Hotel Management Agreements from a Bank's perspective Video :: Hotel News Resource

Hotel Management Agreements from a Bank's perspective Video :: Hotel News Resource

The Secret Return to the "Gold Standard"

Although it happened more than 40 years ago, many Americans still rue the day back in 1971 when U.S. President Richard M. Nixon effectively took this country off the so-called "gold standard." Under a true gold standard, paper notes are "convertible" into pre-determined, fixed quantities of the "yellow metal." What actually happened back in 1971 was that President Nixon - facing huge budget and trade deficits, and a plunging dollar - enacted a series of economic moves, including the unilateral cancellation of the direct convertibility of the U.S. dollar into gold. By slamming the "gold window" shut, Nixon also brought down the curtain on the existing Bretton Woods system of global financial exchange. The fallout was immediate, creating a situation that financial historians still refer to as the "Nixon Shock." Proponents of the gold standard say the real damage is still being wrought: That decision four decades ago led directly to the uncertainty, volatility and irresponsibility that we see in the U.S. economy and global financial markets today. Whether you agree or not is a topic for another time. But what I'm here to tell you today is that the world's central banks have quietly - almost secretly - returned the world to a new version of the gold standard.

Bad news for miners - China's big-spending days are over

China's slowdown has arrived. This morning, we learned that China's economy grew by 7.4% in the third-quarter of 2012, compared to the same time last year. That's the seventh quarter in a row that the pace of growth has slowed. And it's the slowest growth seen since the first quarter of 2009 (back when the global financial system was imploding). Yet China's leaders don't seem to be panicking. There's a very good reason for that. And as I'll explain in a moment, this lack of panic could be very bad news for anyone betting on a huge commodities rebound...

The world needs more food - and Latin America is the place to invest

Right now, the market is urgently trying to tell us something. In fact it’s been trying to tell us something for the last few years. In the last decade or so we’ve seen regular bouts of record-busting food prices. This is the market’s way of warning us that our supply of the stuff is running low. And as the global population grows and also becomes wealthier, demand for food will only keep rising. Clearly, rising prices are bad news for consumers, and particularly for the world’s poor. But these price spikes aren’t entirely bad. In the long run, higher prices encourage farmers and food processors around the world to raise food production. In turn, that’s going to mean a lot more money will be invested in boosting farm productivity. One region in particular looks likely to capture the lion’s share of the extra investment – Latin America.

Marc Faber: “Money printing will destroy the world”

Central bank money-printing “will destroy the world”. Contrarian investment expert Dr Marc Faber, who writes the Gloom, Boom and Doom Report newsletter, came out with that one in a recent interview with Bloomberg. It sounds extreme. But he might just be right. Here’s why – and what you should hold onto to protect yourself in the meantime…

Investors Who Own Japanese Stocks are About to Get a Nasty Surprise

September's anti-Japanese protests in China over the disputed Senkaku/Daioyu Islands may have come and gone in the Western press, but the real damage is only just beginning for investors who have piled into Japan in recent years. With their focus on the U.S. fiscal cliff and ongoing EU banking problems, many investors just don't understand how interlinked trade between China and Japan has become, nor the breadth of the damage this strained relationship can do to their portfolios.

Thanks to the Fed, It's All Proceeding According to "The Plan"

If you've been reading the headlines, you know Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) is in trouble. It could be in really big trouble. Thank goodness they're so big! Thank goodness all the big banks in America are all much bigger now than they were a few years ago, before the financial crisis brought them to their knees, by their own doing, of course. Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? Yeah, it's all part of "The Plan" to eliminate pesky banking competition. Let me show you how nicely it's working...

China's economic destiny in doubt after leadership shock

The forces of reaction and economic folly threaten to prevail in China. The long political arm of Jiang Zemin has reached out from the shadows to thwart reform, with huge implications for Asia and the world.

Asia's green shoots allay global slump fears

Green shoots are sprouting across much of the Far East as stimulus begins to feed through, greatly reducing the risk of a deep global slump next year.

Japan to join currency wars as exports slump

Japan is poised to join the world's "currency wars" as it battles a triple crisis of crashing exports, recession and a suffocatingly-strong yen.

Is Greece insolvent?

Pimco's managing director Andrew Bosomworth has said Greece is insolvent and it's going to default. It's just a question of how and when that is realized.

Britain shouldn’t jump the gun on leaving the European Union

Rather than rush for the exit, it would be better to allow the euro crisis to play out

The new threat to the euro – disintegrating nations

Up until now, the biggest threats to the continued existence of the euro have come from individual countries. In June, Greece nearly elected the anti-austerity Syriza. A few weeks ago, some people thought that Germany might be prevented, by the courts, from taking part in the fund designed to bail out Spain and Italy. These threats haven’t gone away, of course. Recent protests in Athens and Madrid show that both the Greeks and the Spanish are sick of austerity. Meanwhile, there are rumours that Berlin might take a much harder line on bail-outs once the US presidential election is out of the way. But now an even greater fiscal threat is emerging – the danger that individual countries themselves may splinter as regions call for independence. How much of a threat is this to the euro? And can you take advantage of it?

Greek death spiral raises heat for German-bloc creditors

Greece’s debt-load is rising much faster than expected as the country spirals into a sixth year of depression, ratcheting up the pressure on Germany and Europe’s creditor states to accept debt-forgiveness for the first time.

Germany rattled as taxpayer losses loom in Greece

The EU-IMF Troika of inspectors in Greece has called on European bodies and official creditors to write off a chunk of their loans, opening the way for first taxpayer losses since the sovereign debt crisis began.

Europe left behind as shale shock drives America’s industrial resurgence

The wonders of US shale gas continue to amaze. We receive fresh evidence by the day that swathes of American industry have acquired a massive and lasting advantage in energy costs over global rivals, demolishing assumptions about US economic decline.

Bundesbank slashed London gold holdings in mystery move

Germany withdrew two thirds of its vast holdings of gold from Bank of England vaults shortly after the launch of the euro more than a decade ago, according to a confidential report by German auditors.

IMF's epic plan to conjure away debt and dethrone bankers

So there is a magic wand after all. A revolutionary paper by the International Monetary Fund claims that one could eliminate the net public debt of the US at a stroke, and by implication do the same for Britain, Germany, Italy, or Japan.

Europe ratchets up grip on Madrid

The EU-IMF Troika in charge of Spain's €60bn (£48bn) bank rescue is to demand much tougher action by the country's authorities to clean up toxic debts, risking a clash that could deter Madrid from requesting a full sovereign bail-out.

EU leaders agree 'fiscal facility’ plan with eye on budget union

Europe's leaders agreed on Thursday to plans for a “fiscal facility” to help eurozone countries cope with shocks, opening the door to partial budgetary union.

Germany shocks EU with fiscal overlord demand

Germany has stated its exorbitant price for keeping Greece in the euro and agreeing to mass bond purchases by the European Central Bank.

French business erupts in fury against "disastrous" François Hollande

France is sliding into a grave economic crisis and risks a full-blown “hurricane” as investors flee rocketing tax rates, the country’s business federation has warned.