US Unilateralism Forces World to Seek Aternatives

Helga Schmid, secretary general of the European External Action Service, affirmed EU support for the Iran nuclear deal, including using a new payment system to facilitate non-dollar trade and to circumvent US sanctions, according to Reuters on Monday.

All parties concerned should negotiate and declare a dollar replacement strategy so as to minimize the negative effects brought about by Washington's capricious acts and peacefully resolve the Iran nuclear issue.

The Trump administration's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and other capricious acts have triggered worldwide dissatisfaction and many countries started to consider using new payment systems to circumvent US sanctions. For example, the Instrument In Support of Trade Exchanges, or INSTEX, is a payment channel set up by the UK, France and Germany that allows EU entities to have business exchanges with Iran, bypassing the US sanctions.

Suffering from severe sanctions by Washington, Tehran has been forced to seek alternatives to the US dollar. Iran has reportedly replaced the US dollar with China's yuan for its official currency rate. This is an important counteraction by the oil-rich country to circumvent US sanctions and maintain its national interest.

However, the US dollar is far from being marginalized and is still leading the international monetary system. Washington still has much political and economic influence on the global stage. Since finance is the root of US hegemony, the US is using its monetary power to throw its weight around. Washington issues orders worldwide as if all countries should obey its commands and follow its strategy.

But what about these countries' own interests? Has the US ever considered their welfare? Washington's selfish acts reflect the US global strategy. Using the current US-led global system to realize its goals: America First, launching unilateralism and seeking hegemony. This has sabotaged the international order. It is essential for countries to act together against unilateral US sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.

Find alternatives: This is what the US has been forcing all countries to do. The capricious US acts oppose other countries' will and the US is ruining the future of dollar itself. Countries are seeking monetary alternatives and this may be the start of them seeking alternatives in other fields in the future as well, including high-tech alternatives. In other words, the US is isolating itself.

The unilateral US sanctions cannot make Iran surrender. The best way is to resolve the crisis peacefully, not to impose threats and sanctions. If these risky moves eventually lead to a war, no country will benefit.

Perhaps it is time for international society to negotiate and think how to deal with US unilateralism and hegemony, and how to make it more reasonable and fairer through reform and adjustment. Thus, the international system can operate normally instead of being kidnapped by the US.

- Source, Global Times

Are You Ready for the Global Financial Reset?

Lynette Zang returns to SGT Report to discuss the reasons she thinks the time for a global economic reset is drawing near.

Are you ready for the global reset that is possibly coming on the horizon? Is anyone, or any country truly prepared?

- Source, SGT Report

Black Gold Moves Higher as Iran Receives Blame for Oman Tanker Attack

The drums of war are once again beating loudly as another country finds itself directly in the cross-hairs of the United States government.

Fingers were pointing all around the room after Thursdays attack on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit and shipping route within the Gulf region.

The first tanker to report problems and send a distress signal was Front Altair, which, according to Bloomberg, was carrying 75,000 tons of naphtha, destined for Japan and departing from Abu Dhabi.

The second was a Japanese owned tanker, the Kokuka Courageous, which departed from Saudi Arabia and was heading to Singapore. Its cargo was methanol.

This of course caused the price of oil to surge higher on Thursday, with both WTI Crude Oil and Brent Crude making significant gains, the former moving higher by 2.41% and the latter by 2.42%.

Reports have been muddy and incredibly unclear to say the least, as we are still very much in the early days of this global incident and an official investigation has yet to begin. 

Even with that said, it is unlikely that we may ever learn what truly transpired, as no one has yet come forth to lay claim to this act of terrorism. Still, this has not stopped some from quickly pointing the finger and attempting to lay blame on others.

Tensions Soar, Fingers Are Pointed, Conspiracy Theories Abound

A U.S. defense official told CBS News on Thursday the following;

"It's highly likely Iran caused these attacks."

Quite a bold statement indeed, given the fact that no evidence has yet been brought forward that would make this claim have any validity, however, this does not mean that this statement is untrue, even if unlikely.

Iran is already under enough pressure from the United States government and its allies, as hostilities continue to escalate and sanctions against them continue to mount, resulting in severe damage to their economy.

In the United States governments own words;

"These are the toughest U.S. sanctions ever imposed on Iran, and will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy, such as the energy, shipping and shipbuilding, and financial sectors. The United States is engaged in a campaign of maximum financial pressure on the Iranian regime and intends to enforce aggressively these sanctions."

Performing such a brazen, foolish attack would only result in further punishment to Iran and would be of no benefit to them, as they are outgunned and outclassed by any metric of conventional warfare, when compared to the U.S. military.

The Express compared the military firepower of both the United States and Iran, which unfortunately for Iran, doesn't look so good;

Aircraft

USA: 13,398
Iran: 509

Ships

USA: 415
Iran: 398

Tanks and Armour

USA: 48,422
Iran: 3,979

Active Personnel

USA: 1,281,900
Iran: 523,000

Most Fearsome Aircraft:

IRAN: ‘Kowsar’ fighter aircraft - home built, based on 50-year-old US F-5 design.
USA: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II - cost and capabilites mind-blowing.

Most Fearsome Tanks:

IRAN: Karrar - Iran claims among best in world, actually based on a 1970s Soviet T-72.
USA: M1A2 SEP - incredible technology and armour one of the most feared main battle tanks.

Most Fearsome Ships:

IRAN: IS Alvand - mid—class frigate with 60s technology.
USA: USS Gerald R. Ford - a floating city armed to the teeth, carrying 75 attack aircraft.

Despite the sabre-rattling from Iranian officials who have been attempting to defend themselves in negotiations with U.S. administration, they know they cannot win an outright war with the United States, they know the odds are not stacked in their favor.

Iran's Greatest Weapon, Location

However, what they do know, is the fact that I pointed out earlier and that is that they are strategically located on the North coast of the Strait of Hormuz, which is only 21 nautical miles (39 km) wide at its narrowest point and of which roughly 20% of the worlds oil supply flows through.

(Image source, Wikipedia)

Oil is often called black gold and for good reason, it is a vital commodity and is critical in keeping our modern day society running smoothly and efficiently. 

As you can see, Iran could cause significant and serious damage to world trade given their key, strategic location in the world and they know this. This IS their bargaining chip and they are going to let the world know it.

Understandably, both gold and silver, which are insurance policies against geopolitical and financial crisis responded accordingly and moved higher throughout the trading day as well, with gold ticking up by 0.71% and silver by 1.23%.

If tensions continue to mount and if Iran continues to be blamed for this act of terrorism, whether true or not, then you can expect commodities to continue their march higher.

How high will be decided by how far the powers to be wish to push this conflict, are they truly ready for the fallout that would come next and the financial uncertainty that would come along with it? 

Unlikely, but only time will tell. Stay tuned.

- As first seen on the Sprott Money Blog

Currency War or Trade War? Two Edged Dilemma for US and China

Does China (Trump) want to fight a trade war or a currency war?

Before addressing the question, let's take a the US quarterly goods trade deficit with China.

Net Goods Trade with China Quarterly

Trade Deficit Timeline

The US trade deficit with China blasted higher starting in 2004.
Despite a 26% appreciation in the yuan (Renminbi) starting 2005, the US trade deficit blast continued.

From 2015 until the second quarter of 2018, the trade deficit with China shrank.

From the moment Trump launched tariffs in July of 2018, the trade deficit shrinkage reversed.

Trade War Timeline

China Briefing has a Trade War Timeline.

It pegs the start as July 6, 2018. That's when Trump first announced tariffs on China...

- Source, Mish Talk, read more here

China Is Buying More and More Gold as the Trade War Drags On

China extended its gold-buying spree, adding to reserves for a sixth straight month, as the protracted trade war with the U.S. hurts growth expectations and boosts demand for a portfolio diversifier.

The People’s Bank of China increased its bullion reserves to 61.61 million ounces in May from 61.10 million a month earlier, according to data released on Monday. In tonnage terms that’s a rise of 15.86 tons, after almost 58 tons of gold were added to the nation’s stockpile in the five months to April.

The rise reflects the government’s “determined diversification” away from dollar assets, Argonaut Securities (Asia) Ltd. analyst Helen Lau said, adding that retail demand has also picked up. At this rate of accumulation, China could buy 150 tons in 2019, according to Lau.

China, the world’s top gold producer and consumer, is facing the prospect of a slowing domestic economy as the Trump administration raised tariffs on Chinese imports and looked to cut off companies such as Huawei Technologies Co. from the U.S. market. The latest PBOC data signal that China has resumed buying at a steady pace after a pause from late 2016 to last December.

“It’s a diversification away from the U.S. dollar, particularly given the trade tensions and the potential technology cold war that’s evolving,” said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. “We have to remember that gold is nobody’s liability.”

Gold’s Rally

Bullion prices have risen for the past three weeks, hitting the highest level since April 2018, as investors seek out havens and traders increase bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates following signs of weakness. Spot gold was at $1,329.60 on Monday, after climbing 1.7% in May.

China has previously gone long periods without revealing increases in gold holdings. When the central bank announced a 57% jump in reserves to 53.3 million ounces in mid-2015, it was the first update in six years.

The PBOC’s move comes as other central banks, especially from emerging markets, increase bullion holdings. First-quarter purchases were the highest in six years, according to the World Gold Council...

- Source, Investing.com

Trump's Trade War & Coming Recession... The Fed Can't Save Us, But Gold Can

While President Trump continues to pile up one bad trade policy after another, Fed Chairman Powell indicated that he's ready to pile on too! More money printing, more debt creation and more QE look to be in America's future. Look out below!

- Source, Ron Paul

Recession Fears Take Hold, FED to Repeatedly Drop Rates?

The Federal Reserve has capitulated time and time again to Wall St, they have proven recently that they are now beholden to them and they will do as they wish, they have tossed away their hawkish ideologies and are ready to go full dove mode.

What the markets want at the moment is rate cuts, and in a significant way. Because of this, I believe we are going to see a series of rate cuts heading into and throughout 2020.

This is the general consensus of economists as well, as many are now forecasting that we will see approximately four rates cuts over the next year and a half, as recession fears take hold and they foresee troubling times ahead.

This comes despite the fact that the Federal Reserve has yet to take an official stance and state that they are indeed going to lower rates over the coming month and heading into 2020.

However, the recent posture and wording from the FED has given the markets the green light, indicating that the punch bowl is going to remain and the low rates party is going to continue on for the foreseeable future.

In fact, CME Group's FedWatch Tool has the odds of a rate cut by end of next month at 79.4%, 95.2% by September 2019 and then a staggering 98.6% by the end of 2019. Talk about confidence that rates are indeed heading lower!

JPMorgan was the first to jump the shark, changing their forecast to two rate cuts by the end of 2019, while Barclays quickly followed suit and upped the ante, changing their forecast to a stunning three rate cuts by the end of 2019.

These forecast revisions are "seemingly" being confirmed by recent figures being released, most notably the latest US Jobs numbers, which just missed the mark in a significant way.

As indicated by the Labor Department, nonfarm payrolls for May increased by just 75,000, rather than the forecasted 180,000 that economists surveyed by the DOW Jones expected.

Even though this is a miss, it is still not horrible news, given the fact that US unemployment is still at an impressive 50 year low of 3.6% and the average hourly earnings were up year over year by 3.1% (a slight miss).

By all accounts, this should not have markets panicking and expecting the FED to plummet interest rates time and time again, over the next year and a half. So what has them truly worried?

The trade wars. Wall St sees a long drawn out battle between not only China, which the United States is embroiled in a full blown trade war, that is threatening to turn into a full blown currency war, but now another combatant has entered into the picture, Mexico.

The US administration has taken a hard stance against Mexico and is making a threat in the hopes of curtailing their illegal immigration problem. Millions are flooding into the United States and President Trump is not happy, therefore he is trying to hit them where it hurts, the pocketbook.

This hard line stance has worked for him numerous times in the past, but for how much longer can this hardball tactic work?

For now, at least in the short term, it appears to be having some effect, as Mexico has been brought to the table and talks are continuing, even while the threat of tariffs continue to dangle over their heads.

As of right now, a 5% import tariff is scheduled to go ahead starting this coming Monday on all imports from Mexico entering into the United States.

Markets hate tariffs, they hate taxes in general and this increase is going to hurt more than just Mexico, but also US consumers and businesses that manufacture their goods across the border, which is mainly due to lower cost and wages.

Perhaps, as I have speculated in the past, this is exactly what the current US administration wants?

Perhaps they want to force many US businesses home, through increased costs abroad, making it more attractive both logistically and financially to bring production back to US soil. 

This is greasy if true, but a real possibility if tariffs continue to increase. Businesses care first and foremost about the bottom line and will move production to wherever is cheapest.

Regardless, the trade wars are here to stay, as President Trump has proven that it is a key tactic for him in negotiating and this has the markets worried. 

Expect lower rates, increased increased turmoil, expect the trade wars to continue on.

- Source, As first seen on the Sprott Money Blog

Catherine Austin Fitts: Inflation is Already Here

Just because trillions of dollars are “missing” and the federal budgets are now “secret” doesn’t mean you cannot see the effects of all the massive amounts of money created. 

It is showing up in the form of inflation, not official inflation calculated by the government, but real inflation for the man on the street. Investment advisor and former Assistant Secretary of Housing Catherine Austin Fitts contends, “The U.S. dollar is getting debased.

Inflation is already here. If you are looking at an area with a 14% increase in the cost of goods year over year and your income isn’t rising, or it’s falling, we are already there. It’s not hyperinflation, but it is very significant inflation. 

If you look at the controls they have put on globally to fight inflation, they are quite significant. The U.S. debt went up 6% last year, and it’s estimated to go up 8% this year. God forbid we try to start any of the wars rattling around the world because the debt will skyrocket. 

We are in a spiral upward on the amount of debt. Next year, the Social Security fund will go negative cash flow. In other words, it’s going to stop being a net buyer of Treasuries and is going to be a net seller of Treasuries, which means if the foreigners are not buying, it’s down to the U.S. pension funds and the Fed.” 

Fitts says “invest in real things” such as gold, silver, and she “loves farmland.”

- Source, USA Watchdog

The Reserve Bank Cuts As Expected!

Debt Is Now The Focus, Trump Accelerates Transition Plan

Trump is in the UK, says Nigel Farage should lead the BREXIT talks. Trump backs no deal BREXIT, EU deal not good. [CB] economy declining quickly, Fed now focuses in on debt, Trump accelerates transition by placing tariffs on India and Australia could be next. Fair trade needs to be established for the transition.

- Source, X22 Report

China's "Trump" Card in the Trade Wars? Rare Earths?

All across the Mainstream Media, you are hearing the alarm bells going off, the U.S.-China trade wars are accelerating yet again and things are about to get even messier than they already have been.

The talk of the week has been the casting aside of pleasantries from the Chinese government, as they attempt to exert themselves and strike back against the US administration, which has been ramping up tariffs against them in an attempt to get China to honor its previous promises, of which, according to the US government, have been broken.

The way in which China plans on doing this, is through their near monopoly on rare-earth elements.

The name itself, Rare-earths, is a slam dunk for the Mainstream Media, as the news cycle thrives on fear-mongering, confusion and the constant beating of the war drum. 

Anxiety abounds over this latest volley in the trade wars and this is working out perfectly for the Chinese government, a move well played indeed, but for how long?

This is what the MSM is ignoring and not telling its viewers. Rare-earths in all reality aren't actually that rare.

The 17 rare-earth elements are as follows;

• cerium (Ce), 
• dysprosium (Dy), 
• erbium (Er), 
• europium (Eu), 
• gadolinium (Gd), 
• holmium (Ho), 
• lanthanum (La), 
• lutetium (Lu), 
• neodymium (Nd), 
• praseodymium (Pr), 
• promethium (Pm), 
• samarium (Sm), 
• scandium (Sc), 
• terbium (Tb), 
• thulium (Tm), 
• ytterbium (Yb)
• yttrium (Y)

With the exception of the radioactive promethium, rare-earths are actually quite plentiful within the earths crust. 

For example, Cerium is the 25th most abundant element at 68 parts per million, making it more abundant than even copper.

The name is incredibly misleading, however, what is rare is the diversity in countries and companies that currently mine and produce rare-earth elements. China has a current stranglehold on this industry.

Up until the 1990's this was not the case, as the majority of rare-earths were mined within the United States at the Mountain Pass Mine in California.

This, however was not meant to last, as China made a strategic and smart long term move around the end of the 1990's by moving into the rare-earths market, buying up strategic mining locations and flooding the market with lower prices, forcing their competitors out of business one after the other.

They were able to offer such lower prices, due to increased environmental and regulatory requirements placed on Western countries, that they themselves simply ignored and did not partake in.

This is a similar story to how so much Western production of goods has moved to China over the last few decades, as companies simply cannot compete with a country that is willing to ignore environmental regulations in pursuit of increased production and lower costs.

This has gotten us to the period of time that we now find ourselves in, in which China accounts for 90% of the rare-earths mined in the world.

These rare-earths are vital in many computer systems and electronic devices.

However, what has the United States currently on edge is the fact that rare-earths are vital to the Department of Defense and are needed in the production of their radar systems, missile guidance systems, aircraft and so much more.

This is the alarm bell that the MSM is currently ringing and good. I for one am glad that they are. However, there is no need to panic, despite what the chicken little's are telling you.

The United States military is the largest in the world, with the most advanced modern technology that money can buy, dwarfing even their closest rivals. They are in absolutely no short term need of immediate production.

Regardless, this move by China ultimately should be a wake up call for the West and fortunately, I believe it will be.

Already we can see the free market springing into action, driving up the price of exploratory mining shares and those few produces that exist outside of China that still remain.

In Canada and Australia, Lynas Corp (ASX: LYC), based in Western Australia rose by 16% on Wednesday, while Avalon Advanced Materials Inc (TSX: AVL), based out of Toronto was up by a whopping 33%!

Geomega Resources Inc (TSX-V: GMA), Ucore Rare Metals Inc (TSX-V: UCU) and Commerce Resources Corp (TSX-V: CCE), all Canadian junior miners, were up significantly as well.

Basically, if you are a rare-earth mining company based outside of China, then things are looking bright at the present moment and likely for the foreseeable future.

Expect serious money to flow into the rare-earth mining sector, as prices increase moving forward and the United States seeks to invest in and revamp old rare-earth mines that were shuttered in the past due to depressed prices.

However, this takes time and will not happen overnight. Mines do not simply spring back into action, which is why in the short term, we can expect prices to continue to trend higher in the rare-earths sector.

Ultimately, this is not the "sky is falling" moment that the MSM is attempting to portray it is. 

The free market will exert itself, the free market will correct this imbalance and the rare-earths industry in the West will be revitalized, a prime example of short term pain, long term gain.

The trade wars continue on.

- As first seen on the Sprott Money Blog

Golden Rule Radio: This is How To Avoid A Hyperinflation

Steve Henke: How To Avoid A Hyperinflation. “There’s never been a hyperinflation of a commodity backed currency” “Behind all hyperinflation is a massive government deficit” “Gold purchasing power is very stable over the long run”.

- Source, Golden Rule Radio

Congressman wants to ban Bitcoin because it threatens the Federal Reserve

Apparently it’s a crime to sit down in public

A dangerous criminal in the United Kingdom has been sentenced to 20 weeks in prison after an egregious crime spree.

This psychopath admitted to the heinous crime of SITTING in public THREE TIMES, without a valid excuse.

The homeless man had already been given a “criminal behavior order” which banned him from sitting on the ground. But this social deviant just went ahead and did it anyway.

The Ministry of Justice says the average price of incarceration in Great Britain is around £32,500 per year.

So now instead of sitting on the ground in public, taxpayers will spend about £12,500 over 20 weeks for him to sit in a jail cell.

Click here for the full story.

A US Congressman wants to ban Bitcoin for threatening the Federal Reserve

A US Congressman, Brad Sherman, is worried that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will threaten US foreign policy, tax collection, and traditional law enforcement.

So his solution is to ban it.

Last week he urged his colleagues to make it illegal to mine, sell, or use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the United States.

The problem, he says, is that the US currently gains much of its power from the fact that most international money moves in US dollars, through the Federal Reserve.

“It is the announced purpose of the supporters of cryptocurrency to take that power away from us… the advantage of crypto over sovereign currency is solely to aid in the disempowerment of the United States and the rule of law.”

His version of “rule of law” includes things like civil asset forfeiture, just straight up stealing cash from people without even charging them with a crime.

So yes, if that is the type of “traditional law enforcement” Congressman Sherman fears will be undermined, he is correct.

And since US foreign policy involves funding endless wars with an inflationary fiat currency… well, he’s right again.

The aim of cryptocurrency is to hand the power of the purse back to the people.

Which is why it is comical that he thinks the cryptocurrency movement even could be nipped in the bud if they tried.

Click here for the full story.

 Maine wants to void its citizens’ Presidential votes

If a bill passed by the Maine Senate becomes law, the state will join 15 other states which have nullified their citizens’ choice for President.

These states have pledged to ignore their own voters, and just hand the state’s Electoral College votes to whichever candidate can scoop up the majority of the national ballots.

So if this passes, votes in Maine will no longer count– the state’s delegates will just automatically be cast for whoever people in the other 49 states choose.

For a country that prides itself on representative democracy, this is a truly bizarre trend.

Click here for the full story.

Eminent domain takes now, pays later

The Supreme Court long ago decided in Kelo v. New London that the government can use eminent domain to steal your property.

Of course they still have to give you “just compensation.” But now they can take your land, and delay payment for several years. Here’s how it works:

When a company (often a company that builds oil pipelines) wants your land, they’ll petition the government to seize it under eminent domain authority.

The pipeline company then makes a ridiculous, lowball offer to compensate you for your land. But before you even accept, the government has already awarded them your property.

So you either have to accept their pitiful offer, or battle them in court for years to seek more appropriate compensation (let alone the fact that your land was seized without your consent).

This system is obviously an enormous disadvantage to people who are having their property seized, and the Institute for Justice is now helping affected landowners take this to the Supreme Court.

We’re following this one very closely to see how the Court votes.

Click here for the full story.

 Taxpayers pay for defense contractor’s 9400% profit margin

A $4,300 half-inch steel pin worth about $46 is just one of the products TransDigm supplies to the Pentagon.

This isn’t unusual for them– nearly all of the company’s products earn them between 95% to 9400% profits.

Now they are being brought in front of Congress to answer for these prices. But it takes two to tango.

Undoubtedly this company is taking advantage of government incompetence and bureaucracy, and they’re making a fortune. But the government is just as much to blame for being incompetent and bureaucratic in the first place.

Now Congress wants to show that they’re ‘doing something’ by chewing out these contractors in public. But it’s not like the system will really change. And the taxpayers will keep paying for it.

- Source, Sovereign Man

Populists Shatter EU Status Quo With Strong Showing In Parliamentary Vote

The preliminary results from the European Parliamentary elections are in. And just like the polls anticipated, the pro-European status quo has suffered a serious blow.

Winning over 30% of seats, Eurosceptic parties and anti-establishment groups now control their largest bloc of votes since the first EU Parliamentary election in 1979.

Meanwhile, the long-ruling "grand coalition" of center-right and center-left parties (the EPP, a collection of center right parties, and S&D, a collection of center-left parties) lost its combined majority, though both coalition groups retained a plurality of seats (180, or 24%, for EPP, and 146, or 19.4%, for S&D).

Though pro-European groups together maintain a clear majority, this broad grouping has become increasingly fragmented, which could complicate policy making, while a strong showing from eurosceptics will mount a serious challenge to the status quo, according to a group of analysts from Deutsche Bank.

This shows us two things: first, the pro-European camp has definitely become more fragmented and could not prevent losing some seats to the Eurosceptics who dream if not (anymore) of the end of the EU at least of a substantially different one. Second, pro-Europeans group together will still hold a clear majority of two-thirds of the seats in the next EP. This means: policymaking for them will become more complex and require broader cross-party agreements and discipline. But Eurosceptics will not be able block decisions unless centrist pro-European parties fail to cooperate.

Typically, turnout in the EU Parliamentary race is lackluster, similar to that of a (typical) American midterm election. But this year, turnout surged to its highest level in decades: With a provisional turnout of 51%, the strongest in 25 years, electoral turnout broke the downward trend of the past decade (that's compared with 43% in 2014). However, differences in turnout were substantial across EU members, with the UK and Eastern European states recording the lowest turnount.

You will find more infographics at Statista

In the UK, which only opted to participate in the vote at the last minute as part of a can-kicking agreement with Brussels to extend the deadline for the UK's departure from the EU, Nigel Farage's Brexit Party won a plurality of votes (31.7%) - though liberal-leaning media outlets in the UK opted to spin the result as a victory for the "remain" camp, as the LibDems, Greens, SNP, Change UK and miscellaneous other parties won a combined 38%.

Despite being only four months old, Farage's Brexit Party emerged as one of the largest parties in the European Parliament (it's tied for first with Angela Merkel's center-right CDU/CSU, both with 29 seats). Merkel's CDU/CSU and SPU saw their support plunge below 29% and 16% respectively in their worst result in a national election.

Matteo Salvini's League Party came in second with 28 seats. Poland's Nationalist Law and Justice Party came in third with 23, while Marine Le Pen's National Rally Party won 22 seats, ahead of the 21 seats won by French President Emmanuel Macron's La Republique En Marche. Viktor Orban's Fidesz won 52% of the vote in Hungary, taking 13 of Hungary's 21 seats.

Though Sweden's Social Democrats remained the largest party in Europe, Sweden's anti-immigration Sweden Democrats won 15.4% of the vote, up from roughly 4% in the 2014 EU Parliamentary vote, growing their share of seats from two to three.

In Greece, Alexis Tsipras's Syriza was defeated by the center-right New Democracy Party, prompting Tsipras to call an early general election where New Democracy are expected to triumph. If that happens, it would end Syriza's four-year stint ruling Greece.

However, analysts are skeptical that the eurosceptic groups will be able to overcome partisan squabbling and work together to form a pan-European coalition - which is the only way to exercise real influence within the European Parliament. They will also lose some of their support when the UK finally leaves the bloc (if that ever happens), and the UK's 73 parliamentary seats are redistributed...

- Source, Zero Hedge, Read More Here

Russia Accelerates its De-Dollarization Process, Adds Gold Bullion

Poland, Hungary, China, India, Turkey, Russia and many others have been active buyers in the physical gold market over the last year and it appears that at least one, Russia, has no plans of slowing down.

Russia has been very open about the fact that they wish to continue on with what they are calling their "de-dollarization" process, shedding their US dollar reserves and moving it into other assets, with the most notable being gold bullion.

This is a trend that has been accelerating for years, with it truly kicking off in earnest after sanctions began to rain down heavily upon Russia after the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

The United States in particular has had a heavy hand in its dealings with Russia, as they believed this move to be in direct conflict with Western interest.

Since 2014, financial warfare has been raging both behind the scenes and out in the open. 

A quick look through a timeline compiled by Radio Free Europe highlights just how many actions have been taken over the last five years and shows just how serious the West is in its goal of punishing the Russian Economy.

The effects have been severe, doing damage to the Russian economy, however, as they have so many times throughout history, the Russian people have pushed on, adapted and are surviving in their new geopolitical world.

The actions taken by the West and the constant beating of the war drum has not come without consequences however, as Russia has been forced to find alternative trade partners for their plentiful natural resources.

China, another country that is currently the target of scorn from the US administration has been forced closer and closer with Russia, finding an ally in both of their times of need.

It comes therefore as no surprise that they too are happily buying any and all natural resources they can get their hands on, stockpiling and preparing for not so sunny days.

This includes opening and buying mines around the world, anywhere and everywhere that they can.

Facing increased pressure and uncertainty is all the more reason for these two countries to continue in their accumulation of precious metals.

Russia is currently buying all domestically mined gold production, thus taking a huge amount of physical gold off of the market and making them the fifth largest holder of gold bullion reserves in the world.

This is a placing that I and many others believe will soon be a thing of the past, especially if they continue shedding US Dollars at the rate they are and moving these funds into gold bullion, which as they have stated, they intend to do.

Already Russia has quadrupled its bullion reserves over the past decade, adding a staggering 1 million ounces in February of this year alone!

First Deputy Governor Ksenia Yudayeva of the Bank of Russia had the following to say about their shedding of US dollars and addition of gold bullion;

“We have tried to bring this (reserves) structure into accordance with the risks we believe we may face.”

“This is why we significantly lowered the share of the dollar.”

Clearly Russia feels politically, economically and physically threatened and are trying to mitigate their risks and retaliate in anyway possible.

Unfortunately for the West, the true ramification of this entire process is the fact that physical gold bullion is draining out of the open market at a rapid rate and they are creating a new golden powerhouse within the world.

But why are both Russia, China and so many other countries fleeing the US dollar and moving to a safe haven asset such as gold bullion?

I believe it is because they can see the long term writing on the wall, they can see that change is coming, they are making their plans for the future and setting themselves up for what they believe to be success.

Ultimately, I believe they hope to dethrone the US dollar as the reserve currency of the world and replace it with one of their own, with gold bullion playing a major role in that process.

Remember always the golden rule, "He who has the gold makes the rules".

- Source, Sprott Money Blog