronger you have to pay real money and this limits somehow the enjoyable game experience.

Real Racing 3

Fruit Ninja is another popular intuitive game for Android where speed of response is the most important skill to progress rapidly. As the name implies, the game requires you to cut various fruits that appear in the landscape in a short time. There are three game types, namely Classic, Zen and Arcade, and a bonus Dojo section which includes new types of swords, the game environments and power-ups.

Fruit Ninja Free

We stay in the racing car domain, but this time choosing a less common adventure, because, as the name suggests, Hill Climb Racing puts you in the shoes of a driver who should go with his car over the hills. You have 10 vehicles, from classic cars to trucks and tanks, and in the process you have to collect coins in order to improve their performance. The objective is to go through the 11 levels of the game that will carry on country roads from the desert to the Arctic ice to finally reach the moon!

Hill Climb Racing

I could not write this article about popular Android games without mentioning Angry Birds, probably the first successful game for Android. With a simple and intuitive graphics, the game throws you into a world where you have to kill pigs using a slingshot to catapult birds. Sure, as you get to higher levels you will encounter various birds and obstacles, and if you get bored you can try many other games in the Angry Birds series, of which we mention here only Angry Birds Space, Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Star Wars or Angry Birds Friends.

Angry Birds

The subway is my preferred ride, so it is not surprising to me, as the other 50 million users liked Subway Surfers. In this popular Android game you aim to run the metro network in various cities of the world (including Beijing) to earn coins to improve skills and, especially, to escape the pursuit of an inspector and his dog that will give you permanent headaches.  Are you ready for adventure?

Subway Surfers

FIFA Soccer Games and Football Manager Handheld type are quite costly, which is why Top Eleven has earned a good reputation because it is free Android game. Even if doesn’t excel in graphics, Top Eleven Football Manager is a complex game, you have to take care of your own team: doing exercises, setting strategies, upgraded stadium and managing budgets. But perhaps the main advantage is that you play against real players in various competitions that mimic the Champions League, a national championship and cup.

Top Eleven

Cut the Rope – Time Travel for Android

[video ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEWputinvRA[/video]

Trivial as it sounds to cut a rope, it has proved a popular game. In this game version you will travel to the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Stone Age and you can be a pirate on a ship, but your goal remains the same: to feed two monsters with sweets.

Cut the Rope: Time Travel

251497 ratings

0 258

And for Adults:

RetailMeNot (available for Android, iPhone): This app lets you search for coupons from your favorite stores, so you can instantly save 10 percent, 20 percent or even more on a single item or your entire shopping cart. You can scroll through the list of hot deals on the home page or search for a specific store.

- Amazon and RedLaser (available for Android, iPhone, Windows): These two apps let you check prices online, for those retailers that will match cheaper prices you find in hopes you'll buy on the spot.

- Cartwheel by Target (available for Android, iPhone): Target's app has coupons for everything from electronics to toys to cereal. Once you find a coupon you want to use, you tap the add button. Then present the cashier with a single barcode that has collected all the coupons you selected.

- Flipp (available for iPhone): This app helps you find and track newspaper circulars. You can leave the paper behind, as Flipp has digital versions with the coupons in them.

Reagan's Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy thinks the US dollar is doomed:

The Dying Dollar

Paul Craig Roberts
Infowars.com
November 23, 2013

Since 2006, the US dollar has experienced a one-quarter to one-third drop in value to the Chinese yuan, depending on the choice of base.

Now China is going to let the dollar decline further in value.  China also says it is considering undermining the petrodollar by pricing oil futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange in yuan. This on top of the growing avoidance of the dollar to settle trade imbalances means that the dollar’s role as reserve currency is coming to an end, which means the termination of the US as financial bully and financial imperialist.  This blow to the dollar in addition to the blows delivered by jobs offshoring and the uncovered bets in the gambling casino created by financial deregulation means that the US economy as we knew it is coming to an end.

The US economy is already in shambles, with bond and stock markets propped up by massive and historically unprecedented Fed money printing pouring liquidity into financial asset prices.  This month at the IMF annual conference, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said that to achieve full employment in the US economy would require negative real interest rates.  Negative real interest rates could only be achieved by eliminating cash, moving to digital money that can only be kept in banks, and penalizing people for saving.

The future is developing precisely as I have been predicting.
As the dollar enters its death throes, the lawless Federal Reserve and the Wall Street criminals will increase their shorting of gold in the paper futures market, thereby driving the remnants of the West’s gold into Asian hands.

PBOC Says No Longer in China’s Interest to Increase Reserves
By Bloomberg News – Nov 20, 2013
The People’s Bank of China said the country does not benefit any more from increases in its foreign-currency holdings, adding to signs policymakers will rein in dollar purchases that limit the yuan’s appreciation.
“It’s no longer in China’s favor to accumulate foreign-exchange reserves,” Yi Gang, a deputy governor at the central bank, said in a speech organized by China Economists 50 Forum at Tsinghua University yesterday. The monetary authority will “basically” end normal intervention in the currency market and broaden the yuan’s daily trading range, Governor Zhou Xiaochuan wrote in an article in a guidebook explaining reforms outlined last week following a Communist Party meeting.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal.

Slower Growth? Gee - you think? Well, that's why you guys make the big bucks

Fed Reveals New Concerns About Long-Term U.S. Slowdown

By Rich Miller - Nov 26, 2013 7:25 PM ET

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his colleagues are suffering through their own form of cognitive dissonance: revealing new concerns about the economy’s long-term prospects even as they forecast faster growth in 2014.
Worker productivity, a key component of an economy’s health, has risen at an annual clip of 1 percent during the last four years, as the U.S. has struggled to recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression. That’s less than half the 2.2 percent average gain since 1983, according to data from the Labor Department in Washington.

 

Bernanke has portrayed the past few years’ deceleration in productivity as temporary. In an argument also espoused by Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen, nominated to succeed him next year, he suggested companies were forced to add workers even though economic growth was slow because they cut payrolls so much during the recession.

In a Nov. 20, 2012, speech in New York, Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, said the financial crisis and its aftermath probably “reduced the potential growth rate” as discouraged workers dropped out of the labor force and businesses held back on investment.

“Slower growth in productivity might have become the norm,” the central bankers noted at their Oct. 29-30 meeting, according to the minutes released last week. That’s a switch from past comments by Bernanke that the deceleration probably was temporary and would end as the expansion continued.
A combination of forces may be at work. Chastened by the deep economic slump, corporate executives have reduced spending plans for factories, equipment, research and development. Startup businesses have been held back as would-be entrepreneurs find it harder to get financing from still-cautious lenders. And out-of-work Americans have seen their skills atrophy the longer they’re without jobs.

“We’re in a slow-growth period of unknown duration,” said Edmund Phelps, a professor at Columbia University in New York and winner of the 2006 Nobel prize in economics.

How rare is rare?

How rare are rare coins and medals?

To the collector moving from US coins into Ancients, the rarity factor of what you're collecting is hard to understand.  According to the PCGS rarity scale a US coin with 2500 examples known is considered "Ultra Rare."  This would qualify to collectors of ancients as "Very Common."  For ancients, Ultra Rare means perhaps five or ten examples are known to exist.

There are now many collectors moving from US coins to ancients.  This is because of the NGC grading program which has given confidence to US dealers and collectors alike that there is a standard of uniformity to grading and authenticity.  What US dealers and collectors will not be able to understand without some prolonged experience and exposure to ancients is that coins of the same grade and "type" can be of vastly different quality - and rarity - to experienced collectors.  This is because grading does not take into account Die Types and the Quality of the Dies which vary greatly even within the same mint issue. 

Another tricky facet to ancients is that the most recently discovered hordes give the perception of relative availability for certain issues when the hordes will be easily assimilated over the course of a year or two and then the issue disappears off the markets for decades.  Right now the markets is so tiny compared to US coins that even the availability of 20 or so specimens can seem as though the market if "flooded."  At the same time a horde of 50 coins can be managed so that only two or three appear a year and sell at tremendously inflated prices, until collectors realize that these rare coins keep appearing year after year for a decade.

However, as more and more US collectors are drawn into the market these relative issues of rarity will seem insignificant. 

Yet, there is another huge market that US collectors have hardly begun to access.  This is a market where specimens are often so rare that that a single specimen may be located once or twice every few years and still be considered "scarce."  This is the case with rare medals.   According to Puddester's Rarity Scale an Ultra Rare (exceedingly rare) specimen is one where less than 6 are known to exist - which for Puddester meant tracing every known specimen back to the mint over hundreds of years.   In other words 6 specimens have been observed over that last 200 years.  This says nothing of how many may exist now.

 A "scarce" specimen which in US collecting means that only 10 million or so are known to exist, in medals is one that "When one tries to find a specimen is seems very illusive."  Even the most "common" specimens, according to Puddester, may take several months to track down.  At auction, British Firms that often carry medals, will call a specimen "scarce" that on Puddester's rarity scale are represented by less than 50 known specimens.

200 specimens of  the French Napoleonic gold marriage medal pictured above are known from records to have been minted back in 1811.  This is considered quite a common gold medal.  This is only the third example I have seen over the last 10 years.  I may have missed a couple. 

In the US, most collectors still collect US coins.  But with the advent of the NGC Ancients grading program it is inevitable that US collectors will soon discover this rich market, and from there, they will move into other historically interesting markets, which, right now, are still extremely undervalued.

BAIL IN

Did An Obscure IMF Document Start A Global Bail-In Revolution?

by Daniel R. Amerman, CFA
When revolutions start, it's not uncommon for almost nobody to notice. It may take years or even decades before historians can look back, point a finger and say "that's where it really began."
An obscure International Monetary Fund "Staff Discussion Note" may have already started a "Bail-In" financial revolution that could transform the global investment world.
In this quite remarkable document, the staff discusses a world where risks to the global financial system have not gone away – but are worse than ever. As candidly discussed, the "SIFI" (systemically important financial institution) problem has not been improving, but instead has been getting worse than ever – and there doesn't appear to be any solution under existing contract law and bankruptcy law.
More risk than ever is concentrated in fewer financial institutions, while there is no way under existing law to unwind a failure of one of these institutions without risking triggering global financial chaos. Moreover, there is a deadly feedback loop between these "too-big-to-fail" institutions and sovereign governments. That is, as the IMF staff discusses, the bailing out of these massive institutions can bankrupt sovereign governments, and sovereign governments going bankrupt can wipe out the "too-big-to-fail" institutions.
So the IMF staff has come up with an audacious plan for how the globe can emerge from this seemingly impossible situation. The key word is "insurance".
The proposal is to take selected classes of investments, and retroactively decide that these assets aren't really assets at all. Indeed, the owners of these assets have – without realizing they've done it – agreed to provide insurance for the global financial system. So if a major crisis arises, the global financial system merely goes to these unknowing "insurance" providers and helps itself to their assets effectively, and the crisis is dealt with. It's a miracle solution!
Now there is the issue that some investors might actually object to this taking of their investment assets for the greater good of society. Which is exactly why the IMF staff recommends that this be done by way of statutory law, in a manner that overrides contract law – and is involuntary, with no investor permission needed. It would also be retroactive as needed, thus applying to people who already own these classes of investments.
After the bail-ins of the Cypriot banks and the Polish retirement system, the development of bail-in procedures is spreading rapidly around the world, including the EU, Canada and the United States.  What is fascinating and troubling - though perhaps not surprising - is how global politicians are in practice completely changing the "bail-in" concept, setting aside the IMF-proposed changes that could have forced genuine banking reforms and potentially increased global financial stability, and instead are creating a broader threat to investors.
Moody's Investors Service has already lowered the credit ratings of Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon in anticipation of possible future bail-ins.  Moody's accompanying statement explained: "Rather than relying on public funds to bail out one of these institutions, we expect that bank holding company creditors will be bailed-in and thereby shoulder much of the burden to help recapitalize a failing bank."

A World At Risk

The IMF Staff Discussion Note is titled, "From Bail-Out To Bail-In: Mandatory Debt Restructuring Of Systemic Financial Institutions".  Originally released in 2012, it could be viewed as a source document for the global movement to bail-ins. 

GOLD: WHY COINS?

There is one reason to won gold: you believe that the unlimited issue of paper money will lead to the ultimate devaluation of paper money.  Gold is an alternate currency.  Gold is a hard asset.  Gold is a store of wealth.

So why, as the governments of the world issue paper money in quantities that have no historical precedence, is gold mired in a terrible slump?

It's not.

Bullion is in a slump.  But the bullion market is easily manipulated.  You may believe that, sure the stock market is manipulated, and the currency markets are manipulated, and the interest rate markets are manipulated, and the derivatives markets are manipulated - but Gold?!  No way!!!!  Fine.  Believe what you will.

What matters is why it can be manipulated - whether or not you believe it is. It can be manipulated because one ounce of bullion is fungible with every other ounce - or indistinguishable from every other ounce.   In other words that very quality that makes it suitable to be currency - that gives it liquidity - makes it easily manipulated.  Because players with enough wealth can buy it it sufficient quantities to move markets wherever they want.  (Even if you believe they have far to much integrity to do so.)

Eventually, in the very long run, markets can not be manipulated.  Eventually they get to where they're going.  Eventually.  This doesn't help you at any particular point in time.

The same problem exists for the Gold stock market.  Every single gold stock can be manipulated.  For all the same reasons.  And besides, if you own gold stocks you really just own paper.  If you can get your stock printed on paper.  Otherwise, you just own the thought of paper.  Of course, this thought can be cashed in for other paper in the Stock Casino.  If you're really lucky.  But it is not a hard asset.  So you're totally at the mercy of the very wealthy who can move the value of your thought-paper at will.  (Of course, you may believe they have fat too much integrity to do so.)

So what does that leave?  It leaves all the gold coins and medals (which until the 20th century had the same currency value as coins) minted between 600 BCE and 1933 - when the world functionally went off the gold standard.

This comprises so many markets, it would take books and books to go through them.  However, let's take ancient gold coins.  No two are exactly alike.  In fact, finding two coins from the same 2500 year old die, is extremely difficult.  Then find them with similar strikes, and in similar states of preservation.  You can't.  Therefor, no matter how rich you are, you can't move the markets.  Because each piece you buy is unique.

Look at the Portrait Stater of Alexander the Great issued under Lysimachus in 320 BCE pictured above.  Not only is this a tremendously important historical document - it is unique.  You'll never see another exactly like it.  So how do you value it?  It takes tremendous study.  If you have a billion dollars you can surely buy it - at some price.  But you'll still have no idea how to value it. 

This makes for a fairly illiquid market.  That's the problem if you want to use this hard asset as currency.  And that's the tremendous value if you want to use this hard asset as a store of wealth. It has a 2500 year track record of holding its value - and gaining value in proportion to the issue of paper money - over time.  And with a lot of study you can learn to understand that value.  And this will make you competitive against even the super wealthy.  At least until the super wealthy take the time and effort to learn about the these values.  Then it will be too late.

FCA launches gold benchmark rigging review

Financial Conduct Authority launches preliminary review into possible rigging of gold benchmarks

It is not yet known which gold benchmarks are under scrutiny, but among the most important is the London gold fixing, which determines the spot price for physical gold and is set twice daily by a panel of five banks. Photo: Alamy

By Denise Roland, and agencies

7:55PM GMT 19 Nov 2013

9 Comments

Britain's financial regulator is looking into whether gold benchmarks could have been rigged.

The Financial Conduct Authority has launched a preliminary review into the issue, a person familiar with the matter has told Bloomberg.

It is not yet known which gold benchmarks are under scrutiny, but among the most important is the London gold fixing, which determines the spot price for physical gold and is set twice daily by a panel of five banks.

The review adds to the list of financial benchmarks being investigated for suspected rigging by regulators around the world in the wake of the Libor-fixing scandal, which implicated a number of banks in fixing a key interbank lending rate.

Last month the FCA confirmed it was at the "early stage" of an inquiry into potential rigging of the $5.3 trillion (£3.3 trillion) daily global trade in currencies, which is also under review the US Department of Justice and European authorities.

A spokesman for the FCA declined to comment.

Rich? Just can't spend money fast enough?

Espresso Machines at $20,000 Bring High Design Into Homes

By Jeremy Kahn - Nov 18, 2013 7:00 PM ET

Bloomberg Pursuits Magazine

Christian Hagemann/Bloomberg Pursuits

"Espresso is fast coffee, so the machine should look fast," Kees van der Westen says of his Spirit espresso maker.

Kees van der Westen first encountered espresso as a college student. It was the 1980s, and he was studying industrial design in Genk, Belgium. Like most college students, he valued the dark, acidic shots pulled in local cafes primarily for their caffeine content, not their complexity of flavor, mouth feel or aroma.

Enlarge image

Kees van der Westen's company produces about 400 machines a year in his small workshop in the Netherlands. Photographer: Christian Hagemann/Bloomberg Pursuits

That changed after he chose the espresso machine as the final project for his degree, Bloomberg Pursuits magazine will report in its Holiday 2013 issue. Most devices then in production were boring metal boxes, he says, leaving plenty of room for innovation.

Today, van der Westen’s machines -- chrome goddesses whose bodies evoke the lines of classic midcentury American automobiles -- have gained a cult following among coffee connoisseurs.

What's in it for me?

 

A side effect of the great "What's in it for Me" Philosophy that has infected our political and economic systems is a stunning myopia.  Everybody can see what everything is worth right at this very second.  And it's worth exactly the amount for which they can screw the next guy.  Looking five minutes into the future is pointless.  It all about what you can get right now.  Accounting standards have been suspended for corporations and banks so that this quarter's earnings can always be made to look good, and this quarter's balance sheet can be made to look whole.  Markets are all manipulated so that the wealthiest can screw the little guys.

Cassius was a Roman general who practiced such a world view, all the while espousing a philosophy of enlightened Epicureanism.  He defended the murder of Caesar on philisophical anti-tyrrany grounds, all the while acting tyrannically in his own estates and with his own men.

When he led his army into new territory, he would take the lion's share of the spoils for himself.  Other generals, like his co-conspirator Brutus, had the sense to share his spoils with his men.  It meant less for himself in the short run.  But his men fought harder for him.  His army was more efficient. Which meant more for him in terms of both reputation and wealth in the long run. 

It didn't matter, since Crassus' reluctant and demoralized forces suffered defeat at the hands of Marc Antony and that spelled ultimate failure for Brutus too, though he was in the process of whipping Octavian.

Octavian, an inferior general but a superior politician, then turned on his friend Marc Antony when the latter took up with Cleopatra in Egypt.  Eventually Octavian became Rome's first emperor.  He instituted a series of Moral Reforms meant to bring a veneer of Virtue to his  Empire.  Unfortunately his beloved daughter Julia couldn't live up to these reforms.  His two sons had already died.  She was all he had left.  And he had to banish her in order to prove he was serious about morality.  He died as the richest man in the world, yet childless and heartbroken.

Interest Rates, Currencies, Stocks are all heavily manipulated:

 

The Enormous global Currencies, Interest Rates and Stock Markets have all been heavily manipulated.  Is it at all possible that the tiny tiny gold market has been manipulated too?

 

 

By Virginia Harrison   @CNNMoney October 17, 2013: 12:54 AM ET

U.K. joins currency manipulation probe

A global crackdown into forex trading is gathering pace as U.K. regulators investigate possible misconduct in the $5.3 trillion foreign currency market.

The Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement issued Wednesday that alongside several other domestic and international agencies, it is examining a number of firms over foreign exchange trading.

"Our investigations are at an early stage and it will be some time before we conclude whether there has been any misconduct which will lead to enforcement action," the statement said.

London is the world's largest foreign exchange trading hub. It's the first time the FCA has confirmed it is conducting a probe, after saying in June it was speaking with relevant parties over possible rigging of benchmark currency rates.

In a further widening of the inquiry, authorities in Hong Kong said they were in contact with banks.
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is aware of the allegations. We have been in communications with the relevant overseas regulators and following up with individual banks," the agency said in response to a written question.

Earlier this month, European authorities said they were on the hunt for evidence that banks may have tried to manipulate exchange rates.
Related: Europe joins probe into shady forex dealing
The EU's top anti-trust official, Joaquín Almunia, said an investigation was in its initial stages. Authorities in Switzerland are also examining possible currency market manipulation.
The global foreign exchange market has grown steadily over the last three years and is worth $5.3 trillion a day. Deutsche Bank (DB), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Barclays (BCLYF) and UBS (UBS)are among the biggest players in the market.
The currency probes mark the latest crackdown by regulators into banking conduct. A global investigation by authorities into the setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, has squeezed billions of dollars out of banks in fines and prompted regulatory changes. Traders have also faced criminal charges.

Did Barclays, RBS, Citigroup & others manipulate currency trades? By New York Times | 15 Nov, 2013, 11.37AM IST 3 comments |Post a Comment READ MORE ON » The Game | stocks | Scandal | RBS | pension | interest rates | interest rate The group of traders, the investigators say, shared a mission to alter the price of foreign currencies, the largest and yet least regulated market in the financial world.The group of traders, the investigators say, shared a mission to alter the price of foreign cur ..

Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/did-barclays-rbs-citigroup-others-manipulate-currency-trades/articleshow/25809653.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Copyright © Times Internet Limited.

Did Barclays, RBS, Citigroup & others manipulate currency trades? By New York Times | 15 Nov, 2013, 11.37AM IST 3 comments |Post a Comment READ MORE ON » The Game | stocks | Scandal | RBS | pension | interest rates | interest rate The group of traders, the investigators say, shared a mission to alter the price of foreign currencies, the largest and yet least regulated market in the financial world.The group of traders, the investigators say, shared a mission to alter the price of foreign cur ..

Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/did-barclays-rbs-citigroup-others-manipulate-currency-trades/articleshow/25809653.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Copyright © Times Internet Limited.

Did Barclays, RBS, Citigroup & others manipulate currency trades? By New York Times | 15 Nov, 2013, 11.37AM IST 3 comments |Post a Comment READ MORE ON » The Game | stocks | Scandal | RBS | pension | interest rates | interest rate The group of traders, the investigators say, shared a mission to alter the price of foreign currencies, the largest and yet least regulated market in the financial world.The group of traders, the investigators say, shared a mission to alter the price of foreign cur ..

Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/did-barclays-rbs-citigroup-others-manipulate-currency-trades/articleshow/25809653.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Copyright © Times Internet Limited.

Did Barclays, RBS, Citigroup & others manipulate currency trades? By New York Times | 15 Nov, 2013, 11.37AM IST 3 comments |Post a Comment READ MORE ON » The Game | stocks | Scandal | RBS | pension | interest rates | interest rate The group of traders, the investigators say, shared a mission to alter the price of foreign currencies, the largest and yet least regulated market in the financial world.The group of traders, the investigators say, shared a mission to alter the price of foreign cur ..

Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/did-barclays-rbs-citigroup-others-manipulate-currency-trades/articleshow/25809653.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Copyright © Times Internet Limited.

Did Barclays, RBS, Citigroup & others manipulate currency trades?

Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/did-barclays-rbs-citigroup-others-manipulate-currency-trades/articleshow/25809653.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Copyright © Times Internet Limited.

U.K. joins currency manipulation probe

By Virginia Harrison   @CNNMoney October 17, 2013: 12:54 AM ET

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

• 54
  TOTAL SHARES
• 9
• 20
• 3
• 2

LONDON (CNNMoney)

A global crackdown into forex trading is gathering pace as U.K. regulators investigate possible misconduct in the $5.3 trillion foreign currency market.

The Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement issued Wednesday that alongside several other domestic and international agencies, it is examining a number of firms over foreign exchange trading.

"Our investigations are at an early stage and it will be some time before we conclude whether there has been any misconduct which will lead to enforcement action," the statement said.
London is the world's largest foreign exchange trading hub. It's the first time the FCA has confirmed it is conducting a probe, after saying in June it was speaking with relevant parties over possible rigging of benchmark currency rates.
In a further widening of the inquiry, authorities in Hong Kong said they were in contact with banks.
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is aware of the allegations. We have been in communications with the relevant overseas regulators and following up with individual banks," the agency said in response to a written question.
Earlier this month, European authorities said they were on the hunt for evidence that banks may have tried to manipulate exchange rates.
Related: Europe joins probe into shady forex dealing
The EU's top anti-trust official, Joaquín Almunia, said an investigation was in its initial stages. Authorities in Switzerland are also examining possible currency market manipulation.
The global foreign exchange market has grown steadily over the last three years and is worth $5.3 trillion a day. Deutsche Bank (DB), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Barclays (BCLYF) and UBS (UBS)are among the biggest players in the market.
The currency probes mark the latest crackdown by regulators into banking conduct. A global investigation by authorities into the setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, has squeezed billions of dollars out of banks in fines and prompted regulatory changes. Traders have also faced criminal charges.

U.K. joins currency manipulation probe

By Virginia Harrison   @CNNMoney October 17, 2013: 12:54 AM ET

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

• 54
  TOTAL SHARES
• 9
• 20
• 3
• 2

LONDON (CNNMoney)

A global crackdown into forex trading is gathering pace as U.K. regulators investigate possible misconduct in the $5.3 trillion foreign currency market.

The Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement issued Wednesday that alongside several other domestic and international agencies, it is examining a number of firms over foreign exchange trading.

"Our investigations are at an early stage and it will be some time before we conclude whether there has been any misconduct which will lead to enforcement action," the statement said.
London is the world's largest foreign exchange trading hub. It's the first time the FCA has confirmed it is conducting a probe, after saying in June it was speaking with relevant parties over possible rigging of benchmark currency rates.
In a further widening of the inquiry, authorities in Hong Kong said they were in contact with banks.
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is aware of the allegations. We have been in communications with the relevant overseas regulators and following up with individual banks," the agency said in response to a written question.
Earlier this month, European authorities said they were on the hunt for evidence that banks may have tried to manipulate exchange rates.
Related: Europe joins probe into shady forex dealing
The EU's top anti-trust official, Joaquín Almunia, said an investigation was in its initial stages. Authorities in Switzerland are also examining possible currency market manipulation.
The global foreign exchange market has grown steadily over the last three years and is worth $5.3 trillion a day. Deutsche Bank (DB), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Barclays (BCLYF) and UBS (UBS)are among the biggest players in the market.
The currency probes mark the latest crackdown by regulators into banking conduct. A global investigation by authorities into the setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, has squeezed billions of dollars out of banks in fines and prompted regulatory changes. Traders have also faced criminal charges.

U.K. joins currency manipulation probe

By Virginia Harrison   @CNNMoney October 17, 2013: 12:54 AM ET

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

• 54
  TOTAL SHARES
• 9
• 20
• 3
• 2

LONDON (CNNMoney)

A global crackdown into forex trading is gathering pace as U.K. regulators investigate possible misconduct in the $5.3 trillion foreign currency market.

The Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement issued Wednesday that alongside several other domestic and international agencies, it is examining a number of firms over foreign exchange trading.

"Our investigations are at an early stage and it will be some time before we conclude whether there has been any misconduct which will lead to enforcement action," the statement said.
London is the world's largest foreign exchange trading hub. It's the first time the FCA has confirmed it is conducting a probe, after saying in June it was speaking with relevant parties over possible rigging of benchmark currency rates.
In a further widening of the inquiry, authorities in Hong Kong said they were in contact with banks.
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is aware of the allegations. We have been in communications with the relevant overseas regulators and following up with individual banks," the agency said in response to a written question.
Earlier this month, European authorities said they were on the hunt for evidence that banks may have tried to manipulate exchange rates.
Related: Europe joins probe into shady forex dealing
The EU's top anti-trust official, Joaquín Almunia, said an investigation was in its initial stages. Authorities in Switzerland are also examining possible currency market manipulation.
The global foreign exchange market has grown steadily over the last three years and is worth $5.3 trillion a day. Deutsche Bank (DB), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Barclays (BCLYF) and UBS (UBS)are among the biggest players in the market.
The currency probes mark the latest crackdown by regulators into banking conduct. A global investigation by authorities into the setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, has squeezed billions of dollars out of banks in fines and prompted regulatory changes. Traders have also faced criminal charges.

Race to Bottom Resumes as Central Bankers Ease Anew: Currencies

By Emma Charlton & John Detrixhe - Nov 11, 2013 5:11 AM ET

The global currency wars are heating up again as central banks embark on a new round of easing to combat a slowdown in growth.
The European Central Bank cut its key rate last week in a decision some investors say was intended in part to curb the euro after it soared to the strongest since 2011. The same day, Czech policy makers said they were intervening in the currency market for the first time in 11 years to weaken the koruna. New Zealand said it may delay rate increases to temper its dollar, and Australia warned the Aussie is “uncomfortably high.”

 

 

The moves threaten to spark a new round in what Brazil Finance Minister Guido Mantega, seen here, in 2010 called a “currency war,” barely two months after the Group of 20 nations pledged to “refrain from competitive devaluation.” 

“It’s a very real concern of these countries to keep their currencies weak,” Axel Merk, who oversees about $450 million of foreign exchange as the head of Palo Alto, California-based Merk Investments LLC, said in a Nov. 8 telephone interview. ECB President Mario Draghi, “persistently since earlier this year, has been trying to talk down the euro,” Merk said.
With the outlook for the global economy being downgraded by the International Monetary Fund and inflation slowing to levels that may hinder investment, countries and central banks are revisiting policies that tend to boost competitiveness through weaker currencies.

Mantega’s ‘War’

The moves threaten to spark a new round in what Brazil Finance Minister Guido Mantega in 2010 called a “currency war,” barely two months after the Group of 20 nations pledged to “refrain from competitive devaluation.”
“We’re seeing a new era of currency wars,” Neil Mellor, a foreign-exchange strategist at Bank of New York Mellon in London, said in a Nov. 8 telephone interview.