Monday, September 26, 2011

Greece faces more strikes as default looms

As the prospect of a disastrous debt default hung over Greece, the government faced more strikes and protests against its new austerity measures needed to appease the country's rescue creditors.

Athens commuters faced more misery as metro, tram and suburban rail workers were on a 24-hour strike, while buses and trolleys were to stop operating for several hours in the middle of the day. Airline passengers also faced delays as air traffic controllers implemented work-to-rule action, refusing to work overtime. A 48-hour strike by all transport workers is expected later this week.

Greek police held their own protest, with the force's Special Guards unit hanging a giant black banner from the top of Lycabettus Hill in the capital reading "Pay day, day of mourning." more

India floods situation worsens in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa

More than two million people have been affected by floods in India as torrential rains lash Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states.

Heavy monsoon rains have been battering parts of India for the past fortnight.

More than 80 people have died in flood-related incidents, and some areas have been cut off by rising waters.

Heavy rains in Uttar Pradesh (UP) have killed more than 30 people across the state. A flood alert has been issued in eight districts in Bihar.

In Orissa, the worst affected state, vast parts of 10 districts have been inundated by flood waters, officials say.

Special Relief Commissioner PK Mohapatra said 55 people had died - some drowned, while others died from snakebites and in wall collapses.

More than 10 people who had gone missing after the boat in which they were travelling overturned in the Brahmani river in Dhenkanal district were rescued on Monday, officials say.

Some areas have been cut off because of breaches to river banks and embankments. Helicopters are the only way to bring food and water to people stranded there.

Officials said that more than 130,000 in Orissa alone have been evacuated to safety as the relief and rescue operation moves into full swing. more

Distressed yacht, sick crew missing off Durban coast

2011-09-26 17:16

Johannesburg - Rescue craft were searching on Monday for a 42-foot catamaran in trouble off the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.

"The vessel has a rope fouled around one propeller, making one of her two motors unusable, a torn sail, and an overheated second motor," said NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon.

Three members of the six-person crew of the Tholile were severely dehydrated after prolonged seasickness. The crew, all from Durban, comprised five men and one woman.

Rescuers believed the yacht had drifted far south as a result of a 25-knot south-easterly wind and was caught in the south-flowing Agulhas current. She was drifting in a 4m swell and had sprung a leak which the crew had stemmed.

On Monday, she was 40 nautical miles offshore, south of Port Edward.

Rescuers were however battling to find her, and it was thought her GPS system was faulty.

The NSRI Shelly Beach and NSRI Port Edward were out on Monday with two rescue craft searching for the vessel.

"Our priority is to get floating rescue craft to her side and to render some medical assistance to the three seasick crew members," Lambinon said.

NSRI Durban had launched its deep-sea rescue craft loaded with extra supplies.

Mark Harlen, NSRI Shelly Beach station commander and operations commander for this rescue operation, said a major rescue was underway.

"NSRI volunteers have been summoned to their respective sea rescue bases to assist in manning the NSRI control rooms should the operation continue into Monday evening," he said.

- SAPA

Wall Street Occupied: Watch Us Grow!

FluxRostrum
YouTube
Mon, 26 Sep 2011 02:12 CDT

1,000 + people marched through nyc and many were arrested. the crowd at the park grows each day. if you have not heard from your friends lately ... maybe they're there.

http://livestream.com/globalrevolution

Massive floods in Thailand, Cambodia; 219 dead - 26th Sept 2011

The death toll from flooding in Thailand since mid-July has risen to 158, while 61 people have died in neighbouring Cambodia in the past two weeks, authorities in the two countries said on Monday.More than 2 million acres of farmland in Thailand are now under water, an area 11 times the size of Singapore.
"Twenty-three provinces in the lower north and central Thailand are under water and nearly 2 million people have been affected by severe floods and heavy rain," Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said.
Flooding has also affected the capital, Bangkok, which sits only two metres above sea level. The Chao Phraya river has overflowed into roads in some areas, although the authorities have reinforced its banks to prevent serious flooding.
The Meteorological Department warned 39 provinces, mostly in central and northeast Thailand, to be ready for possible flooding and heavy rain in the coming week.
Thailand's main rice crop of the year is normally harvested from October.
According to media reports, some farmers have started harvesting early to try to get their crop in before floods hit, which could result in lower yields.
Some may be unable to harvest properly because fields are inundated. Read More

More than FortyThousands Fish Dead, People Poisoned from eating them, New Takoradi, Ghana - 26th Sept 2011

Toxic chemical said to be used in treatment of wood has been discharged into the Butuah Lagoon, near New Takoradi by an unknown timber company, resulting in the death of more than 40,000 fishes in the lagoon.

Some residents of New Takoradi, a community near the lagoon, who ate the dead fish suffered runny stomach and dehydration and had to be rushed to hospital for attention. The Butuah Lagoon is a protected area for fishing and breeding of marine species. A large tract of wetland near the lagoon which serves as a buffer zone against flood has been heavily polluted. The environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched investigation into the disposal of the toxic chemical into the lagoon to find out who was responsible.

The assembly member for New Takoradi, Mr. E. Adoko and chief fisherman of New Takoradi, Nana Kow Ackon, said when residents got to know of the incident, they contacted various in industries located within the area but each of them denied discharging waste into the lagoon.

Nana Ackon said to avoid the overpowering stench from the dead fishes and prevent people from collecting the contaminated fish for consumption, the fisherfolk had so far collected more than eight canoes full of fish to the shore and buried them. When contacted, the EPA officials said initial investigation by the agency had indicated that the toxic chemical was discharged by a timber firm in the metropolis after the company had used the chemical in processing wood. Source

The growing problem of space debris

Image Credit: NASA Orbital Debris Program Office

The September 24, 2011 uncontrolled reentry of NASA’s UARS satellite places a spotlight the problem of debris in orbit around Earth.

The September 24, 2011 uncontrolled reentry of NASA’s UARS satellite places a spotlight on a problem that has been building for decades, the problem of debris in orbit around Earth.

The bus-sized Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) satellite plunged to Earth over the Pacific, apparently causing no damage or injuries. Less publicized was another space debris incident – called a “scare” by some – that took place on June 28, 2011, when orbital debris came within a couple of hundred yards of the International Space Station (ISS).

The U.S. Space Surveillance Network tracks roughly 16,000 objects bigger than four inches across, while 19,000 are known to exist.

Meanwhile, according to according to the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office website, there are approximately 500,000 pieces ranging in size between half an inch and four inches (1 to 10 cm), while the total of particles smaller than half an inch “probably exceeds tens of millions.”

Torrential rain floods southern Jordan Valley town's homes, streets - 26th Sept 2011

A heavy cloudburst on Sunday evening in the Southern Ghur Al-Saffi district in the Jordan Valley forced the evacuation of a number of families whose houses were inundated with waters and caused power outages.

The downpour, which lasted for several hours, swamped main streets and forced the closure of the town's northern entrance. Officials said no casualties have been reported as authorities rushed to evacuate families and open the drainage system.

Earlier, a heavy thundery downpour on Sunday brought limited disruptions in the north-western Koura district and ushered in a start of the wet season in the Kingdom.

Rain waters flooded streets, hindering traffic in the district's major town of Deir Abi Said and the villages of Kufr Elma, Ashrafiyeh and Jdetta and bringing hope of a new season for the farming communities in the area. Source

5.1 Magnitude Earthquake TONGA - 26th Sept 2011

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake has struck Tonga at a depth of 31.9 km (19.8 miles), the quake hit at 07:27:51 UTC Monday 26th September 2011.
The epicenter was 93 km (57 miles) SSE off Hihifo, Tonga
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No reports of Damage or Injuries reported at this time

5.2 earthquake, Santa Cruz Islands. Sep 26 5:21pm
10-degree map showing recent earthquakes

5.2 earthquake, Santa Cruz Islands. Sep 26 5:21pm at epicenter (15m ago, 474km N of Santo (Luganville), depth 110km).
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No reports of Damage or Injuries reported at this time

Philippine authorities have ordered the evacuation of more than 100,000 people as typhoon Nesat brought heavy rains and strong winds.

The eastern province of Albay, 325km southeast of Manila, is in the path of Typhoon Nesat.

Governor Joey Salceda suspended school classes and stopped small sea vessels from sailing due to strong winds and huge waves.

Aviation authorities suspended at least 20 domestic flights on Monday due to the bad weather.

The weather bureau said Nesat, with maximum sustained winds of 120km/h and gusts of up to 150k/ph, was moving northwest at 17km/h.

The bureau placed 35 provinces under storm alert, including Manila, and warned that Nesat could trigger flash floods and landslides.

Nesat was expected to make landfall in the north-eastern province of Aurora or in the adjacent province of Isabela late on Tuesday.

International Monetary Fund: admits it might not be able to save the Euro as it emerges that current threat is 'worse than crisis in 2008'

The International Monetary Fund last night issued an extraordinary warning that it might not have enough cash to stem the crisis engulfing the Eurozone, prompting fears that Britain could be forced to find billions more to bail out debt-stricken economies.Chancellor George Osborne has refused to put British funds on the line for a new EU rescue scheme but he would be unable to resist a call from the IMF to do more.
The dramatic development came as France was forced to deny speculation that it is on the brink of having to bail out its banking system.
Emergency plans are being drawn up for a £2.6trillion deal aimed at saving the euro by allowing Greece to default on its massive debts.
The funds would be used to create a ‘firewall’ around the most indebted Eurozone countries, allow for an ‘orderly’ Greek default on its towering debts, and bail out those European banks most at risk. Read More

5.1 Magnitude Earthquake BANDA SEA, INDONESIA - 26th Sept 2011

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake has struck the Banda Sea, Indonesia at a depth of 554.6 km (344.6 miles), the quake hit at 03:39:24 UTC Monday 26th September 2011.
The epicenter was 215 km (134 miles) SSE from Bauau, Sulawesi, Indonesia
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No reports of Damage or Injuries reported at this time

Strong Solar Activity Present

Having already unleashed two X-flares since Sept. 22nd, sunspot AR1302 appears ready for more. The active region has a complex "beta-gamma-delta" magnetic field that harbors energy for strong M- and X-class eruptions. Flares from AR1302 will become increasingly geoeffective as the sunspot turns toward Earth in the days ahead.

Marko Posavec of Koprivnica, Croatia, photographed the behemoth sunspot between flares on Sept. 24th:

© Marko Posavec of Koprivnica, Croatia
Photo details: Olympus E-510, Sigma 50-500mm lens (at 500mm), 1/640 sec. exposure, f/18, ISO 100

"Sunspot complex 1302 is incredibly easy to spot at sunrise or sunset," says Posavec. "Be careful, though. Even the low-hanging sun is bright enough to damage your eyes if you look at it through optics of any kind."

5.3 Magnitude Earthquake CANADA, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES - 26th Sept 2011

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake has struck Canada, Northwest Territories at a depth of just 2.9 km (1.8 miles), the quake hit at 01:02:57 UTC Monday 26th September 2011.
The epicenter was 137 km (85 miles) West of Wrigley, Northwest Territories, Canada
No reports of Damage or Injuries reported at this time

New tar balls on Gulf of Mexico beaches 'come from BP oil spill'

Tar balls that turned up on the US Gulf coast this month are linked to BP's oil spill last year, signalling that the area is still not fully cleaned up, a study has found.

Researchers from Auburn University found the environmental impact of the spill is continuing 17 months since oil leaked into the ocean, after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon.

They found that "mats" submerged in the seabed for more than a year had been broken up by tropical storms and gave off the tar balls.

The pollution found on Alabama beaches this month had "essentially identical" chemical composition to those from after the spill.

Researchers now "question the validity of the widely-held belief that submerged oil from the Deepwater Horizon accident is substantially weathered and depleted".

BP said it would "continue to have crews out collecting tarballs as the reports come in" but the report would not change its immediate plans. more

NHS hospitals crippled by PFI scheme, and are on "the brink of collapse"

Patient care is under threat at more than 60 NHS hospitals which are “on the brink of financial collapse” because of costly private finance initiative schemes, the Health Secretary will warn.

Andrew Lansley says he has been contacted by 22 health service trusts which claim their “clinical and financial stability” is being undermined by the costs of the contracts, which the Labour government used extensively to fund public sector projects.

The Daily Telegraph can disclose that the trusts in jeopardy include Barts and the London, Oxford Radcliffe, North Bristol, St Helens and Knowsley, and Portsmouth.

Between them the trusts run more than 60 hospitals which care for 12 million patients.

There is already evidence that waiting lists for non-urgent operations have begun to rise as hospitals delay treatment to save money. Adding to this are growing fears over the impact of the financial crisis on care this winter.

Under the PFI deals, a private contractor builds a hospital or school. It owns the building for up to 35 years, and during this period the public sector must pay interest and repay the cost of construction, as well as paying the contractor to maintain the building. more

"Time to panic"

Today’s unemployment data suggests that we are experiencing something far worse than a mere “bump in the road”, as our President described it last month. In fact, if last month was the time to panic, as Stephanie Kelton argued here, then today’s data should create real palpitations in the White House. This isn’t just a “bump,” but a fully-fledged New York City style pot hole.

First the headline number everyone looks at: non-farm payrolls. Up 18,000 in June, the increase was 100,000 less than expectations. In addition the prior two month payroll increases were revised down by -44,000 overall. That’s weak – but not terrible.

Dig a bit deeper into the data and it looks absolutely awful: The household measure of employment fell by -445,000. Okay, it’s a noisy number. But, as Frank Veneroso has pointed out to me in an email correspondence, this measure of employment which is never revised now shows no employment growth over the last five months and very negative employment growth over the last three.

But it gets worse: The work week was down one tenth. Overtime was down one tenth. The labor participation rate at 64.1% was the lowest since 1984. The broad U6 unemployment rate rose from 15.8% to 16.2%. In other words, as Frank suggested to me this morning, “many other employment indicators in this report confirm the deep disappointment in the payroll series and the much more negative message of the household series.” more

The Deadliest Volcano In The Planet Is Ready To Explode Again

The last time the deadliest volcano in the planet exploded it was 1815. It killed more than 71,000 people on the spot and it was responsible for a volcanic winter that caused the worst worldwide famine of the 19th century.

Now it may explode again.

Its name is Mount Tambora and it’s located in the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. Back in 1815, the whole island was obliterated. Most of its population was killed and its vegetation reduced to ashes. Some trees were uprooted and pushed into the sea along with ash, creating three-mile-long rafts.

But its destructive power wasn’t just limited to the island. It affected the entire world. The volcano’s ash rose into a column that reached 43km high, right into the stratosphere. The heaviest particles eventually went down, but a stratospheric sulfate aerosol veil remained for years, dimming the sunlight everywhere. This disrupted the entire global climate in a big way, which started a chain of events that killed millions through the Northern Hemisphere.

The next year there was no summer and temperatures went down an average of 0.5C. It doesn’t seem like a lot but the suspended sulphur released by the volcano caused agricultural crops to fail and livestock to die everywhere. The United States experienced extreme frosts and heavy snow that ruined the harvest. The same happened in Europe and everywhere, which resulted in a worldwide famine. The famine helped to spread a new strain of cholera in Asia and a typhus epidemic in southeast Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. It wasn’t fun at all.

Experts are now saying that Mount Tambora is ready to erupt again. A steady stream of earthquakes are shaking the island, from less than five a month in April to more than 200 now. Columns of ash are already venting as high as 1400m.

Experts have established a 3km danger perimeter and its inhabitants are fleeing under government orders. But most of the people know the story from 1815 and don’t need any orders to start running. In fact, people outside of the danger zone are also fleeing.

Nobody knows for sure if Mount Tambora would explode with the same intensity as it did in 1815 and nobody knows when. more

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Australia: It's raining fish - twice in two days!

This week's trawl through the news archives reveals an incident of some very fishy weather...

Residents of a remote desert town in Australia were shocked to witness fish raining from the sky - especially as the town is located over 300 miles from the nearest river!

And the freak event happened not once, but twice, on the Thursday and Friday afternoon, at about 6pm

Hundreds of small white fish fell from rain clouds over Lajamanu in the Northern Territory. Many of the fish, believed to be Spangled perch, were still alive.

Weather experts believe that the fish were sucked up during a tornado or thunderstorm before being dumped over the town.

Weather bureau senior forecaster Ashley Patterson said the geological conditions were perfect on the Friday for a tornado in the region, although none had been reported to the authority.

"It's a very unusual event," he said. He explained that with an updraft, the fish and water picked up could get as high as 60,000 ft. or more.

Resident Christine Balmer was walking home when the fish began to fall. She said: "These fish fell in their hundreds and hundreds all over the place. The locals were running around everywhere picking them up. These fish were alive when they hit the ground.

"All I can say is that I'm thankful that it didn't rain crocodiles!"

Apparently this isn't the first time the tiny town of Lajamanu has been hit by falling fish. In 2004, there were reports of fish falling from the sky, and in 1974, a similar incident hit the headlines.

5.0 Magnitude Earthquake NEAR THE COAST OF NORTHERN PERU - 25th Sept 2011

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake has struck near the Coast of Northern Peru at a depth of 32.7 km (20.3 miles), the quake hit at 00:35:08 UTC Sunday 25th September 2011.
The epicenter was 145 km (90 miles) WSW of Piura, Peru
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No reports of Damage or Injuries reported at this time

5.0 Magnitude Earthquake HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION - 25th Sept 2011

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake has struck Hokkaido, Japan Region at a depth of 33 km (20.5 miles), the quake hit at 04:18:21 UTC Sunday 25th September 2011.
The epicenter was 116 km (72 miles) SSW of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No reports of Damage or Injuries reported at this time

And Now, With The Market Collapse Into The Close: Dow Jones to Drop to 800?

Are you prepared yet?

No?

Well I'm sorry, because it's too late now.

I mean really, honestly too late.

The market figured it out and it didn't take very long - in fact, it took less than an hour.

This latest distortion by The Fed has just destroyed the last bit of earnings power the banks had. It's gone. All to preserve the ponzi scheme in the Federal Government - the same Federal Government that just sent a bleat to Bernanke about tampering with the economy.

The very same legislators that will now do nothing about what was just done.

You got that? They will do nothing.

What did Bernanke's act tell us?

He burned the furniture for warmth today. He and the rest of the Fed cabal are done; this was the card that was known to do much more damage than it could ever help anyone - or anything. He burned the furniture to allow the Federal Government Ponzi to continue for one more year while utterly screwing the private lending industry of all sorts from banks on down.

There is no shortage of lendable money. There hasn't been since this entire mess began. The problem was that money was too easy, not too tight, and people ran into the wall on their ability to pay.

You cannot drink yourself sober.

The game is over folks. Europe is now the lynchpin between here and the SPX at 500, and that's a short-term stop between here and an entirely-possible outcome of where it began in 1980.

That's S&P 100, not 500, and Dow 800.

I know what the comments are going to be on this statement already: That can't happen because of divisors.

Oh really? It sure can happen as companies go bankrupt and get replaced, then the replacements collapse too. more

The great euro swindle

Very rarely in political history has any faction or movement enjoyed such a complete and crushing victory as the Conservative Eurosceptics.

The field is theirs. They were not merely right about the single currency, the greatest economic issue of our age – they were right for the right reasons. They foresaw with lucid, prophetic accuracy exactly how and why the euro would bring with it financial devastation and social collapse.

Meanwhile, the pro-Europeans find themselves in the same situation as appeasers in 1940, or communists after the fall of the Berlin Wall. They are utterly busted. Let's examine the case of the Financial Times, which claims to be Britain's premier economic publication. About 25 years ago something went wrong with the FT. It ceased to be the dry, rigorous journal of economic record so respected under its great postwar editor Sir Gordon Newton.

Turning its back on its readers, it was captured by a clique of left-wing journalists. An early sign that something was going wrong came when the FT came out against the Falklands invasion. Naturally it supported Britain's entry to the Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1990. In 1992, it endorsed Neil Kinnock as prime minister. It has been wrong on every single major economic judgment over the past quarter century.

The central historical error of the modern Financial Times concerns the euro. The FT flung itself headlong into the pro-euro camp, embracing the cause with an almost religious passion. Doubts were dismissed. Here is the paper's Lex column on January 8, 2001, on the subject of Greek entry to the eurozone: "With Greece now trading in euros," reflected Lex, "few will mourn the death of the drachma. Membership of the eurozone offers the prospect of long-term economic stability." The FT offered a similarly warm welcome to Ireland.

The paper waged a vendetta against those who warned that the euro would not work. Its chief political columnist, Philip Stephens, consistently mocked the Eurosceptics. "Immaturity is the kind explanation," sneered Stephens as Tory leader William Hague came out against the single currency. more

Space Storms to Pose Greater Risk to Flyers and Astronauts

© Fotosearch
Fliers beware? A new study argues that frequent fliers and astronauts will be exposed to more radiation in the coming years.

If you thought the outlook for Earth's climate looked bleak, don't look up. A new study suggests that space weather - the hail of energetic particles above our atmosphere - is set to worsen in coming decades.The grim forecast suggests that astronauts and frequent flyers will face greater radiation hazards and could rule out a crewed mission to Mars before 2050.

Space weather is a general term for the environmental conditions above Earth's atmosphere. When space weather is bad, dangerous particles abound. These include protons and ions, known as galactic cosmic rays (GRCs), raining down at near-light speed from space, and similar particles coming in bursts from the sun, called solar energetic particles (SEPs).

The sun has the biggest impact on space weather. The radiation it emits fluctuates both over the short term and across centuries. When the sun is emitting more radiation, it generates a strong external magnetic field, which swaddles the solar system in the "heliosphere" - a shield against GRCs. On the downside, a more active sun is thought to emit SEPs more consistently. Currently, the sun's activity seems to be fading from a "grand maximum" that has been with us since the 1920s, suggesting a new minimum is upon us.

Al Gore's five loaves and two fishes (and his $100,000,000 made from "Global Warming")

Not content with having invented the internet, the great Climate Science communicator Al Gore appears to have developed still more miraculous skills of late: the ability to turn 17,000 into 8.6 million – just like that.

The figures refer to the number of "views" for Gore's special "24 Hours Of ManBearPig" which this column helped celebrate the other day. Gore claims that as many as 8.6 million flocked to his thrilling festival of climate fear; but a nasty cruel man called Charles the Moderator at Watts Up With That? has "done the math" and reckons the figure is probably more like 17,000. And that, he believes, is a generous estimate. (H/T John from CA).

So whom are we to trust? An evil climate denying website run by evil climate deniers? Or a loving family man who has selflessly made it his mission to travel the world acquiring as large a carbon footprint as possible in order to spread the word that we should all drastically reduce our carbon footprints?

I'm with Gore, obviously. Not only has his knowledge and insight proved hugely influential on our own beloved Prime Minister's climate policies – "I've just had a meeting with Al Gore. He really knows his stuff", David Cameron once told a distinguished businessman who'd come hoping for a quiet word about his economically disastrous environmental policies – but it's quite obvious that he really is a man with the power to work miracles.

Just look, for example, at the magical way he has managed to make his fortune grow. In 2000, the year he lost the presidential election, he was worth a modest $1-2 million. Now his fortune has swollen to well over $100 million, thanks to partly to his $100,000 plus speaking engagements (which have earned him at least $10 million) and partly to his canny green investment decisions (such as his decision to pull his investments out of the Chicago Carbon Trading exchange before it collapsed due to global lack of interest in trading an Emperor's New Clothes commodity invented by Enron's Kenneth Lay and championed by an even dodgier Hawaiian/Kenyan born Chicago lawyer).more

High-flying gold crashes in record $100 freefall - 23rd Sept 2011

Gold crashed more than $100 on Friday, as a slide turned into a free fall, with weeks of volatility, renewed strength in the dollar and talk of hedge fund liquidation wrecking its safe-haven status.The sell-off came even after relative calm was restored to the stock and oil markets following Thursday's losses. Bonds also dived with gold and silver as investors took profit on a near week-long rally in U.S. Treasuries.
Widespread talk of possible selling by big hedge funds covering losses in other markets set off one of the biggest routs on record in the precious metals group.
The CME Group, which oversees trading in U.S. gold and silver futures, responded by raising margins, or deposits, required on trades of the two precious metals as well as copper. The move would further squeeze the most optimistic investors in gold, who are trying to hold onto long positions or bets on higher prices.
"We're making new lows and the bull case for gold is on pause for the near term," said Adam Klopfenstein, senior market strategist for precious metals at MF Global in Chicago. Read More

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