During the 1970’s, Saudi petrodollars flowed mostly into the following four U.S. banks: Chase Citibank Morgan Guaranty Bank of America The Arabs preferred conservative, blue-ribbon banks. Continue reading
Category Archives: Money
Proven Oil Reserves
2007 Proven Oil Reserves (in billions of barrels) Saudi Arabia 259 Canada 179 (175 billion in oil sands) Iran 126 Iraq 115 Kuwait 97 Abu Dhabi 92 Venezuela 78 Russia 60 Libya 36 Nigeria 25 United States 23 Mexico 15.7 Continue reading
Mocatta
Established in 1671, Mocatta was the world’s earliest bullion broker and by 1774 was handling three-quarters of the world’s entire gold production. In 1890 Mocatta chaired the first London Silver Fix and ScotiaMocatta, as it became known following acquisition by the Bank of Nova Scotia in December 1997, continues to chair the Fix today. Continue reading
Economic Thought Of The Day
There is just no reason why an American worker should continue to earn $40 an hour and a foreign worker just 35 cents per hour. Most likely, the foreigner is better educated and more disciplined. I expect we’re going to see a great leveling of wage rates around the world. Continue reading
I.R.A. Finances
During the early 1980s the IRA bought shares in a publicly traded British company said to have been worth 200 million pounds, then used offshore brokers to take it over. They permitted most of the company to be run legitimately, but kept a corner of it to themselves to launder 30 million pounds over an … Continue reading
Houses: An Investment? Or A Trap?
Housing prices in the United States are falling nationwide; but in the minds of most house buyers, it is still a bull market. They have lived with rising prices for so long they now take it for granted that that is just the way things work. “House prices always go up in the long run,” … Continue reading
The Best Financial/Life Advice
The following comment was heard on the train: One distinguished looking gentleman to another – “If it flies, floats or fucks, you’re always better off renting.” Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 