Vitamins and minerals can boost energy and enhance mood

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Vitamin and mineral supplements can enhance mental energy and well-being not only for healthy adults but for those prone to anxiety and depression, according to new research.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/depression/~3/lA_rDGe1I8k/130716115713.htm

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Newbies rule in final table for WSOP main event

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Youth and online skills dominated as the final table of World Series of Poker was set, but it was an experienced grinder who carried the day.

As Monday night bled into Tuesday morning, the most veteran player of the final 10 gamblers competing for a seat at the nine-person final table worth $8.4 million for the winner was defeated by the second-most respected player.

Deep into the 14th hour of play on the seventh day of the world's biggest no-limit Texas Hold 'em competition, well-known Sacramento, Calif., grinder J.C. Tran went head to head with Carlos Mortensen, a Spanish pro known as "El Matador," who won the main event in 2001 and was making a second run.

Tran was holding a seven and an eight, while Mortensen had an ace and a nine.

The flop, the first three common cards, came down 10, six, three. Tran went all in on the turn, the fourth card, and Mortensen called, pushing all his chips in.

The turn was a nine, giving Tran a straight. Mortensen would have needed a club on the river, or fifth card, to make a flush but got a two of diamonds instead, costing him his spot in the championship.

As that card was dealt, whoops went up from the increasingly swaying and song-prone crowds in the bleachers of the makeshift ESPN stage at the Rio casino off the Strip.

"The guy that I respected the most was the one guy that I just busted," said Tran, 36, grinning and bleary-eyed moments after Mortensen busted out. "It's kind of sad to see him go. But at the same time, I'm happy he's gone because he's the one I respected most."

Tran, who holds first place in the chip count, might have reason to think he can beat the other finalists to take the diamond-encrusted bracelet. After all, many of them are newbies.

Jay Farber, 28, fourth in the chip count, has a lifetime poker winning of just over $2,000. That's the smallest lifetime earnings of any of the "November nine" since 2008.

The Las Vegas club host acknowledged he was flagging as the tournament entered its 70th hour Monday, despite the steady cheering from a horde of his club friends in the stands that chanted "Oh, Jay" to the tune of an Italian soccer song as 3 a.m. Tuesday neared.

"I'm not a tournament player. It's frustrating coming from being a cash-game player to playing 12 to 14 hours a day," he said. "But I really enjoyed the main event because it's like playing a deep stack cash game."

As the field narrowed to 11 and then to 10, some players hoping to avoid bad beats and roller-coaster chip swings simply refused to gamble.

The conservative play seemed to annoy tired fans who began urging players in heavily accented English to "double down" and bet all their chips or, once players went all in, yelling out the card that would ensure a loss.

The youngest of the six 20-somthings who make up the final table is Ryan Riess, 23, of Las Vegas, who was playing in his first world series.

He reflected on his coming celebrity as he took in the ESPN cameras swooping and diving above the tables where the field of 27 was whittled to nine.

"Not only is it a ton of money, which is obviously life changing, but I feel like so many people know of me that did not know me." he said, adding, "I'll still be the same person."

Also new to the ranks of the tournament champions was Sylvain Loosli, 26, who dubs himself an "online poker cash game specialist" but had never made the money at the world series.

"I'm quite impressed I didn't feel any pressure," the Frenchman said, still wearing the gray hoodie he'd used to hide his eyes during play.

Among those coming back in November are tattoo artist Marc McLaughlin, of Brossard, Quebec, and Columbia University student David Benefield, of Fort Worth, Texas. The rest of the finalists are pros, including Amir Lehavot, of Israel, Michiel Brummelhuis, of Amsterdam, and Marc Newhouse of Chapel Hill, N.C.

The $10,000 buy-in competition, which began July 6 with 6,352 entrants, now takes a break until Nov. 4, when the gamblers will reconvene to determine a champion on live television. Each player is already guaranteed at least a $700,000 payout.

For Tran, the final table could confirm his hopes that tournament poker is not only a young man's game.

"The past couple years, I've been really distracted with a lot of things going on ? I became a family man, married, I have a son," he said. "I came to the world series not really having that fire that I used to have. And when I looked back on the past couple years, I said, look, these results are not so good."

Tran said he is expecting a daughter and hopes that his shot at the final table may help him realize a long-held dream before retiring.

"I'm going to set one last goal, and that is to win this thing, and then I'm going to take a nice little break, enjoy my wife and my kids and watch them grow up. Poker should be for fun from here on out."

___

Eric Uribe contributed to this report. Hannah Dreier can be reached at http://twitter.com/hannahdreier .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/newbies-rule-final-table-wsop-main-event-131413798.html

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iPad 5 Release Date Coming as Best Buy Started iPad Trade-Ins?

Aries

You feel as if you're wading through treacle as it's hard to make any progress today, whether you're working on your own or in tandem with someone else. Things just don't go well and you'll end up feeling that all your efforts are in vain. If you're part of a team, you might have good reason to suspect that a certain person is deliberately trying to spike your guns, even if they're being very subtle about it.

Source: http://www.topix.com/tech/ipad/2013/07/ipad-5-release-date-coming-as-best-buy-started-ipad-trade-ins?fromrss=1

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Peter King / M.I.A. at Manning camp, Manziel putting his NFL reputation at risk

Good morning. Happy to be back after my annual summer break. The beginning of the training camp trip is five days away, in Oxnard, Calif., with the Cowboys. Always my favorite time of the year. Everybody's got hope, much of it legitimate, and the stories are new and fresh. Then there's the new project, The MMQB, I'm heading up. That's the new NFL-centric website that'll go live starting next Monday morning.

Source: http://www.fantasysp.com/columns/nfl/220305/mia-at-manning-camp-manziel-putting-his-nfl-reputation-at-risk

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Gold Imports by India Seen Shrinking as State Curbs Boost Costs

Of all the precious metals, gold is the most popular as an investment.^[1] Investors generally buy gold as a hedge or harbor against economic, political, or social fiat currency crises (including investment market declines, burgeoning national debt, currency failure, inflation, war and social unrest). The gold market is subject to speculation as are other markets, especially through the use of futures contracts and derivatives. The history of the gold standard, the role of gold reserves in central banking, gold's low correlation with other commodity prices, and its pricing in relation to fiat currencies during the Late-2000s financial crisis, suggest that gold behaves more like a currency than a commodity.^[2][3]

Gold has been used throughout history as money and has been a relative standard for currency equivalents specific to economic regions or countries, until recent times. Many European countries implemented gold standards in the latter part of the 19th century until these were temporarily suspended in the financial crises involving World War I. After World War II, the Bretton Woods system pegged the United States dollar to gold at a rate of US$35 per troy ounce. The system existed until the 1971 Nixon Shock, when the US unilaterally suspended the direct convertibility of the United States dollar to gold and made the transition to a fiat currency system. The last currency to be divorced from gold was the Swiss Franc in 2000.

Since 1919 the most common benchmark for the price of gold has been the London gold fixing, a twice-daily telephone meeting of representatives from five bullion-trading firms of the London bullion market. Furthermore, gold is traded continuously throughout the world based on the intra-day spot price, derived from over-the-counter gold-trading markets around the world (code "XAU"). The following table sets forth the gold price versus various assets and key statistics:

Year	Gold USD/ozt[4]	DJIA USD[5]	World GDP USD tn[6]	US Debt USD bn[7]	Trade Weighted US dollar Index[8]
1970	37	839	3.3	370
1975	140	852	6.4	533	33.0
1980	590	964	11.8	908	35.7
1985	327	1,547	13.0	1,823	68.2
1990	391	2,634	22.2	3,233	73.2
1995	387	5,117	29.8	4,974	90.3
2000	273	10,787	31.9	5,662	118.6
2005	513	10,718	45.1	8,170	111.6
2010	1,410	11,578	63.2	14,025	99.9
1970 to 2010 net change,?%
	3,792	1,280	...	3,691	...
1975 (post US off gold standard) to 2010 net change,?%
	929	1,259	...	2,531	...

On August 22, 2011 gold reached a new record high of $1908.00 at the London Gold Fixing.^[9]

Today, like most commodities, the price of gold is driven by supply and demand as well as speculation. However unlike most other commodities, saving and disposal plays a larger role in affecting its price than its consumption. Most of the gold ever mined still exists in accessible form, such as bullion and mass-produced jewelry, with little value over its fine weight ? and is thus potentially able to come back onto the gold market for the right price.^[10][11] At the end of 2006, it was estimated that all the gold ever mined totalled 158,000 tonnes (156,000 long tons; 174,000 short tons).^[12] This can be represented by a cube with an edge length of 20.2 metres (66?ft).

Given the huge quantity of gold stored above-ground compared to the annual production, the price of gold is mainly affected by changes in sentiment (demand), rather than changes in annual production (supply).^[13] According to the World Gold Council, annual mine production of gold over the last few years has been close to 2,500 tonnes.^[14] About 2,000 tonnes goes into jewellery or industrial/dental production, and around 500 tonnes goes to retail investors and exchange traded gold funds.^[14]

Central banks[link]

Central banks and the International Monetary Fund play an important role in the gold price. At the end of 2004 central banks and official organizations held 19 percent of all above-ground gold as official gold reserves.^[15] The ten year Washington Agreement on Gold (WAG), which dates from September 1999, limits gold sales by its members (Europe, United States, Japan, Australia, Bank for International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund) to less than 500 tonnes a year.^[16] European central banks, such as the Bank of England and Swiss National Bank, were key sellers of gold over this period.^[17] In 2009, this agreement was extended for a further five years, but with a smaller annual sales limit of 400 tonnes.^[18]

Although central banks do not generally announce gold purchases in advance, some, such as Russia, have expressed interest in growing their gold reserves again as of late 2005.^[19] In early 2006, China, which only holds 1.3% of its reserves in gold,^[20] announced that it was looking for ways to improve the returns on its official reserves. Some bulls hope that this signals that China might reposition more of its holdings into gold in line with other Central Banks. India has recently purchased over 200 tons of gold which has led to a surge in prices.^[21]

It is generally accepted that interest rates are closely related to the price of gold. As interest rates rise the general tendency is for the gold price, which earns no interest, to fall, and as rates dip, for gold price to rise. As a result, gold price can be closely correlated to central banks via the monetary policy decisions made by them related to interest rates. For example if market signals indicate the possibility of prolonged inflation, central banks may decide to enact policies such as a hike in interest rates that could affect the price of gold in order to quell the inflation. An opposite reaction to this general principle can be seen after the European Central bank raised its interest rate on April 7, 2011 for the first time since 2008.^[22] The price of gold responded with a muted response and then drove higher to hit new highs one day later.^[23] A similar situation happened in India: In August 2011 when the interest rate were at their highest in two years, the gold prices peaked as well.^[24]

Hedge against financial stress[link]

Gold, like all precious metals, may be used as a hedge against inflation, deflation or currency devaluation. As Joe Foster, portfolio manager of the New York-based Van Eck International Gold Fund, explained in September 2010:

The currencies of all the major countries, including ours, are under severe pressure because of massive government deficits. The more money that is pumped into these economies ? the printing of money basically ? then the less valuable the currencies become.^[25]

If the return on bonds, equities and real estate is not adequately compensating for risk and inflation then the demand for gold and other alternative investments such as commodities increases. An example of this is the period of stagflation that occurred during the 1970s and which led to an economic bubble forming in precious metals.^[26][27]

Jewelery and industrial demand[link]

Jewelery consistently accounts for over two-thirds of annual gold demand. India is the largest consumer in volume terms, accounting for 27% of demand in 2009, followed by China and the USA.^[28]

Industrial, dentistry and medical uses account for around 12% of gold demand. Gold has high thermal and electrical conductivity properties, along with a high resistance to corrosion and bacterial colonization. Jewelery and industrial demand has fluctuated over the past few years due to the steady expansion in emerging markets of middle classes aspiring to Western lifestyles, offset by the financial crisis of 2007?2010.^[29]

Gold jewelery recycling[link]

In recent years the amount of second-hand jewelery being recycled has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Some companies have been offering good prices and fair services for their customers. However there are many companies that have been caught taking advantage of their customers, paying a fraction of what the gold or silver is really worth, leading to distrust in many companies.^{[citation needed]}

Short selling[link]

The price of gold is also affected by various well-documented mechanisms of artificial price suppression, arising from fractional reserve banking and naked short selling in gold, and particularly involving the London Bullion Market Association, the United States Federal Reserve System, and the banks HSBC and JPMorgan Chase.^{[30][31][32][33]} Gold market observers have noted for many years that the price of gold tends to fall artificially at the start of New York trading.^[34]Andrew Maguire, a former Goldman Sachs trader, went public in April 2010 with assertions of market manipulation by JPMorgan Chase and HSBC of the gold and silver markets, prompting a number of lawsuits.^[35][36]

War, invasion and national emergency[link]

When dollars were fully convertible into gold via the gold standard, both were regarded as money. However, most people preferred to carry around paper banknotes rather than the somewhat heavier and less divisible gold coins. If people feared their bank would fail, a bank run might result. This happened in the USA during the Great Depression of the 1930s, leading President Roosevelt to impose a national emergency and issue Executive Order 6102 outlawing the "hoarding" of gold by US citizens. There was only one prosecution under the order, and in that case the order was ruled invalid by federal judge John M. Woolsey, on the technical grounds that the order was signed by the President, not the Secretary of the Treasury as required.^[37]

Bars[link]

The most traditional way of investing in gold is by buying bullion gold bars. In some countries, like Canada, Argentina, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, these can easily be bought or sold at the major banks. Alternatively, there are bullion dealers that provide the same service. Bars are available in various sizes. For example in Europe, Good Delivery bars are approximately 400 troy ounces (12?kg).^[38] 1 kilogram (32?ozt) are also popular, although many other weights exist, such as the 10oz, 1oz, 10?g, 100?g, 1?kg, 1?Tael, and 1?Tola.

Bars generally carry lower price premiums than gold bullion coins. However larger bars carry an increased risk of forgery due to their less stringent parameters for appearance. While bullion coins can be easily weighed and measured against known values, most bars cannot, and gold buyers often have bars re-assayed. Larger bars also have a greater volume in which to create a partial forgery using a tungsten-filled cavity, which may not be revealed by an assay.^[39]

One way of avoiding such a scam is to buy and hold gold bars that are held within the London bullion market (LBMA) ?chain of custody? and store the gold in a LBMA recognized vault. The gold bullion held within the LBMA recognized vaults can be bought and sold easily. If it is removed from the vaults and stored outside of the chain of integrity, for example stored at home or in a private vault, the bar will have to be re-assayed before it can be returned to the LBMA chain. This process is described under the LBMA's "Good Delivery Rules".^[40]

The LBMA includes in this "traceable chain of custody" refiners as well as vaults. Both have to meet their strict guidelines. Bullion products from these trusted refiners are traded at face value by LBMA members without assay testing. By buying bullion from an LBMA member dealer and storing it in an LBMA recognized vault, customers avoid the need of re-assaying or the inconvenience in time and expense it would cost.^[41]

Efforts to combat gold bar counterfeiting include kinebars which employ a unique holographic technology and are manufactured by the Argor-Heraeus refinery in Switzerland.

Coins[link]

Gold coins are a common way of owning gold. Bullion coins are priced according to their fine weight, plus a small premium based on supply and demand (as opposed to numismatic gold coins which are priced mainly by supply and demand based on rarity and condition).

The Krugerrand is the most widely-held gold bullion coin, with 46,000,000?troy ounces (1,400 tonnes) in circulation. Other common gold bullion coins include the Australian Gold Nugget (Kangaroo), Austrian Philharmoniker (Philharmonic), Austrian 100 Corona, Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, Chinese Gold Panda, Malaysian Kijang Emas, French Napoleon or Louis d'Or, Mexican Gold 50 Peso, British Sovereign, American Gold Eagle, and American Buffalo.

Coins may be purchased from a variety of dealers both large and small. Fake gold coins are not uncommon, and are usually made of gold-plated lead.

Exchange-traded products (ETPs)[link]

Gold exchange-traded products may include ETFs, ETNs, and CEFs which are traded like shares on the major stock exchanges. The first gold ETF, Gold Bullion Securities (ticker symbol "GOLD"), was launched in March 2003 on the Australian Stock Exchange, and originally represented exactly 0.1 troy ounces (3.1?g) of gold. As of November 2010, SPDR Gold Shares is the second-largest exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the world by market capitalization.^[42]

Gold ETPs represent an easy way to gain exposure to the gold price, without the inconvenience of storing physical bars. However exchange-traded gold instruments, even those which hold physical gold for the benefit of the investor, carry risks beyond those inherent in the precious metal itself. For example the most popular gold ETP (GLD) has been widely criticized, and even compared with mortgage-backed securities, due to features of its complex structure.^{[30][43][44][45][46]}

Typically a small commission is charged for trading in gold ETPs and a small annual storage fee is charged. The annual expenses of the fund such as storage, insurance, and management fees are charged by selling a small amount of gold represented by each certificate, so the amount of gold in each certificate will gradually decline over time.

Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are investment companies that are legally classified as open-end companies or Unit Investment Trusts (UITs), but that differ from traditional open-end companies and UITs.^[47] The main differences are that ETFs do not sell directly to investors and they issue their shares in what are called "Creation Units" (large blocks such as blocks of 50,000 shares). Also, the Creation Units may not be purchased with cash but a basket of securities that mirrors the ETF's portfolio. Usually, the Creation Units are split up and re-sold on a secondary market.

ETF shares can be sold in basically two ways. The investors can sell the individual shares to other investors, or they can sell the Creation Units back to the ETF. In addition, ETFs generally redeem Creation Units by giving investors the securities that comprise the portfolio instead of cash. Because of the limited redeemability of ETF shares, ETFs are not considered to be and may not call themselves mutual funds.^[47]

Certificates[link]

Gold certificates allow gold investors to avoid the risks and costs associated with the transfer and storage of physical bullion (such as theft, large bid-offer spread, and metallurgical assay costs) by taking on a different set of risks and costs associated with the certificate itself (such as commissions, storage fees, and various types of credit risk).

Banks may issue gold certificates for gold which is allocated (fully reserved) or unallocated (pooled). Unallocated gold certificates are a form of fractional reserve banking and do not guarantee an equal exchange for metal in the event of a run on the issuing bank's gold on deposit.^[48] Allocated gold certificates should be correlated with specific numbered bars, although it is difficult to determine whether a bank is improperly allocating a single bar to more than one party.^[49]

The first paper bank notes were gold certificates. They were first issued in the 17th century when they were used by goldsmiths in England and the Netherlands for customers who kept deposits of gold bullion in their vault for safe-keeping. Two centuries later, the gold certificates began being issued in the United States when the US Treasury issued such certificates that could be exchanged for gold. The United States Government first authorized the use of the gold certificates in 1863. In the early 1930s the US Government restricted the private gold ownership in the United States and therefore, the gold certificates stopped circulating as money (this restriction was reversed on January 1, 1975). Nowadays, gold certificates are still issued by gold pool programs in Australia and the United States, as well as by banks in Germany and Switzerland.

Accounts[link]

Many types of gold "accounts" are available. Different accounts impose varying types of intermediation between the client and their gold. One of the most important differences between accounts is whether the gold is held on an allocated (fully reserved) or unallocated (pooled) basis. Unallocated gold accounts are a form of fractional reserve banking and do not guarantee an equal exchange for metal in the event of a run on the issuer's gold on deposit. Another major difference is the strength of the account holder's claim on the gold, in the event that the account administrator faces gold-denominated liabilities (due to a short or naked short position in gold for example), asset forfeiture, or bankruptcy.

Many banks offer gold accounts where gold can be instantly bought or sold just like any foreign currency on a fractional reserve basis. Swiss banks offer similar service on a fully allocated basis. Pool accounts, such as those offered by Kitco, facilitate highly liquid but unallocated claims on gold owned by the company. Digital gold currency systems operate like pool accounts and additionally allow the direct transfer of fungible gold between members of the service. BullionVault, for example, allows clients to create a bailment on allocated (non-fungible) gold, which becomes the legal property of the buyer.

Derivatives, CFDs and spread betting[link]

Derivatives, such as gold forwards, futures and options, currently trade on various exchanges around the world and over-the-counter (OTC) directly in the private market. In the U.S., gold futures are primarily traded on the New York Commodities Exchange (COMEX) and Euronext.liffe. In India, gold futures are traded on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) and Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).^[50]

As of 2009 holders of COMEX gold futures have experienced problems taking delivery of their metal. Along with chronic delivery delays, some investors have received delivery of bars not matching their contract in serial number and weight. The delays cannot be easily explained by slow warehouse movements, as the daily reports of these movements show little activity. Because of these problems, there are concerns that COMEX may not have the gold inventory to back its existing warehouse receipts.^[51]

Firms such as Cantor Index, CMC Markets, IG Index and City Index, all from the UK, provide contract for difference (CFD) or spread bets on the price of gold.

Mining companies[link]

These do not represent gold at all, but rather are shares in gold mining companies. If the gold price rises, the profits of the gold mining company could be expected to rise and as a result the share price may rise. However, there are many factors to take into account and it is not always the case that a share price will rise when the gold price increases. Mines are commercial enterprises and subject to problems such as flooding, subsidence and structural failure, as well as mismanagement, theft and corruption. Such factors can lower the share prices of mining companies.

The price of gold bullion is volatile, but unhedged gold shares and funds are regarded as even higher risk and even more volatile. This additional volatility is due to the inherent leverage in the mining sector. For example, if you own a share in a gold mine where the costs of production are $300 per ounce and the price of gold is $600, the mine's profit margin will be $300. A 10% increase in the gold price to $660 per ounce will push that margin up to $360, which represents a 20% increase in the mine's profitability, and potentially a 20% increase in the share price. Furthermore, at higher prices, more ounces of gold become economically viable to mines, enabling companies to add to their reserves. Conversely, share movements also amplify falls in the gold price. For example, a 10% fall in the gold price to $540 will decrease that margin to $240, which represents a 20% fall in the mine's profitability, and potentially a 20% decrease in the share price.

To reduce this volatility some gold mining companies hedge the gold price up to 18 months in advance. This provides the mining company and investors with less exposure to short term gold price fluctuations, but reduces returns when the gold price is rising.

Fundamental analysis[link]

Investors using fundamental analysis analyze the macroeconomic situation, which includes international economic indicators, such as GDP growth rates, inflation, interest rates, productivity and energy prices. They would also analyze the yearly global gold supply versus demand. Over 2005 the World Gold Council estimated yearly global gold supply to be 3,859 tonnes and demand to be 3,754 tonnes, giving a surplus of 105 tonnes.^[52] While gold production is unlikely to change in the near future, supply and demand due to private ownership is highly liquid and subject to rapid changes. This makes gold very different from almost every other commodity.^[10][11] Identifiable investment demand for gold, which includes gold exchange-traded funds, bars and coins, was up 64 percent in 2008 over the year before.^[53]

Gold versus stocks[link]

In the last century major economic crises (such as the Great Depression, World War II, the first and second oil crisis) lowered the Dow/gold ratio, an indicator of how bad a recession is and whether the outlook is deteriorating or improving, to a value well below 4. The ratio fell on February 18, 2009 to below 8.^[53] During these difficult times, many investors tried to preserve their assets by investing in precious metals, most notably gold and silver.

The performance of gold bullion is often compared to stocks due to their fundamental differences. Gold is regarded by some as a store of value (without growth) whereas stocks are regarded as a return on value (i.e., growth from anticipated real price increase plus dividends). Stocks and bonds perform best in a stable political climate with strong property rights and little turmoil. The attached graph shows the value of Dow Jones Industrial Average divided by the price of an ounce of gold. Since 1800, stocks have consistently gained value in comparison to gold in part because of the stability of the American political system.^[54] This appreciation has been cyclical with long periods of stock outperformance followed by long periods of gold outperformance. The Dow Industrials bottomed out a ratio of 1:1 with gold during 1980 (the end of the 1970s bear market) and proceeded to post gains throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The gold price peak of 1980 also coincided with the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan and the threat of the global expansion of communism. The ratio peaked on January 14, 2000 a value of 41.3 and has fallen sharply since.

On November 30, 2005 Rick Munarriz of The Motley Fool posed the question of which represented a better investment: a share of Google or an ounce of gold. The specific comparison between these two very different investments seems to have captured the imagination of many in the investment community and is serving to crystallize the broader debate.^[55][56] At the time of writing, a share of Google's stock was $405 and an ounce of gold was one day from breaking the $500 barrier, which it did December 1. On January 4, 2008 23:58 New York Times, it was reported that an ounce of gold outpaced the share price of Google by 30.77%, with gold closing at $859.19 per ounce and a share of Google closing at $657 on U.S. market exchanges. On January 24, 2008, the gold price broke the $900 mark per ounce for the first time. The price of gold topped $1,000 an ounce for the first time ever on March 13, 2008 amid recession fears in the United States.^[57] Google closed 2008 at $307.65 while gold closed the year at $866. Leading into 2010, Google had doubled off that (100%), whereas gold had risen 40%.

The analysis of log-linear oscillations in the gold price dynamics for 2003?2010 conducted recently by Askar Akayev's research group has allowed them to forecast a collapse in gold prices in May ? July 2011.^[58] As of 18 July 2011, this collapse had not yet occurred, with gold at record prices of over $1600 per ounce.^[59]

In his book Basic Economics, Thomas Sowell^[60] argued that, in the long-term, gold's high volatility when compared to stocks and bonds, means that gold does not hold its value compared to stocks and bonds:

To take an extreme example [of price volatility], while dollar invested in bonds in 1801 would be worth nearly a thousand dollars by 1998, a dollar invested in stocks that same year would be worth more than half a million dollars. All this is in real terms, taking inflation into account. Meanwhile, a dollar invested in gold in 1801 would by 1998 be worth just 78 cents.

Technical analysis[link]

As with stocks, gold investors may base their investment decision partly on, or solely on, technical analysis. Typically, this involves analyzing chart patterns, moving averages, market trends and/or the economic cycle in order to speculate on the future price.

Using leverage[link]

Bullish investors may choose to leverage their position by borrowing money against their existing assets and then purchasing gold on account with the loaned funds. Leverage is also an integral part of buying gold derivatives and unhedged gold mining company shares (see gold mining companies). Leverage or derivatives may increase investment gains but also increases the corresponding risk of capital loss if/when the trend reverses.

Gold maintains a special position in the market with many tax regimes. For example, in the European Union the trading of recognised gold coins and bullion products are free of VAT. Silver, and other precious metals or commodities, do not have the same allowance. Other taxes such as capital gains tax may also apply for individuals depending on their tax residency. U.S. citizens may be taxed on their gold profits at 15, 23, 28 or 35 percent, depending on the investment vehicle used.^[61]

Gold attracts a fair share of fraudulent activity. Some of the most common to be aware of are:

• Cash for gold - With the rise in the value of gold due to the financial crisis of 2007-2010, there has been a surge in companies that will buy personal gold in exchange for cash, or sell investments in gold bullion and coins. Several of these have prolific marketing plans and high value spokesmen, such as prior vice presidents. Many of these companies are under investigation for a variety of securities fraud claims, as well as laundering money for terrorist organizations.^{[62][63][64][65]} Also given that ownership is often not verified, many companies are considered to be receiving stolen property, and multiple laws are under consideration on methods to curtail this.^[66][67]
• High-yield investment programs - HYIPs are usually just pyramid schemes dressed up with no real value underneath. Using gold in their prospectus makes them seem more solid and trustworthy.
• Advance fee fraud - Various emails circulate on the Internet for buyers or sellers of up to 10,000 metric tonnes of gold. This is more gold than the US Federal Reserve owns. Often naive middlemen are drafted in as hopeful brokers, and usually mention mythical terms like 'Swiss Procedure' or 'FCO' (Full Corporate Offer). The end-game of these scams is unknown, but they probably just attempt to extract a small 'validation' sum out of the innocent buyer/seller from their hope of getting the big deal.^[68]
• Gold dust sellers - This scam persuades an investor there is real gold with a trial quantity, then eventually delivers brass filings or similar.
• Counterfeit gold coins.
• Shares in fraudulent mining companies with no gold reserves, or potential of finding gold.^{[citation needed]}

Rare materials as investments

1. ^ "The Industry Handbook: Precious Metals". Investopedia. http://www.investopedia.com/features/industryhandbook/metals.asp.?
2. ^ Jeff Opdyke (2010-08-21). "Rethinking Gold: What if It Isn't a Commodity After All?". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703908704575433670771742884.html.?
3. ^ Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (2010-06-20). "Gold reclaims its currency status as the global system unravels". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/7841961/Gold-reclaims-its-currency-status-as-the-global-system-unravels.html.?
4. ^ LBMA Gold Fixings yearly close, rounded to nearest $
5. ^ Dow Jones Industrial Average yearly close, rounded to nearest point
6. ^ The UN Statistics Division world GDP
7. ^ Historical Debt Outstanding - Annual 1950 - 1999, The Debt to the Penny. Total Public Debt Outstanding (including Intragovernmental Holdings), rounded to nearest billion $
8. ^ Nominal broad dollar index US Federal Reserve. Gives the comparative international value of the USD against a basket of the currencies of the US's major trading partners. Base date for index (100.0000) was Jan 1997. Index value shown as at June of the relevant year, rounded to nearest 1/10 of a point
9. ^ LBMA.org.uk
10. ^ ^{a b} "Howstuffworks "All the gold in the world"". Money.howstuffworks.com. http://money.howstuffworks.com/question213.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-16.?
11. ^ ^{a b} "World Gold Council > value > market intelligence > supply & demand > recycled gold". Gold.org. http://www.gold.org/value/markets/supply_demand/recycled.html. Retrieved 2010-03-16.?
12. ^ "World Gold Council". http://www.invest.gold.org/sites/en/why_gold/demand_and_supply/. Retrieved 2008-07-04.?
13. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions", World Gold Council, http://www.gold.org/discover/knowledge/faqs?.
14. ^ ^{a b} "Please login to download > World Gold Council, the information resource for gold, investment, jewellery, science and technology, historical and culture > Please login to download". Gold.org. http://www.gold.org/deliver.php?file=/value/stats/statistics/pdf/Supply_Demand.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-16.?
15. ^ "Official gold reserves". Gold.org. http://www.gold.org/value/markets/supply_demand/central_banks.html. Retrieved 2010-03-16.?
16. ^ "400 tonnes/year". Gold.org. 1999-09-26. http://www.gold.org/pr_archive/html/Wr991006.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-16.?
17. ^ "UK Treasury & Central Bank Gold Sales". Bankofengland.co.uk. http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/news/1999/036.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-16.?
18. ^ Central banks revive gold bulls, Financial Times, 8 August 2009, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9acfe00e-83b1-11de-a24e-00144feabdc0.html, retrieved 12 June 2010?
19. ^ "Russia". En.rian.ru. 2005-11-28. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051128/42241821.html. Retrieved 2010-03-16.?
20. ^ A Gold Play on the Dollar's Demise Seeking Alpha
21. ^ 2:38 p.m. Today2:38 p.m. March 16, 2010 (2006-11-09). "Dollar, gold see sharp moves on China's diversification talk". MarketWatch. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7B23556CD8-DCCA-4870-BBF9-B36E41451F24%7D. Retrieved 2010-03-16.?
22. ^ "European Central Bank Raises Interest Rates". GoldAlert.com. 2011-04-07. http://www.goldalert.com/gold-price-hovers-at-1460-as-ecb-hikes-rates-2/. Retrieved 2011-04-07.?
23. ^ "Record Highs After ECB Interest Hike". GoldAlert.com. 2011-04-08. http://www.goldalert.com/gold-stocks-rally-hui-hits-all-time-high/. Retrieved 2011-04-08.?
24. ^ "Gold prices hit record high on global cues". http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gold-hits-record-high-on-global-cues/173254-7.html.?
25. ^ Why gold, silver are up while inflation is low, The Dallas Morning News, September 26, 2010
26. ^ Rogers, Jim (2004). Hot Commodities?: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World's Best Market. New York: Random House. ISBN?1-4000-6337-X. OCLC?56559347.?^{[page?needed]}
27. ^ Wiggin, Addison; Justice Litle (2006). Gold: The Once and Future Money. New York: Wiley. ISBN?0-470-04766-6. OCLC?70173338.?^{[page?needed]}
28. ^ "Demand and supply". World Gold Council. http://www.gold.org/investment/why_how_and_where/why_invest/demand_and_supply/.?
29. ^ "Gold Demand Trends". World Gold Council. http://www.gold.org/world_of_gold/market_intelligence/gold_demand/gold_demand_trends/.?
30. ^ ^{a b} Catherine Austin Fitts, Carolyn Betts, "GLD and SLV: Disclosure in the Precious Metals Puzzle Palace", Solari, http://solari.com/articles/Precious_Metals_Puzzle_Palace/?
31. ^ Adrian Douglas (March 14, 2010). "More Fed minutes document gold market manipulation". Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee. http://gata.org/node/8429.?
32. ^ Adrian Douglas (March 28, 2010). "It's admitted to the CFTC: London gold market is a Ponzi scheme". Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee. http://gata.org/node/8478.?
33. ^ Adrian Douglas (July 11, 2010). "Price suppression follows inevitably from fractional-reserve gold banking". Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee. http://gata.org/node/8820.?
34. ^ Dimitri Speck (July 28, 2002), "Gold Manipulation Intraday Charts", Gold-Eagle.com, http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_02/speck062802.html?
35. ^ Michael Gray, "Ex-Goldman trader blows whistle on silver and gold manipulation by JPMorgan, HSBC" New York Post (April 11, 2010). Retrieved May 5, 2011
36. ^ "Andrew Maguire Re-Emerges: Ex-Goldman Trader Exposes JPMorgan, HSBC In Latest Silver Price Manipulation Class Action Lawsuit" Zero Hedge (November 9, 2010). Retrieved May 6, 2011
37. ^ "Sequels, Nov. 27, 1933". Time. 1933-11-27. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,746366,00.html.?
38. ^ The Good Delivery Rules for Gold and Silver Bars, LBMA, May 2010, http://www.lbma.org.uk/docs/gdlvarious/GD%20Rules%2020100511.pdf, retrieved 21 May 2010?
39. ^ Trace Mayer, J.D.. "Fake Tungsten Gold Found". RunToGold.com. http://www.runtogold.com/2010/03/fake-tungsten-gold-found/.?
40. ^ http://www.lbma.org.uk/assets/GD_Rules_4.pdf
41. ^ http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/erik-townsend/so-you-think-you-own-gold?device=desktop
42. ^ "Largest ETFs: Top 25 ETFs By Market Cap". ETFdb. http://etfdb.com/compare/market-cap/. Retrieved 2010-11-03.?
43. ^ Bob Landis (2007), "Musings on the Realms of GLD", The Golden Sextant, http://www.goldensextant.com/GLD.html?
44. ^ Dave Kranzler (2009-02-12), "Owning GLD Can Be Hazardous to Your Wealth", Rapid Trends, http://www.rapidtrends.com/2009/02/13/owning-gld-can-be-hazardous-to-your-wealth/?
45. ^ RunToGold.com (2009-02-19), "Is the GLD ETF Really Worth Its Metal?", Seeking Alpha, http://seekingalpha.com/article/121456-is-the-gld-etf-really-worth-its-metalhttp://article.wn.com/view/2013/07/17/Gold_Imports_by_India_Seen_Shrinking_as_State_Curbs_Boost_Co/

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Egypt Cabinet has women, Christians; no Islamists

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's interim leader swore in a Cabinet on Tuesday that included women and Christians but no Islamists as the military-backed administration moved swiftly to formalize the new political order and present a more liberal face that is markedly at odds with the deposed president and his supporters.

The changes came at a time of deep polarization and violence in Egypt, including new clashes that killed seven people as part of the continuing bloodshed that has marked the days following the armed forces coup that swept President Mohammed Morsi from office and cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egypt's military already wields great influence behind the scenes, and the army chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who ousted Morsi on July 3, was given a promotion in the Cabinet. He became a first deputy prime minister in addition to keeping his post as defense minister.

For most of the two years since the overthrow of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, the country has been split into two camps ? one led by Morsi, his Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies, and another led by secular Egyptians, liberals, Christians and moderate Muslims.

The fault lines remain, except that the Islamist camp is no longer in power. It does not include members of any Islamist parties ? a sign of the enduring division that follows the removal of Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president.

The interim president's spokesman had earlier said posts would be offered to the Muslim Brotherhood, but the group promptly refused, saying it would not take part in the military-backed political process and would continue protests until the legitimately elected Morsi is reinstated.

"We refuse to even discuss it," a senior official of the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice party, told The Associated Press. "What is built on illegitimacy is illegal," he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media before the party issued a formal statement on the formation of the Cabinet.

The only Islamist party that supported Morsi's ouster ? the ultraconservative Salafi el-Nour party ? was not represented and criticized the leadership as "biased," lacking inclusion and repeating "the same mistake the last government was blamed for."

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he had talked with el-Sissi about 10 times in the past week.

"We have encouraged publicly and privately the leaders of Egypt, including the interim president, the interim vice president, and the prime minister in particular, to be inclusive, to bring all political parties in, to allow them to participate in the writing of the constitution and the elections," Hagel told reporters in Florida. "That's the only way it will work. We've been very clear on that."

Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi, an economist in his 70s, leads the government of 33 other ministers. Sworn in by interim President Adly Mansour, it reflected the largely liberal, secular bent of the factions who brought millions into the streets at the end of June calling for Morsi to step down and backed el-Sissi's removal of the president.

Women have a somewhat higher profile in the government, with three ministries ? including the powerful information and health ministries. Most past governments for decades have had at most only two women.

The Cabinet also includes three Christians, including one of the three women, Environment Minister Laila Rashed Iskander. That is also a first, since successive governments had no more than one or two Christians.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, appointed by Morsi, remains in his post, which oversees the police. Nabil Fahmy, who was Egypt's ambassador to the U.S. from 1999-2008 and a nuclear disarmament expert, becomes foreign minister.

In a nod to the revolutionary youth groups that engineered the 2011 uprising and this year's massive protests, Mansour renamed the Justice portfolio the Transitional Justice and National Reconciliation Ministry and gave it to Mohammed el-Mahdi, a career judge.

The groups have been campaigning to bring to justice those responsible for the killings of hundreds of protesters since Mubarak's fall. Reconciliation is a longstanding demand by most political forces to end Egypt's polarization, which often spills over into street violence.

At least three senior figures from the National Salvation Front ? the main opposition group during Morsi's year in office ? were included in the government. In addition, the new deputy prime minister in charge of international cooperation, Ziad Bahaa-Eldin, is a member of the Social Democratic Party, which is part of the Salvation Front.

Mohamed ElBaradei, one of the Front's top leaders and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has already been installed as Mansour's vice president.

In a first, Mansour also swore in a leading figure in Egyptian soccer as sports minister. Midfielder Taher Abu Zeid starred in Cairo's el-Ahly club and the national team in the 1980s. He was a member of the national squad that won the African Nations' Cup in 1986.

The Cabinet is to run the country during a transition period announced last week by Mansour. The plan includes the formation of panels to amend the Islamist-drafted constitution that was passed under Morsi, then elections for a new parliament and president early next year.

After the swearing-in ceremony, the Cabinet held its first meeting and set the government's priorities as reviving the economy, bolstering public security and improving services, according to a palace statement.

El-Beblawy and his team face the formidable task of showing they are more efficient and resourceful than their predecessors. Egypt's economy has been worsening in the past two years with flight of capital and investors, slumping tourism and high unemployment among its 90 million people.

A $12 billion aid package from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates should help, but harsh reforms ? such as lifting or gradually phasing out fuel subsidies ? are still needed to put the economy on solid ground.

The new government will also have to tread carefully as it begins to deal with almost-daily street protests and violence by Morsi supporters if it is to revive the vital tourism industry and lure back investors.

Morsi's supporters are holding sit-ins in cities around the country, including two in Cairo. They accuse the military of carrying out a coup that has destroyed Egypt's democracy.

Riots broke out overnight with police firing volleys of tear gas at protesters, who burned tires, threw rocks and blocked traffic on a main road running through the heart of the capital. The Brotherhood said police used birdshot and live ammunition.

At least seven people were killed and 261 injured in the clashes in four different sites in Cairo, according to Khaled el-Khateeb, the head of the Health Ministry's emergency and intensive care department. Four of the seven were killed in fighting between residents and Morsi supporters staging a sit-in near Cairo's main university, according to security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Egypt's state news agency said 17 policemen were injured and 401 people have been arrested.

Violence between Islamists and security forces on July 8 left another 54 people dead ? most of them Morsi supporters.?

Tuesday's violence broke out a day after Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, the most senior U.S. official to visit Egypt since Morsi's ouster, concluded talks with Mansour, el-Beblawi and el-Sissi in which he called for the Brotherhood to be included in the political process.

Burns also spoke by telephone with a representative of the Muslim Brotherhood, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters. Ventrell would not identify the Brotherhood representative or give details on the call.

___

Associated Press reporters Sarah El Deeb in Cairo and Deb Riechmann in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-cabinet-women-christians-no-islamists-210718149.html

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Critics: Immigration Reform Takes Jobs Away From Black Workers

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Source: http://news.wpr.org/post/critics-immigration-reform-takes-jobs-away-black-workers

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