The Bank of Italy, when it was headed at the time by Mario Draghi, knew Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA hid the loss of almost half a billion dollars using derivatives two years before prosecutors were alerted to the complex transactions, according to documents revealed in a Milan court. Mario Draghi, now president of […]

Asian cash responded to the US news of possible Tax Plan delays and we saw profit-taking and nerves for the first time in a while. Interesting that this has occurred on our November temporary pause expected. The Nikkei has returned -0.8% which has added to yesterdays decline but is falling from the 26 year high. […]

Iran has a very rich history that lends itself to tremendous insight into the long-term future of the Middle East. It was Cyrus the Great who conquered Lydia which was the birthplace of money issued by the state. The Persians adopted the practice and then continued to produce coins with the same design as the […]

COMMENT: Mr. Armstrong; This was my first WEC. Your presentation on the Quantity Theory of Money and how that is at the core of all our problems was a real revelation. You blew every economic theory out of the water and my years at uni studying economics has been a great disservice my entire life. […]

The relations between the USA and Turkey have turned for the worst. The USA has now restored the need for a visa after audio recordings have surfaced indicating that the evasion of Iran sanctions was approved by the Turkish President Erdogan. The US arrested Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab in the case of money laundering when he was […]

QUESTION: Marty, First off, I would like to say it was truly a pleasure meeting you at the cocktail party this past weekend. Congratulations on presenting an incredible conference. It was my first time attending and I will definitely be there again next year. Furthermore, let me tell you that I was very impressed with […]

Not that much to get excited about in Asian markets today, but with not much fresh news to go-on indices closed mixed. The Nikkei opened better after their long weekend but with other regional markets drifting weaker, the index did well just to close in the positive. Bank of Japan minutes released relatively smoothly with […]

The Trump Tax Reform is in part inspired by the Flat Tax idea of lowering the rate and eliminating deductions. Alimony, or spousal support, is often part of divorce agreements when there’s a big discrepancy in earnings between the two parties and the marriage has endured for more than just a few years. The idea […]

‘ The Shanghai core index traded heavy in todays trading as concerns over the amount of IPO potentially coming to market start to take their toll. Shanghai closed down -0.8% with the Hang Seng losing -0.3%. One of the key topics discussed today was HSBC’s $4.6bn earnings figure. Better than previous but shares closed around […]

  QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; I read your One-World-Currency report. It was truly fascinating. From an academic perspective, what came first in the formation of civilization; agriculture or cities? Where does money fit into this historical perspective? Thank you; FD ANSWER: There has been a fair amount of assumption that went into the history we were […]